Originally Posted by
dgodave
Its actually really fun to ride. Bit of a beast, but no too much. And that 1st generation 6speed SIS still works like a charm. I'm really impressed with the sheer durability and stoutness of these mid 80's bikes.
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I beat the crap out of my 86 shogun prairie breaker pro on trails almost every day from march through november, and even some snow rides in the winter, and I used it as a commuter 10 miles each way, again, almost year round, and then I put thin tires on it and used it as a road bike until I bought an actual road bike in 2003... and it still rides like a champ.
I posted pics earlier in this thread.
That mid 80s stuff was built to take a beating. And they had not too many moving parts, like later suspension bikes do. The only original part I'd replace with something different, if I had a mind to, is the U-brake (i.e. the mud catcher).