BMXmuseum.com Bikes / SE Racing, USA pre FUJI / 1992 SE Racing P.K. Ripper

First thing's first. Huge thanks to my old riding friend Kilwa Ärölä for handing me the frame free of charge. I was blown away! I can't thank you enough. The frame is is good hands and much appreciated my friend.

Background..

About a year ago an old friend of mine named Kilwa from our "bike shop riding days of early 90's" contacted me via email and asked if i was interested in his old '91-92 PK Ripper he had in his parents garage. I replied something like "why, ofcourse! I am interested! how much you want for it?" He replied he'd give it to me free cause i guess he had figured it would end up to a good, caring home and that he had no use for it or much sentimental value either so it had to go. First we were supposed to meet sometime last summer but failed to set a meeting until this february. I didn't want to pressure him either asking too frequently about the frame cause that would've given the wrong kind of impression. I knew things would work out on their own with a little patience and good things are always worth waiting, especially in this case.
You know, sometimes getting in touch with old friend/s from back in the day takes you a while so that you get used to the idea of meeting someone after many years, in this case after some 10 years. For many people, including myself, it doesn't always happen just like that.

Anyway, we set a date and finally met around mid february and he appeared downstars with the frame, two unopened lower gyro cables and a GT Epoch headset in the back of his car ready to pass them to the new owner. We came upstairs to our place and had a great moment catching up and reminiscing the good old days at Vartiokylän Pyörä bike shop where we used to meet most of the time apart from odd competitions and bike meetings. We used hang out at the shop pretty much daily and ride there during the winter seasons. He was a street rider with amazing jumping skills whether he was on dirt or ramps and i remember when he got the PK it was (heck, it still IS) the only known PK Ripper in the whole country! I also remember how exotic the frame was within our tight knit circuit because none of us had ridden such light frame before and most of the street riders here rode GTs, Dynos or Bullys. That is, the more less usual freestyle vessels of the time. From what i've known Kilwa he has always been very positive, straight up good guy with great sense of humour and presentation and who'd always reply to you with big smile. Therefore it is now great honour to have his coolest ride in the collection.

According to Kilwa, who is the original and only previous owner of the frame, his PK was purchased around '91 or '92, likely '92, from ACE (for American Cycle Express) mailorder. One of the reasons they chose to use ACE is because they'd accept American Express instead of Visa and Master Card. I thought that was interesting detail. And as usual, ordering stuff from overseas was still big those days. Big as in rare, carefully planned and thought of event cause you didn't just go about and purchase new parts every day. Instead you'd save up money and plan carefully what you'd need and what you could afford and either call in or fax your order. On-line shopping carts and order forms? LOL! Those didn't exist so it was serious business placing an order. But this you knew already.

The frame had survived in great condition considering it has had its fair share of street bashing over the years when it used to be Kilwa's daily rider. I can't say for sure how long he had it in daily use but i'd guess maybe less than two years, not sure though. The frame had been sitting in a garage since early to mid 90's. Once i got the frame i figured all the frame really needed was a good and thorough clean up, polish and a layer of protective car wax on top. There was slight oxidation, not much, and the usual dirt and grease.

To this day i haven't quite figured out why the PK Ripper has those ginormous drop out slots that require the use of special axle adapters/washers? Anyone? I am genuinely interested to hear this. Instead of purchasing a set of those machined adapters online i made my own using pieces of aluminum, one being a stripped alloy wedge bolt of a stem. CNC machined? LOL! No way. Just a hacksaw, file and steelwool for the finishing touch. Handicraft all the way. 

The frame has a mounting place designed for Pitbull or other centerpull type brake application at the wishbone right behind the bottom bracket and has two cable guides the top of the down tube. Kilwa for some reason, prefered using the Pitbull on the seatstay bridge but i prefered using the chainstay mounts. The chainstays/wishbone is pretty much perfect place for the Pitbull but i found out that wouldn't happen without making a custom washer first. See the problem was with the angle of the Pitbull which didn't line up with the angle of the cable coming thru the bottom of the seat tube where the adjusting barrel is. There was a slight kink which had to fixed by making a special angled washer placed under the Pitbull. Also, the pulley needed to be bent slightly for optimal angle.

All the original decals are intact except for the seat tube decal. The drop outs were in very nice condition aswell. Remember, this frame was used daily for street riding including ramps, mini ramps and occasional jumps at local trails, not as a BMX race bike. From what i remember and from looking at the old videos of Kilwa with his bike, it was set up in typical early 90's mix and match fashion. There used to be various brand components from different manufacturers. Here's something i can remember or identify from our videos and photos; Bully freestyle bars, RL Edge wheels with freecoaster, RL Edge tires, GT "wings" sprocket, Haro/Fusion 3pc cranks, GT seat, ACS lever, Pitbull brake etc.

I decided to go my own way, again. I wasn't going to make a catalog or era specific SE build, not that i even knew what that would be! I wasn't going to build a replica of Kilwa's bike either although that too, crossed my mind more than once. Instead i came to the conclusion where i would build it like i would like to build any proper race bike, but the way it deserves to be built with "good looking" and atleast half decent components. Not so much with NOS or expensive in mind cause once again i was on a budget so i had to compromise and cut costs, yet again. The good thing about building on a limited budget is that you HAVE TO get creative and see what existing and possible cheaper stuff you can use instead of just shopping around with platinum Visa. But who knows, maybe one day i will upgrade. I had/have plans for Profile 3pc cranks but i don't know if those will happen anytime soon so for now, these parts will (have to) do.

I was seriously considering finding a set of those Bully "forklifter" bars for this bike because those were the bars i remember best him having. To be honest i had no idea what bars there "should" be on a typical, correctly done PK build and i am not familiar much at all with race bike componentry as much as i am with freestyle stuff. I thought, heck, i'll just build this using the parts that will come up and see what the result is. But ofcourse i had certain image of the finished bike in my head so i knew what style of parts i should be looking for.

Choosing the bars was tough and i thought of many different ones until i came across with the "unknown" set of chrome bars which after further investigation, turned out to be Torker2 Freestyle bars from around '87-88, very similiar shape to Tioga Air Waves bars i have minus the extra crossbar. Cool. They are kinda crossover shape so you can use them for serious stylin' as well as for speeding down the track. But more importantly they're very comfortable to hold on to and with all the bends in the right places. Pleasant surprise for less than 20 USD and it even came with the OG "Freestyle" sticker still on.

The wheels were another dilemma. I was puzzled should i go with mags or spoked wheels for this build. I figured in my head that Tuffs would've been "too old" for '91-'92. I went thru my magazines to verify than in early 90's the only guys still using mags were street riders, pretty much. Luckily i found a decent set of white/silver 36's. They are taiwanese, single wall KinLin brand Araya copies with silver sidewall, painted inner. They came with low flange sealed tech JoyTech hubs. They are a nice wheel set as is but they needed that final personal touch so i added some holographic tape on the hubs for the multicolor detail effect. The tires are Comp III style gumwall by Hwa Fong brand which always reminds of a title of some crazy kung fu movie. There's 2.125 fattie on front and 1.75 at rear for the authentic race looks and feel.

The forks... I am well aware that PK Rippers and Landing Gear forks seem go together like hand and (a tight) leather glove. There isn't many around without the other. Except on my build there is! HA! I simply got both frustrated and annoyed while looking at some of the prices the used (let alone NOS) Landing Gear forks go for these days so i wanted to fight against "the landing gear rule" in my own little world where not everything is by the catalog and went the other way like i am so used to.

As i was browsing teh internets in my search for the "perfect candidate" i came accross with yet another item describes as "unknown aftermarket forks" etc. These forks came from the UK and had oval or "totally aerodynamic" tubes. Totally cool! The decision was made, "those will be the forks for my Ripper!" Not only they were cool looking but cheap too! The set cost me one british pound, just shy of 2 US dollars plus shipping. Just the right style of forks i was looking for. At the time I had no idea who's the manufacturer as there is no stampings anywhere on it but frankly i don't even care. However it turned out later they are indeed UK made Acorn Aero Power Flyte forks made in the UK with original retail price of £6. They work great, look great and most importantly go well together with the pancake flat tubing of the frame aswell. The old ad said they are made from "Phoenix 101 tubing" ..whatever that is and that they're "Fully Guaranteed" and were also available in 16". Looking at the welds and overall quality they indeed are just that, a £6 fork but what the hell, they fit the purpose and looks perfectly. The most interesting part was, i found what was left of the original fork decals inside, and under the capped ends of the fork legs. And those decal remians confirm that it is indeed the abovementioned fork. And now i feel like Sherlock Holmes for solving the mystery.

This was the first time i have ever assembled and actually used the late 80's GT Epoch headset in any of my bikes. I was a bit skeptical on how it would function let alone trying to figure out the "self tightening" spring thingy system. Anything associated with the words "self" and "tightening" in bike parts sounds like hocus pocus but amazingly enough, so far it seems to work ok. No less than all by itself. I had two sets with blue caps so the other was ok to sacrifice for the black dye experiment. After cooking it couple of minutes it came out nice and black with the white lettering still readable. There was another reason to use the Epoch aswell.
The fork had unusually short threads and it would've been impossible to use anything else than just a bearing cone alone. Therefore the low profile Epoch with the integrated locking spring came handy and was the only option really. There was absolutely no spare threads for any locking nut whatsoever.

As i write this there is a right side Dia-Compe Tech-7 lever hooked up to the Pitbull but i will likely switch it to something else because i hate to have the pair of Tech-7's separated like this. Plus they're freestyle models with locking buttons and we can't have that on a racer now can we. Another thing that will change soon is the gearing from 43 to 44 for more speed and less cranking around and i have a handlebar pad arriving, hopefully soon.

So, this is my new build for this summer (unless i win the lottery next week) and my first real race bike and i absolutely love it in every aspect. Another thing i really appreciate is the pure simplicity of things! For once, no gyros or other detanglers, no potts, no pegs, no platforms, no extra grips, no bar ends, no freecoasters etc. gimmicks to worry about and less stuff to maintain. Just the pure form and function and the sole purpose to go fast. After spending the past 20 years with freestyle bikes i found this new building experience very pleasant.

Parts & specs:

• Frame: 1991-1992 SE Racing "P.K. Ripper" in polished aluminum
• Serial #: PK0108
• Forks: UK made Acorn Aero Power Flyte made of Phoenix 101 oval tubing, threaded, w/capped ends
• Headset: GT Epoch w/black dyed cap and home made plastic dirt skirt, late 80's
• Stem: GT Pro Series XL (from the 1990-1992 era)
• Bars: Torker2 Freestyle bars 28" by 9" cro-mo
• Handlebar Pad: Johar California Lite v-handlebar pad
• Grips: A'me Round bubble font
• Brake/Pads: Odyssey Pitbull w/Skyway FS Tuff pads
• Lever: Dia-Compe Tech-7 w/potts
• Cable: Dia-Compe housing (stamped) w/Animal Bikes slick cable
• Seatpost: GT layback w/round logo stamp, chopped layback section and capped at the top
• Seatpost clamp: integrated
• Seat: "AeroLite" by Velo
• Rims: KinLin 36H 20x1.75 "shiny side" single wall Araya style alloy rims w/extra rim strips 
• Hubs: JoyTech 36H low flange sealed tech
• Chainwheel: Profile spider from late 80's (used) combined with Tuf Neck 48T chain ring and GT fixing bolts
• Chain: KMC
• Freewheel: Shimano SF-MX30 16T (restored and re-adjusted)
• Bottom Bracket: Tioga BB-220 24T
• Cranks: Tioga Task Force 1pc cro-mo 175mm (made by Takagi)
• Tires: Hwa Fong Comp III tread gumwall 20x2.125 front, Hutchinson Comp III tread 20x1.75 rear
• Tubes: Kenda 20 x 2.125 front, 20 x 1.75 rear
• Pedals: KKT RX ½"

• October 2009: Ever since i completed this bike i have gone thru 43, 44, 45, 46 tooth chainrings and currently i'm running a 48T Tuf neck chainring. Only NOW we can talk about fast! Yes i needed bigger gearing to move around faster afterall, this has been my main ride to work this year. Finally i am able to catch up those fixie hipsters and leave them behind!! mwahahahaha!!!
• August 2009: had to replace the rear tire and went from Hwa Fong CompIII to Hutchinson CompIII. What does that mean? Nothing i guess. Also, finally replaced the generic 175mm Cro-Mo cranks with Tioga Task Force 175mm made by Takagi.
• June 2009: GT 46T chainring for ever more speed hooked up with GT chainring bolts.

• January 2009: Finally had a meeting with the bike's previous (original) owner and my old riding buddy Kilwa. It was nice to catch up aswell as finally take a picture of him side by side with his old, restored ride.September
• 2008: Reversible Team Cycle REVPad (all white or black/white zebra stripes) for maximum protection. Thanks John! 
• July 2008: White KKT RX pedals for maximum foot grip and maximum color balance.
• June 2008: Tuf Neck 44T chainring for maximum speed.
• June 2008: Johar California Lite v-handlebar pad for maximum style.