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1992 Haro Ground Master

1991 serial# Haro Ground Master w/'92 decals, purchased NOS in 2003. Daily rider, built & customized by Timo "2Fresh" in Helsinki Finland.


This bike got me back into the riding scene in late 2003 after a few years pause/burnout. By the time 90's ended and the new millennium had stepped the flatland bikes had turned into clones of each other, I was really missing the mid-school days and bikes. I found the Ground Master from the UK, at Alan's BMX shop to be specific, and i didn't have to think twice to go about buying it. I can't turn back the clock but i realized i can return my mental state back into those dark years of freestyle with the excellent 1992 Haro Ground Master.
At the beginning of the 90's there was somewhat limited amount of decent flatland frames available unless you count in those good ol' 80's frames which were still widely available and in use getting stripped and beat up and ultimately ending up in the dumpster.
The Ground Master has become a small classic in it's own field and it is truly an excellent flatland machine for the 'styler with the early 90's tricks in mind, be it flatland or street, the bike could always handle both. Even today it has the right angles and bends in right places and some well thought good measures for the average freestyler. In my opinion the Ground Master was THE last decent model Haro put out before getting on the crazy "Megatube" bandwagon.
Haro Ground Master was basicly just an updated version of the 1987-88 Masters without the useless chainstay platforms that got on the way in most ground tricks more advanced than balancing tricks of the mid-80's.
Comparing the 1991 and 1992 Ground Masters, the 1991 model had built-in peg bosses on rear drop outs aswell as in the bottom of the fork tubes. In 1992 Ground Master they had removed those somewaht useless rear peg mounts, unless you were a street rider doing grinds.But for flatland tricks the rear peg mounts were waaay off-balance compared to axle-mounted rear pegs.
What's also different in the 1991 and 1992 Ground Master are the graphics. 1991's decals came in shades of green & blue and 1992 in orange/golden-yellow. Also the layout/size of the letters are slightly different.
Some people think those Ground Master's graphics were straight up ugly where as some people think they are cool. Well, you decide. I think they are pretty cool and they represent the style of the early 90's era. I mean if you look at the later Haro graphics in the '93 Master, and then say, in the '96 "Ultra" etc. sheesh.. what were they thinking in the mid 90's?
Back when the Ground Master was first intorduced in 1991 i thought it looked fresh and functional. The low geometry was still there, the steering angle was steeper than on the previous Masters, the forks/drop outs were beefier, and they finally gave up on those horrible chainstay platforms. Yet there was still the true and tested wrap-around headtube gusset and the mounts for the U-brake. Unlike GT/Dyno who removed the u-brake mounts from their early 90's models.
Also, on the Ground Master they had improved seatpost plate desing and switched from the no-good plate design into an oval tube which was way stronger than the plate that used to crack around the welds etc. etc. There were so many improvements that the Ground Master was a serious freestyle machine of the time. I mean some of the early 90's top flatland riders like Jesse Puente, Danny Meng, Chad Degroot and Bill Nitschke rode it including some street riders too so it couldn't be that bad.
The Ground Master was sold as a complete bike only (correct me if i'm wrong) and came with very decent set of parts like the Ukai 48 double wall silver rims, Haro Multisurface tires, Haro Kneesaver bars, Odyssey Gyro/cables, Dia-Compe brakes (AD-990 and Nippon) and Tech-77 levers, Haro/Fusion CD sprocket, Odyssey Excalibur cranks, flangeless Haro Krayton grips w/bar ends, the list goes on and on.
Some of the parts however, were not that impressive like generic stem with just the name "Fusion" screened on it, the big-ass Dominator style seat, the generic bottom bracket/headset and those cool but cheesy Fusion aka DX copy pedals and finally, those heavy yet kinda cool looking Fusion steel pegs and the "Twin-torq" Fusion seatpost clamp which was the craze of the era. But after just a few parts changes the Ground Master would've been ready to rock and roll.
I use my Ground Master as a rider and it has been custom built the way i would've loved to build it in early 90's. There's now decent length and light weight aluminun pegs with grip tape ofcourse, and a straight seatpost and good looking stylish seat. The inverted stem is there for more ground control and pull and the upper gyro cable has been shortened using custom made "Nippon clamps" that were a popular modification in the early 90's. The MKS Grafight-X look-a-like pedals are those VP's used in 1987 Haros. I chose 2-piece sprocket for style and color and replaced the stock silver rims with chrome plated Ukai Equalizer HP48 rims for better braking and more shine.

Parts & Specs:
* Frame: 1991 Haro Ground Master w/1992 decals (purchased NOS in the box)
* Construction: 100% Chro-Moly
* Serial#: A91H62109
* Forks: Haro 1" w/thread-in peg bosses at the bottom of the fork tubes
* Bars: Haro Pro Freestyle Kneesaver with extra pair of ODI "Locomotive grips", the bars have been straightened a bit to get rid of the exaggerated sweep
* Bar ends: Camacura with allen pinch bolts
* Stem: Profile Racing Pro XL inverted with custom fitted hollow bolt
* Grips: A'me Round (my old ones from bitd w/cut off flanges)
* Seatpost: Cro-Mo 22.2
* Seat: Velo (model VL-210)
* Seatpost clamp: Odyssey RX-2
* Levers: Dia Compe Tech-77 japanese made
* Front brake/pads: Dia Compe 883 Nippon w/Odyssey micro adjuster and Skyway FS Tuff Pads
* Rear brake/pads: Dia Compe AD-990 w/Dia Compe pulley, Skyway FS Tuff Pads
* Gyro: Odyssey mk1
* Gyro cables upper/lower: SST Oryg/Odyssey, the upper Gyro cable has custom made "Nippon clamp" cable shorteners
* Front brake cable: Dia Compe
* Headset: Tioga MX, black
* Cranks: Haro/Fusion 1pc. 175mm Cro-Mo
* Pedals: VP "Grafight-X" style 1/2" (modified)
* Sprocket: Re-Racing power disc w/Tioga CD chain wheel 43T and red anodized fixing bolts
* Bottom bracket: YST waterproof "sealed tech" 24T
* Chain: Izumi ½" x 1/8"
* Rims: Ukai Equalizer HP 48s double wall/chrome plated with 183mm spokes and chrome plated brass nipples
* Rim strips: electrical tape
* Front hub: Suzue sealed bearing 48 with Hoffman bikes 3/8" axle 26T
* Rear hub: Nankai Techno freecoaster w/16T cog & regular driver and 3/8" axle 26T
* Pegs: aluminum core of Demolition Dumb Chuck pegs without the plastic grind sleeves, 108mm (Length) by 35mm (Dia.)
* Tires: Panaracer Freestyle, orange/skinwall 20 x 1.75 inflated to 80PSI
* Tubes: Kenda 20 x 1.75-2.125"
* Original retail price: $439 (Source: BMX Plus! march 1991)



Forthcoming updates:
* (march 2009) Currently the bike is being built back to its original factory stock looks as it is no longer my daily rider.
* Still need to change the cranks to correct 1pc Odyssey Excaliburs.


Previous updates:
* December 2007: Orange Panaracer Freestyle tires for more color (..and less performance to be honest).
* August 2007: Ditched the gyro cover, finally. It wasn't helping much and it looked pretty horrible anyway.
* Changed the '92 inverted DK stem to inverted Profile stem for better structural balance and looks.
* Got rid of the heavy Voxom steel pegs and replaced them with very light weight aluminum pegs aka internals of the Demolition "Dumb chuck" pegs but without the stock plastic grind sleeve, guess the overall weight must've dropped bout a kilo.. sheesh.
* Swithced the chrome plated steel fixing nuts & bolts on the sprocket to red anodized aluminum fixing nuts & bolts for looks (and lighter weight, lol!).
* Polished the frame & fork with car wax for additional bling and protection.
* Replaced the worn out rear Kenda slick with a 1.75 VMonster.
* Replaced the beat up Viscount seat with same style Velo seat.
* Replaced ODI Long Neck grips with my old set of modified red Ame rounds.

Last edited by 2Fresh (2008-01-07 2:29am)