Ever wonder where your bike has been?

[Anonymous]

Maybe I think too deep,but as Im working/building on my bikes,Im thinking about where its been in the past and the adventures its been on.

Did the first owner get it for Christmas,maybe thier Birthday?

Maybe it was thier first taste of freedom on wheels...If only the storys and places it could tell

 

[musclebikes]

I think about that often, especially when im working on a bike and find a large dent or scratch, like the other day I was working on an old bike for my boss and on the fenders there was a a spot where the fender stripe quickly vered off and then an inch later went back to where it was supposed to which got me thinkin......imagine the following...

Its the 1950's theres a guy in the factory striping a fender, then all of a sudden... he sneezes, he opens his eyes and looks up at the mistake he just made due to the sneeze, he looks around, nobody noticed, so he continues striping.

or......

Bobs striping a fender, then all of a sudden his buddy frank from the frame department sneaks up behind him and...."Hey!!!! Bob!! What ya doin??? Bob looks down at his crooked stripe, "Frank I told you not to bother me why Im striping!!" :lol:

 

[Markm]

when I finished my RRBBO1 bike and was riding it around town I wondered if the original owner ever rode the same streets or enjoyed that bike as much as I was (am)... :mrgreen:

 

[schwinnmesa]

I also wonder about that. My great uncle's 1937 Fleetwing (as shown in my avatar), I wonder where it has been to and how many wild times and rides it has been through in the past 71 years.

 

[SuperStuff]

I once drove to Rocky Mount, NC to check on some bikes this guy posted for sale in some local magazine. I was disappointed to not find any muscle bikes, but I did buy one blue 24" Schwinnn Fair Lady. On the seatpost in white paint was a women's name. I've often wondered about looking her up to ask her stories about that bike. I would want to restore it first though.

 

[user 135]

I have one with the dealer sticker and old licsence plate from two different towns so I know one route it went. I know some of my newer bikes have been from Taiwan and China to the US :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[aka_locojoe]

Have you ever thought about putting something like a note in a bike your building? I found this in the seat tube of a bike I tore down...

 

[xddorox]

That's real cool Randy.

 

[Bunbury]

Have you ever thought about putting something like a note in a bike your building? I found this in the seat tube of a bike I tore down...

Never found anything that cool, but a few weeks ago I found most of a Redline BMX bike in the trash. While I was stripping it down, I discovered a plastic cigar tube in the seat post. Inside it was a plastic baggie containing an unknown leafy organic substance... Cilantro perhaps?

 

[Firewalker]

guess he got hungry and forgot about it.... :roll:

 

[ParkRNDL]

I wonder about that stuff all the time, mostly with cars I drive and especially with my other hobby, which is HO scale slot cars. I have over 400 of them, and maybe 75 or so are are original Aurora Thunderjets from the 1960s found at toy shows and yard sales or on Fleabay. What kid spent hours racing this around a track in a basement 40 years ago? Did this one win lots of races against the neighborhood kids? This one blue Mako Shark in particular got me thinking. Without getting into too much detail that you guys might not need, it was a stock original Thunderjet that had a bunch of aftermarket hop-up parts like the hot "Mean Green" armature, red/white heavy duty motor magnets, AFX high performance motor brushes, hop-up high speed gear set, big wide back tires... Some kid probably spend a bunch of paper route money and many afternoons at the hobby shop putting this thing together. I cleaned it and tuned it and left it exactly as is...

I don't have any vintage Stingrays, but I imagine they're the same, only better. What kid rode this around his neighborhood? Or bought that baseball bat rack with paper route money? How did the scars on the bike get there? And I suppose ANY old bike could have stories like that to tell...

--rick

 

[CCR]

dont know where mine have been other than barns and ditches and resale shops, as far as finding stuff, i did find an unopened balsa wood airplane kit wedged between the frame and rear fender and it also had a paratrooper with his chute caught in the seat springs on a kids bike

 

[sensor]

I know some of my newer bikes have been from Taiwan and China to the US :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[dumpster_diver]

I know my very 1st vintage bike came from an elderly lady (90 years old). The bike must have have been her granddaughter's because her son was like 65-70. She told my mom that she wanted a bike to get some exercise back in the 70s, so she drug out this 1964 Coppertone Stingray and the 1st ride down the street, she busted her tail. She never rode the bike again. Whichever granddaughter got the bike, rode the heck of it! The entire family moved to Alabama so I never got to find out or hear any great stories. The bike was bought some 2 hrs away in Jacksonville, FL and since then has never left our small town....not even to get a repair or for a bike ride, etc!

 

[jtdaddy]

The 65 hollywood I sold had been in a garage for several years. Then given to a refridgerator repair man who left it out side for years. Then I got it. Kept it in my garage for a couple of months.
Now, it is riding around the campus of SMU every day. It's going to classes and to central market. This bike is the one that had all the baskets. I miss it.