Alt Bike Culture - Strange '80s kids bikes???

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View Full Version : Strange '80s kids bikes???


Black Sunshine
09-12-10, 12:05 AM
Everyone talks about muscle bikes and the Schwinn's that they had as a kid. My best friend and I had Huffy's. I think that this was prior to their marginal quality abruptly going all the way down hill. Regardless we never had problems with ours.

We were both born in 81. My bike was a Huffy Santa Fe. It was odd. It looked like a muscle bike gone BMX. It had a plain BMX style frame. It was tan with dark red accents in a very Sante Fe looking style. It had plastic shorty fenders that looked kinda like dirt bike fenders. The bars looked like they belonged on a muscle bike and it had a brown fake leather banana seat. Has anyone ever seen a strange bike like this?

My friend's bike was even more out there. It looked like Robo-Cop. This was before Robo-Cop though. It was a BMX style bike and it had farings all over, including wheel covers. I wish that I knew what it was called. If I could find pictures of it I would try to replicate it on a MTB frame.

Does anyone know where to find pictures of these?


jtgotsjets
09-12-10, 01:16 PM
I remember owning a bike with all kinds of plastic fairings attached to it when I was a kid, but that would have been the early/mid nineties. I do recall it being advertised heavily in the magazines I read at the time (Boys' Life.... probably not Ranger Rick), so if you get a hold of some old magazines you might be able to find more info.

FlatTop
09-13-10, 12:28 PM
I think the Santa Fe was made for a number of years, in lots of different configurations.

The weirdest kid's bike I've ever seen was the one with the plastic fake motorcycle body sides that simulated motor, tank, etc. and had a noisemaker that sounded a bit like an engine. I saw one on a curb once with various other pieces of garage junk, and by the time I had stopped argueing with myself about going back to get it, two even dumber guys had grabbed it up.
Of course, now it must become a major collectible, both rare and desireable.


Dave Armstrong
09-14-10, 05:02 PM
169718

This picture is a little dark, this is AMF's version.

Black Sunshine
09-15-10, 06:28 PM
That AMF one actually looks cool. The Santa Fe I had looked similar overall, just without the tank and classic frame.