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zoso1971 · 10-05-2022, 07:57 AM

Apple Krate by Schwinn.

YC1 · 10-05-2022, 08:03 AM

Bananna seat, ape hangar bars. Shifter on the floor.

I would have been the coolest kid in town.

propchef · 10-05-2022, 08:17 AM

I had a green one.

wsklywabt · 10-05-2022, 08:25 AM

Sure do.

Worked a paper route all summer to purchase a purple one. Got stolen about a year later. Bought a metallic green one with ram horn high rise handlebars. Police found original purple one a couple months later and it was returned. Wound up with a pair...

69Stang · 10-05-2022, 08:27 AM

Mine was metallic green with a tall sissy bar on the back seat. Put me in the hospital for 3 days after cruising down a steep hill and crashing.

zoso1971 · 10-05-2022, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YC1

Bananna seat, ape hangar bars. Shifter on the floor.

I would have been the coolest kid in town.

Don't forget the springer front fork.

Alpine36 · 10-05-2022, 08:33 AM

Had a metallic blue one with the kick back two speed, sissy bar and springer front end. I kept it in mint condition. My nephew rode it in the 80's and when the chain fell off my sister took it to the garbage dump.
Still a sore subject 40 years later.

laj · 10-05-2022, 09:21 AM

Yup, apple crate, orange peel, lemon peel. I had the apple crate.
Now same thing, got a heritage springer soft tail. Almost as much fun.

astrnmrtom · 10-05-2022, 11:23 PM

We built our own before the commercial ones came out. Had several different ways of extending the front forks to make choppers. Got the idea from seeing real choppers where we lived in California.

We knew an older kid who collected broken bikes and we could get smaller front wheels from him. Even picked up frames and mixed and matched parts. He sold parts for cheap. We'd scrounge for Coke bottles to turn in for the deposit. 2 cents for small ones and a nickel for big ones. Save up a couple bucks and buy a wheel. If memory serves me correctly he'd sell a frame for $7.

One issue with our chopper bikes was the extended forks and smaller front wheel made the front lift very easy if you were sitting down, and steering was really tricky. Took a lot of practice to be able to ride them. Had to be careful on turns while pedaling because there was little traction from the front wheel bouncing up and down. The longer rake meant the frame would swing sideways a bit when turning and the turning radius was horrible. Still once we got used to it we felt like real hot stuff.

First version was using tubing with smashed ends. You had to keep the bolt real tight where they connected to the forks because you'd sometimes pull a wheely and the extended forks would come loose. Later we added struts to make them look like a springer front end. This helped keep the extended forks more rigid. I bet we had ours several years before the commercial ones came out. I remember feeling like they stole our ideas.

Building those bikes is where I learned how to get a good finish with spray paint. We'd do three layer candy apple and metal flake.

One time we got stopped by a couple older boys who "insisted" we let them test ride the bikes. They took the bikes, hopped on, and didn't make it 20 feet before almost crashing. We smiled when they dropped the bikes and walked off grumbling. It was a perfect example of poetic justice. A couple of humiliated bullies. We jumped back on the bikes and zoomed right past them.

zoso1971 · 10-06-2022, 04:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by astrnmrtom

First version was using tubing with smashed ends.

I remember these. Had a set before the krate. Ya handling was out there.

Old-Biscuit · 10-06-2022, 12:44 PM

Lets go back 5 yrs prior to the Krates.......1963 Stingray "the bike with the sports car look"

Dad splurged and got it for me after I had recovered from foot surgery
I was strutting ..........
*Neighborhood Dads had to cough it up. Think we had 10 Stingrays in neighborhood the next year

zoso1971 · 10-06-2022, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

Lets go back 5 yrs prior to the Krates.......1963 Stingray "the bike with the sports car look"

Dad splurged and got it for me after I had recovered from foot surgery
I was strutting ..........
*Neighborhood Dads had to cough it up. Think we had 10 Stingrays in neighborhood the next year

LOL. Neighbor dad's real happy with you.

zoso1971 · 10-06-2022, 12:59 PM

Years after the krate this happend.

Onyrlef · 10-06-2022, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

Lets go back 5 yrs prior to the Krates.......1963 Stingray "the bike with the sports car look"

Dad splurged and got it for me after I had recovered from foot surgery
I was strutting ..........
*Neighborhood Dads had to cough it up. Think we had 10 Stingrays in neighborhood the next year

And lest anyone forget, $49.95 was a fortune in '63. My two younger brothers and me all had store bought Stingrays, that would have been a weeks pay for my Dad.