Tandem Cycling - Recently purchased a Fiore tandem on ebay

Does anyone have information on Fiore Tandems especially number of speeds that were manufactured etc etc. I just bought a Fiore tandem on e-bay and recieved last week.
Unfortunately the seller took the fork off for shipping without packing the bearings in a bag, so some of the bearings are missing. He did a real poor job of shipping it. I took it to the local bike shop and having them give a tuneup and fix whats broke. I bought it for my son and I to ride and just want to get some back ground on the tandem manufacturer. Thanks
Rich

http://www.norco.com/bikes/spec_tandem.htm

From the Norco website, doesn't look like much fun for the stoker.

Yea where's the bars? Actually that bike no way resembles the tank I got.

Do you have a photo or spec sheet for your bike? Or a link to the auction? I'm curious to see what you got.

Yea where's the bars? Actually that bike no way resembles the tank I got.
That's a fiori with an i. You got a fiore with an e. I suspect there's a difference.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7153300207&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1

Ouch. I'm not usually one to criticize anyone else's bike - I can have fun on the cheapest of bikes, but this one's a bit odd looking. I suspect that if you swap the captain's stem for a proper one, and a decent set of bars, that would be a good start. The stoker stem needs to be flipped over have a low rise MTB bar installed too. That will do wonders for comfort and help you get away from the 80's "Stoner bike" look. Any decent bike shop should be able to hook you up with a used stem and bars. Of course, I'm only offering my opinion. Mechanically, as long as it shift and stops, you should have plenty of fun riding on the road, bike paths, or very smooth dirt paths. Is it Shimano or Suntour equipped?

That what I am doing now . Its in the shop having gears gone over and replacing the seats and etc etc for what its going to cost, I could have done better on a more recent department store model. Ouch is an understatement! Components are ancienct shimano.

Once you two get to go for a ride, the money won't matter.

Get acquainted with this tandem . . . and if you like tandeming then you can get something better. You'll not loose a lot on this investment.
Quality it is not, but then again the price reflects that. Then again for an occasional toot around the 'hood this may well suffice. You'll spend more at the bike shop getting this set up than the original investment.
Chalk it up to experience/lesson learned.

Well picked up the bike from the dealer $109.18 rides real nice. I will ride this one for a while then if my stoker shows some interest maybe pick up a Fufi tandem for around $1300

The key thing is not to leave too many other bikes lying around for the stoker. My wife took a big interest in riding single when I built her a full suspension rig. Now that I'm into BMX racing, I thought it only fair that I get her a race bike too. Hopefully I can talk her into a ride on the tandem tomorrow.

Well picked up the bike from the dealer $109.18 rides real nice. I will ride this one for a while then if my stoker shows some interest maybe pick up a Fufi tandem for around $1300

I got the 2004 Fuji Absolute Tandem and am very happy with it. They changed the frame design quite a bit since last year, but I haven't tried the new one. I actually got it from Performancebike for quite a good price (Much below MSRP + coupons + additional 10% off).