1976 Race Inc.  RSS Feed

#1 2007-04-26 7:45am

Billy Baldone
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From: Woodstock IL
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1976 Race Inc.

http://bmxmuseum.com/image/bike6.gif http://bmxmuseum.com/image/bike7.gif http://bmxmuseum.com/image/sticker.gif http://bmxmuseum.com/image/bike1.gif

1976 Race Inc.

1976 mostly original very good condition

.I got thi bike when I was 12 from a family friend, and it has been in my parent garage for the past 22 years. I cleaned it put NOS Maxy Cross cranks on it along with NOS gold rims and other that the brake cable and grips, everything else is original I also would like to thank hoffman1 for help on my new parts


http://bmxmuseum.com/img/view-bike-in-museum.gif

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#2 2007-04-26 1:42pm

motoguy62
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Re: 1976 Race Inc.

Nice build!!! well done!! what are those forks?? are they Dan Gurney Eagles?

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#3 2007-04-26 1:53pm

Billy Baldone
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Re: 1976 Race Inc.

Not sure what they are, I am 99.9% sure they are the original equipment forks,whatever they were.

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#4 2007-04-26 3:51pm

troy
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From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: 2006-11-03
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Re: 1976 Race Inc.

Nice bike!! I had a 78 gold FMF as my first "real" bike. I wish i never sold it. The forks look like Tange.


UBR racer 79-81 team " Pedal it People" bike shop #117, #76, #51

"I hope you have a big trunk... because I'm puttin' my bike in it.

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#5 2007-04-27 1:00am

shivadread
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Re: 1976 Race Inc.

That is one stunning build you've done there, looks sweet


RIDE IT LIKE YOU STOLE IT

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#6 2007-10-28 8:17pm

AncientRebel
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Registered: 2007-10-28
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Re: 1976 Race Inc.

Hey, Gang. Man, this brings back memories.

I worked for Bill Bastian when he was just starting the Kawasaki BMX line. That was his design and he used Triple A as a financial backer. We made both steel and aluminum bikes for Kawasaki back then, starting in 1975. They had rear shocks and fake rubber boots for front shocks and that was about it. The steel ones were green and the aluminum ones were of course ball burnished silver.

I don’t know whether Bill is dead or alive, so I’ll be kind to him here. My mental picture of him has him in a tan Member’s Only jacket. His blonde hair was thinning and his face was in the first stages of wrinkles, but there was always mischief in his grey eyes.  I’ll never know if he liked me but I like to think so.

Triple A was an armpit of a place, based on cheap labor and no amenities. A guy I went to welding school with named Brian and I were hired right out of high school. Neither of us really knew how to weld, so we were hired and spent a few weeks welding scrap metal and generally screwing off.

Eventually we got our act together and started making bikes. Ed Penfold (III) of Triple A helped Bill with the fixtures and equipment. We had one ancient TIG machine and one workable Cobra MIG. Brian got the MIG while I started working the TIG when we got a new Lincoln.

You can tell the earliest Kawasaki bikes by the rear sections. The first ones were TIG welded and have an appearance much like the rest of the welds on the bike, but the later ones were MIG welded (by Brian) and the welds are much rougher just because of the process, not because of Brian. Okay, maybe a little because of Brian.

I never welded a steel bike, Brian did those. I did all of the aluminum bikes. I started out making about three a day. It was hot, July heat and no air. By October I was cranking out three an hour. By spring I was doing 35 a day. I think I was making about $2.75 an hour.

I left Triple A in 1977 for another job, but when Bill went on his own he needed a welder to help him make his first bikes, so he called me. He had a small service garage on some alley in Gardena. He had a surface plate, a micrometer, a tube bender, a lathe, a mill, a saw, and a cot upon which he spent many nights. A small office with a drawing table was attached.

Bill hand measured each bend, each cut, every detail on those first bikes. His new design was much different from the Kawasaki. Bill eliminated the rear suspension and moved the seat post up. He put a triangular throat for the rear stays in and beefed up the wheel stays, creating a solid union with the crank tube. Those first few bikes weren’t perfect, but he had them ball burnished and/or anodized and took them on road shows.

That’s when he came up with the simple Race, Inc. sticker he put on the head tube. As the first trade show was near, one night (we always worked late those first months), Bill sent me to a Carrow’s restaurant for some dinner. He gave me some cash and told me to get what I wanted and whatever looked good for him. As we ate on the granite flat, bill started to sketch a logo out. It was just Race, Inc. inside a circle, but as the ink bled out it created a scalloped effect along the edge of the circle. I shrugged. At that point I had a crush on his daughter and had little else on my mind.
Eventually Bill moved his shop to a location not at all far from Triple A. We went into production soon after. I got to do everything on those bikes in the first year. I bent the handlebars, cut the head tubes on the mill, cranktubes, too. I bent the downtubes and deburred the gussets. I welded my head off, and learned a lot by doing that.

I left Race, Inc. in 1978 to work in aerospace. That has been a wild ride, and a whole ‘nuther story, but those days with Bill Bastian, his son, and his company were juicy, rich days. I missed out on his daughter, though.

I have a lot of stories about those days if anyone is interested.

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#7 2008-02-09 1:17pm

pjcruiser
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Re: 1976 Race Inc.

that is some great info!  Welcome to the site.  I pm'd you about posting some more info in the research section also.

thanks again!

PJ


"HOME OF THE FREE... BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE!!"

"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'what a ride!'"

"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today."

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#8 2008-02-20 6:26pm

That70'sGuy
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Re: 1976 Race Inc.

AncientRebel wrote:

Hey, Gang. Man, this brings back memories.

I worked for Bill Bastian when he was just starting the Kawasaki BMX line. That was his design and he used Triple A as a financial backer. We made both steel and aluminum bikes for Kawasaki back then, starting in 1975. They had rear shocks and fake rubber boots for front shocks and that was about it. The steel ones were green and the aluminum ones were of course ball burnished silver.

I don’t know whether Bill is dead or alive, so I’ll be kind to him here. My mental picture of him has him in a tan Member’s Only jacket. His blonde hair was thinning and his face was in the first stages of wrinkles, but there was always mischief in his grey eyes.  I’ll never know if he liked me but I like to think so.

Triple A was an armpit of a place, based on cheap labor and no amenities. A guy I went to welding school with named Brian and I were hired right out of high school. Neither of us really knew how to weld, so we were hired and spent a few weeks welding scrap metal and generally screwing off.

Eventually we got our act together and started making bikes. Ed Penfold (III) of Triple A helped Bill with the fixtures and equipment. We had one ancient TIG machine and one workable Cobra MIG. Brian got the MIG while I started working the TIG when we got a new Lincoln.

You can tell the earliest Kawasaki bikes by the rear sections. The first ones were TIG welded and have an appearance much like the rest of the welds on the bike, but the later ones were MIG welded (by Brian) and the welds are much rougher just because of the process, not because of Brian. Okay, maybe a little because of Brian.

I never welded a steel bike, Brian did those. I did all of the aluminum bikes. I started out making about three a day. It was hot, July heat and no air. By October I was cranking out three an hour. By spring I was doing 35 a day. I think I was making about $2.75 an hour.

I left Triple A in 1977 for another job, but when Bill went on his own he needed a welder to help him make his first bikes, so he called me. He had a small service garage on some alley in Gardena. He had a surface plate, a micrometer, a tube bender, a lathe, a mill, a saw, and a cot upon which he spent many nights. A small office with a drawing table was attached.

Bill hand measured each bend, each cut, every detail on those first bikes. His new design was much different from the Kawasaki. Bill eliminated the rear suspension and moved the seat post up. He put a triangular throat for the rear stays in and beefed up the wheel stays, creating a solid union with the crank tube. Those first few bikes weren’t perfect, but he had them ball burnished and/or anodized and took them on road shows.

That’s when he came up with the simple Race, Inc. sticker he put on the head tube. As the first trade show was near, one night (we always worked late those first months), Bill sent me to a Carrow’s restaurant for some dinner. He gave me some cash and told me to get what I wanted and whatever looked good for him. As we ate on the granite flat, bill started to sketch a logo out. It was just Race, Inc. inside a circle, but as the ink bled out it created a scalloped effect along the edge of the circle. I shrugged. At that point I had a crush on his daughter and had little else on my mind.
Eventually Bill moved his shop to a location not at all far from Triple A. We went into production soon after. I got to do everything on those bikes in the first year. I bent the handlebars, cut the head tubes on the mill, cranktubes, too. I bent the downtubes and deburred the gussets. I welded my head off, and learned a lot by doing that.

I left Race, Inc. in 1978 to work in aerospace. That has been a wild ride, and a whole ‘nuther story, but those days with Bill Bastian, his son, and his company were juicy, rich days. I missed out on his daughter, though.

I have a lot of stories about those days if anyone is interested.

awsome piece of history tell us more......
dion


1 847 249 5670 shop ask for von never on thursday
playatyourownrisk360@yahoo.com  bmxpert on duty.....
thats 1400 , leading to the safe return of the collection .....
210 264 8937
no law involved , just me my dad and 1400 in cash and you pointing a finger saying its in there [/b]

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#9 2008-02-25 10:40am

MADDAWG
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Re: 1976 Race Inc.

Thats a nice ride you got there i had those forks on my FOILER back in the day.


.                       IL/WI Border area O.G.O.A.R.                            
                                         
                      Option #2 is in FULL EFFECT

      Rule #9 :If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.

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#10 2009-12-29 5:17pm

RadDad67
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Re: 1976 Race Inc.

Wow, just saw this bike pop up on the homepage and had a peek, glad I did. Great bike and story!

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#11 2009-12-29 8:02pm

That70'sGuy
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Re: 1976 Race Inc.

RadDad67 wrote:

Wow, just saw this bike pop up on the homepage and had a peek, glad I did. Great bike and story!

awesome story


1 847 249 5670 shop ask for von never on thursday
playatyourownrisk360@yahoo.com  bmxpert on duty.....
thats 1400 , leading to the safe return of the collection .....
210 264 8937
no law involved , just me my dad and 1400 in cash and you pointing a finger saying its in there [/b]

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#12 2010-01-15 9:56am

Z.
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From: TX
Registered: 2009-05-18
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Re: 1976 Race Inc.

big_smile

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#14 2010-04-01 10:11am

Brianm
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Registered: 2006-03-25
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Re: 1976 Race Inc.

Very cool, isn't this a Jr. frame?

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#15 2011-12-11 4:49pm

little7251
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Registered: 2006-03-23
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Re: 1976 Race Inc.

found that exact frame in garage just yesterday mad eh?
smile

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#16 2012-01-02 7:49pm

6s135
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Re: 1976 Race Inc.

big_smile Nice


☛☛☛☛☛☛☛☛☛☛☛☛☛☛☛☛☛☛☛☛☛☛☛☛Friends don't let friends ride junk.☚☚☚☚☚☚☚☚☚☚☚☚☚☚☚☚☚☚☚☚☚☚☚☚
Wanted: my old 1979 Quadangle...
☢☢☢☢ Survivors only  ☢☢☢☢

Ride In Peace Autumn Pasquale

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#17 2012-12-26 8:55pm

MrOlive
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Re: 1976 Race Inc.

Wow, that is so cool!! The Bill Bastien frames are awesome!! I have a couple you made, that rules!!! I just refinished a 76 Laguna gt today. Thanks for the info smile


I got lots of stuff, what you need? lol

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