BMXmuseum.com Forums

ABSOLUTELY not............ALWAYS ride your bikes! NOS or not...........I dont care if your spend $1000, $2000 or more, ride them and enjoy them. You do not have to kill them or yourself, riding is riding, no matter what level your at. Forget all this collector code BS.........do yourself a favor, do whats best for you and your budget. Forget all the era correct stuff if you want to. Or do era correct if thats your thing. Mix era's if you like, build what you like, spend what you like, just ride and enjoy it.

Want to really feel a rush......build your dream bike, just as you picture it. Buy the parts NOS or refinished.....whatever. Then when its done, no matter what the cost, feel the worry and fear of it getting scratched or dirty, then flush that down the toilet and ride that bad boy! Thats all you need to know..........

Your weight is fine, but one thing that majorly sucked about 80's freestyle bikes was the axles and pegs situation.

If you have a bent or stripped axle to deal with I highly recommend a STANDARD axle:
http://flatlandfuel.com/standardbykecof … axles.aspx

I also use large washers on the inside of the rear dropouts because 80's bikes tended to have thin softer steel dropouts where the nuts would dig in.

Last edited by cmc (2012-06-24 12:24am)

the old school will support you just  fine im 196  lbs  and 6 ft. .  i ride 20" race bikes  all day and have taken my esp mini titanium up the block for a ride and back to house  , it all depends  on your riding style and as for money usually  you  will spend alot  and not get what you put in  just like  a muscle car  , complete bikes  not many people buy them most would rather build one to their tastes.  unless of  course  it a  HUTCH PRO STAR  then get in line  somewhere behind  me

Depending on what this CW you have looks like, consider not using NOS or refinished parts at all. Way cheaper, and the ride vs. not ride question becomes a whole lot less distressing. There's a couple different viewpoints to this hobby (and of course those in between somewhere). The first is to use NOS parts and/or refinished to build perfect show bikes. Carpet queens if you will. High dollar usually even for bikes that aren't high dollar, and even higher dollar for those bikes that are. Then there's those of us who like the survivor completes, or the bikes built from used parts (that end up looking like survivors, some call them "survivor builds"... don't even get into that whole debate). But anyway... what I found, and what some others have found also, is that I got into the hobby, got a used bike/parts and immediately wanted to restore it all to perfection. Started buying NOS parts or thinking about having a f/f repainted/powdered. $$$ $$$$ !!!!. I did a couple of those, then realized how much $ that was and that all I had when I was done was either a wall ornament or a bike that I had to then part out and sell piece by piece for less $ than I'd paid for it. I realized I wasn't having a whole lot of fun that way. Some guys that's where they have all their fun, and I enjoy looking at their builds at the shows or online. But over time, I've started appreciating the survivor completes a lot more. Of all types of bikes. I'll get a bike that's seen some action, has some scratches, and I'll take it all apart, clean it, put it back together and get everything working perfectly again, but leave the look the way it is. Scratches and all. A tiny bit of rust on BMX is ok sometimes too (but I admit, I generally don't buy the rusty BMX bikes to begin with, I like clean survivors). On other non-BMX bikes I collect, I just leave the rust in place and they look good, sort of a rat rod look. Makes it obvious to people watching me ride that it's a real old bike, not a new fake POS Wal-Mart bike or a new retro ride.

So.... figure out what you really want. It's a hell of a lot cheaper to just find survivors, or even build out of appropriate used parts. Leave them the way they are, fix what needs to be fixed or if there's one part where the condition just drives you nuts. But don't spend thousands refinishing. Here's a secret... an un-refinished or not-NOS bike that is tuned to perfection with no broken parts is going to ride just as well as a 100% restored bike. Sometimes better, because you can use any part you want.

As suggested above, I often use new "reissue" or "repop" tires, grips, and even seats sometimes. That will never get the respect of the purist "carpet queen" guys, but who cares. Protects my bank account, and I enjoy it just as much, and I'm not afraid to ride, because replacement tires and grips are just a new order away.

Have fun whatever you do!

Stoner71 wrote:

ABSOLUTELY not............ALWAYS ride your bikes! NOS or not...........I dont care if your spend $1000, $2000 or more, ride them and enjoy them. You do not have to kill them or yourself, riding is riding, no matter what level your at. Forget all this collector code BS.........do yourself a favor, do whats best for you and your budget. Forget all the era correct stuff if you want to. Or do era correct if thats your thing. Mix era's if you like, build what you like, spend what you like, just ride and enjoy it.

Want to really feel a rush......build your dream bike, just as you picture it. Buy the parts NOS or refinished.....whatever. Then when its done, no matter what the cost, feel the worry and fear of it getting scratched or dirty, then flush that down the toilet and ride that bad boy! Thats all you need to know..........

Mirage1972 wrote:

Oh yeah, and by doing it this way "survivor completes" or "builds from used parts", you can afford a whole lot more bikes if you'd like to. Restored/NOS will drive you broke real quick especially with the absurd prices some people ask for stuff. $5000 builds around here are not unheard of by any means.

Depending on what this CW you have looks like, consider not using NOS or refinished parts at all. Way cheaper, and the ride vs. not ride question becomes a whole lot less distressing. There's a couple different viewpoints to this hobby (and of course those in between somewhere). The first is to use NOS parts and/or refinished to build perfect show bikes. Carpet queens if you will. High dollar usually even for bikes that aren't high dollar, and even higher dollar for those bikes that are. Then there's those of us who like the survivor completes, or the bikes built from used parts (that end up looking like survivors, some call them "survivor builds"... don't even get into that whole debate). But anyway... what I found, and what some others have found also, is that I got into the hobby, got a used bike/parts and immediately wanted to restore it all to perfection. Started buying NOS parts or thinking about having a f/f repainted/powdered. $$$ $$$$ !!!!. I did a couple of those, then realized how much $ that was and that all I had when I was done was either a wall ornament or a bike that I had to then part out and sell piece by piece for less $ than I'd paid for it. I realized I wasn't having a whole lot of fun that way. Some guys that's where they have all their fun, and I enjoy looking at their builds at the shows or online. But over time, I've started appreciating the survivor completes a lot more. Of all types of bikes. I'll get a bike that's seen some action, has some scratches, and I'll take it all apart, clean it, put it back together and get everything working perfectly again, but leave the look the way it is. Scratches and all. A tiny bit of rust on BMX is ok sometimes too (but I admit, I generally don't buy the rusty BMX bikes to begin with, I like clean survivors). On other non-BMX bikes I collect, I just leave the rust in place and they look good, sort of a rat rod look. Makes it obvious to people watching me ride that it's a real old bike, not a new fake POS Wal-Mart bike or a new retro ride.

So.... figure out what you really want. It's a hell of a lot cheaper to just find survivors, or even build out of appropriate used parts. Leave them the way they are, fix what needs to be fixed or if there's one part where the condition just drives you nuts. But don't spend thousands refinishing. Here's a secret... an un-refinished or not-NOS bike that is tuned to perfection with no broken parts is going to ride just as well as a 100% restored bike. Sometimes better, because you can use any part you want.

As suggested above, I often use new "reissue" or "repop" tires, grips, and even seats sometimes. That will never get the respect of the purist "carpet queen" guys, but who cares. Protects my bank account, and I enjoy it just as much, and I'm not afraid to ride, because replacement tires and grips are just a new order away.

Have fun whatever you do!

I am with these guys!

Ride like we did when we were 10 years old....oblivious to the world around us with a big, fat smile!

Welcome back to the passion!  Here is my suggestion, I also love my stuff to look new, i like survivor builds but they need to be MINT. I have a few bikes my self with NOS parts, this is what i do, i ride them no matter what the value, but on my riders i will not run hard to find soft goods,  tires, grips seat. I will get some pork chop tires, my main rider is a GT PFT and it actually has ACS RL HP tires, the only reason is that's how it was back then and I have a few sets of them. Enjoy the resto side, but also enjoy the riding side. Both of those bikes will handle your weight no problem, im not sure how hard i would ride them unless you have seen them striped down and a good visual inspection was done. Only because the steel could have pitting or cracks at the welds.

Last edited by kilrgt (2012-06-24 7:28am)

Thanks for all the replies.  I think I am going to make my bikes as factory new as I can but also ride them.  I want my bikes to "pop" so I will get powder coated when needed.  Also, I will try and get all the right defining parts...ie: the ones that even non-collectors will recognize my bike and say "man I love that bike..I had one just like it back in the day" but maybe pay less attention to more of the picky items...hubs, tires, grips etc as long as they are close to era.

I can't wait to complete my builds and start riding old school!!