hoodat

Mine was an Iver Johnson, a fat tire tank of a bike that weighed a ton. Just a coaster brake Only one kid in our neighborhood had what we called a "skinny tire bike". If it had more than one gear we called it a "racing bike". I always found it odd that Iver Johnson made two products; shotguns and bikes. What did the two have in common?

fietsbob

Steel

BSA of Motorcycle making company was in the weapons Biz first , it stands for Birmingham Small Arms .

hoodat

As kids will we took those old heavy bikes everywhere. On road, off road, through pastures and shallow swamps, old Indian trails through the woods. We went fishing on them, down to the swimming hole - just everywhere. We stayed gone all day and no one worried about us unless we didn't get home for supper.

canklecat

First bike of my own I can remember was a Sears knockoff of a Schwinn Stingray. Lime green, white banana seat, low rise in the back instead of a sissy bar. It was okay for the flat town where I lived at the time but not really as much fun to ride as to own. I remember some nut-busting crashes on that thing, riding my little brother around, trying to jump curbs and stairs. My first good bike was a basic 3-speed, maybe a Schwinn or Raleigh or another Sears, I don't remember. It could handle hills and was actually fun to ride.

Many manufacturers that could handle metal fabrication made arms during the world wars. IBM produced some M1 carbines and BARs for WWII.

Gnosis

What did the two have in common? The shotgun provided the means to protect your bike!

obed7

mine was a schwin panther.

indyfabz

A purple one from Sears. My first three bikes were from Sears. Before I got a bike I had a green trike from Sears.

lost_in_endicot

An orange Huffy with a purple and orange banana seat. I don't remember the name, but I got it for my b-day in '72.

Moe Zhoost

20" J.C. Higgens

FBinNY 

My first bike was a Robin Hood, (a C-level Raleigh) 3-speed. I used it to go to school, for work delivering drugs*, and toured all over the Northeast and put thousands of miles on it before college, when I treated myself to a top end Frejus.

The sidelined Robin Hood still saw some use as a city utility bike, and I ended up lending (giving) it to a friend when he was drafted. He used it during his army stint in Oklahoma, until it finally died of metal fatigue.


*chill --- I had a part-time job making deliveries for a pharmacy.

Lanceoldstrong

A shiny red Schwinn with a banana seat and ape hanger handle bars

GuitarWizard

Same here, except mine was red. I think it was called the "Free Spirit" if I remember right.

ptempel

Not my first, but one of the more memorable ones. A Schwinn Stingray 5-speed like this one:



Grandparents bought it used for me. Of course with the seat not so high since I was a kid. Sweet bike it was. I don't really remember the make and model of my first bike. Just that it was red with with white seat and had a coaster brake.

Gresp15C

Schwinn Pixie

Laurido92

It was a green wanna be bike thing that had solid wheels. I think I have a picture of it somewhere. I'll see if I can find it.


My second bike was a no name brand 20" BMX bike that came with blue and white checker handle bar cross tube, stem cover, and down tube covers. It was rad!
I beat the $h!t out of that bike.

Needles

Iver Johnson also made handguns, BTW.

GerryinHouston

This was my first bike. A BSA! The logo was 3 rifles

hankaye

Howdy All;

Can't remember the name but I remember seeing a photo of me with it.
Must have been when I was 3 or 4 years old (1952 or 53), it was dark
colored (B&W photo), and had 3 wheels Biggish one the front and the
others, ... not near as big and opposite each other behind me. That was the first ...

hank

avidone1

My first 'real' bike was a Raleigh 3 speed circa 1960. It was maroon. totally cool 'English Racer"

goraman

Schwinn Stingray Blue.

alcjphil

Me too. Mine had 18" wheels, rear coaster brake, rod operated front brake, with a rear rack that included a swing down kick stand. My brother also rode it and then it was passed on to my cousins. Loved that bike, it was red with white mudguards

Gerryattrick

My first "proper" bike after kid's bikes was a Raleigh Trent sports, which my parents bought me for passing my exams to get into grammar school in 1958. It had a 4-speed SA gear and I thought I was the bee's knees on it. I rode everywhere on that bike, eventually converting it into a dirt track bike for racing around the local coal tips with my friends.

Here is a catalogue of the bike, plus a photo of the actual bike shop it was bought from.

(my father worked at the time in the BSA factory - not the bike division)

Cougrrcj

My own first bike - one that wasn't a hand-me-down from my older sister - was a 26" Sears three-speed 'English racer' when I turned 10.

rex615

The old joke to disparage BSA was that it stood for Bloody Sore A$$. In reality they made good bikes, both push and motor.

ltxi

Used Murray coaster brake "knee action", in the early '50s. Hit a bump really hard and it would over center the articulated sprung front suspension and instantly lock up the front tire against the fender.