Remembering the Sting-Ray Bike (1963-1982)

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  • Опубликовано: 7 янв 2025

Комментарии • 1,6 тыс.

  • @artmchugh5644
    @artmchugh5644 2 года назад +58

    I would ask my mom almost nightly if I could get a sting ray for my birthday. On the day my dad took me to Cummings Harley Davidson Schwinn shop in Flint Michigan and we walked in and he said " anything you want " !!! Got a flamboyant green bike with the slick rear tire and a generator light !! Got home and my mom about flipped out!!! This was in the 60s and the price was a big chunk of my dad's paycheck!! Never forget that!!! Thanks dad !!R.I.P. 😁😁😁🚲🚲🚲🍺🍺🍺

    • @ronalddauro563
      @ronalddauro563 4 месяца назад +1

      Artmchugh
      Sacrifices create the best memories.

    • @zachredner8
      @zachredner8 Месяц назад

      A "flamboyant green bike with the slick rear tire and generator light!" Was it by chance a "Schwinn Pea Picker" bicycle? When I was 13 I bought a brand new "1969 Schwinn Lemon Peeler" which was bright yellow and I paid $93.00 plus tax for it. I recently looked on eBay to see if I could find one... I found a well Used, rusted, and NOT in good shape Lemon Peeler for $1,250.00! I found a real nice one in "like new" condition for $4,800.00! I should have kept my Lemon Peeler Stingray bicycle! LOL

    • @Redfour5
      @Redfour5 Месяц назад +2

      Oh yeah, that slick rear tire.

    • @samsosa98
      @samsosa98 Месяц назад +2

      Slicks were so cool

  • @linjicakonikon7666
    @linjicakonikon7666 2 года назад +37

    In 63-64 when I was 10, I got a 20" bike from Sears for my birthday. I immediately got a paper route and with my earnings over the year converted that traditional bike into a Stingray bike. I trimmed the fenders to match the style, got the banana seat and high rise handle bars and soon began learning how to "pop wheelies" which, with that bike, was incredibly easy. I lusted after the Schwinn models but they were way out of our price range. Very good memories.

  • @bobwallace9814
    @bobwallace9814 2 года назад +207

    Kids today have no idea what they missed out on. We rode our Stingrays miles and miles from home for adventure. Transistor radios hanging from the handlebars.

    • @alexshatner3907
      @alexshatner3907 2 года назад +14

      I felt rich with AM radio attached to the handle bars, listening to Kasy Kasem, seasons in the son, and I shot the sheriff, among others

    • @mikentx57
      @mikentx57 2 года назад +20

      We went for miles too. We would be out all day on our Stingrays and our parents had no idea where we were till we got home in the evening. But that made us very independent later in life. Now if a kid is found two blocks from home the police want to arrest the parents for not making their kid a helpless drone.

    • @tedlivingstonsr.1969
      @tedlivingstonsr.1969 2 года назад +6

      That is what we did rode all over the place with no worries. We hardly locked our bikes at the store entrances. Plus, we always had two bucks in our socks. We could buy stuff all day on it.

    • @alexshatner3907
      @alexshatner3907 2 года назад +2

      @@tedlivingstonsr.1969 Wow so true I use to constantly smell the rubber of my tires, and felt and pretended that in my bike I could travel to another state with no problem if I was aloud to.

    • @edwardcox2840
      @edwardcox2840 2 года назад +7

      I had a red Panasonic am fm 8 track wired to the handle bars of mine in my neighborhood there was 7 or 8 of us that rode bikes all the times jamming ACDC Van Halen Aerosmith Led Zeppelin stuff like that fun times kids today just don't know

  • @KurtfromLaQuinta
    @KurtfromLaQuinta 6 месяцев назад +68

    My parents got me one of the first Sting Rays for my birthday in '63. I was in the 4th grade.
    They told me to take care of it because it was the only bike they would buy me.
    I still have it and restored it a couple of years back for the second time.
    My granddaughter, who is now 13, rides it... and so do I!

  • @PoliticusRex632
    @PoliticusRex632 2 года назад +170

    Hands down the coolest thing about growing up in the 70s. ✌

    • @savage22bolt32
      @savage22bolt32 2 года назад +7

      60's for me!

    • @Anth4044
      @Anth4044 2 года назад +6

      I wouldn't change me growing up in 70s for anything. Our bikes were everything to us from morning till night we'd have our bikes everywhere plus back then kids could go all over with out worrying about being hurt or taken. Once again best years ever🤗🤗👍👍💪💪💪☺️

    • @okiepita50t-town28
      @okiepita50t-town28 2 года назад +2

      And 60’s.

    • @AlmostReady504
      @AlmostReady504 2 года назад +3

      MANY cool things in the 60s and 70s

    • @philsmgb4393
      @philsmgb4393 2 года назад +5

      And the ramps. Oh, the ramps.......

  • @1down4upworkshop61
    @1down4upworkshop61 2 года назад +21

    This brings back so many memories LOL ... Riding a bike barefoot through out the summer ... miss those days ...

  • @alphasportstv
    @alphasportstv 2 года назад +161

    Holy cow I was obsessed with this bike when I was a kid late 60's!!! Finally got one and to this day I don't think you could give me anything that I would love more, like a brand new Ferrari has NOTHING on this bike!!! Thanks for posting.

    • @mr.mendez9378
      @mr.mendez9378 2 года назад +11

      Oh man. Me too, I’m with you.

    • @paulaneary7877
      @paulaneary7877 2 года назад +6

      Yeah, something about having your own bike was really memeorable and special. I truly loved my bike also. It was dark purple.

    • @kingofkings69ner
      @kingofkings69ner 2 года назад +4

      I bet it brings the kid back into you

    • @bikersoncall
      @bikersoncall 2 года назад +3

      I agree OP, there was nothing at the time I wanted more,
      it was an awesome bike.

    • @paulgandy7347
      @paulgandy7347 Месяц назад

      Same here!

  • @mfh6982
    @mfh6982 2 года назад +52

    My first bike was a Schwinn Stingray when I was 6 y/o in 1968. Loved that bike and lived on it. Rode it into the ground. Became a professional road racer in 1982 and raced all over the world. To this day I am obsessed with my bikes and ride every day.

    • @autumn1231
      @autumn1231 2 года назад +1

      You had generous parents. That was big money in those days. Two kids in my neighborhood had the Schwinn sting ray. One was a "krate" model 5 speed Green and the other a single speed purple. They were the envy of the neighborhood in suburban Detroit.

  • @jerryjasinski8229
    @jerryjasinski8229 2 года назад +64

    I loved my two single speed Schwinn Sting Rays (in the 1970's), one of them I made into a chopper, the other I drove on the trails (before BMX bikes) . These bikes were one of the best parts of my childhood.

    • @michaelszczys8316
      @michaelszczys8316 2 года назад +1

      I lived by a river with lots of trails. We used to ride our sting Ray bikes with high sissy bars on the trails. Who needs BMX bike? Sting ray was the all- purpose bike.

    • @kendallevans4079
      @kendallevans4079 2 года назад +2

      Like you, before you could just go a BMX ready to go, we did it ourselves. Put on some "Preston Petty" style plastic mud guards, low hand bars, a regular bike seat and you're good to go..Maybe a few "cool" stickers (Cycle News, STP,....)

    • @philiphatfield5666
      @philiphatfield5666 Год назад

      To get the full effect, you had to have the model with the five speed stick!

    • @KurtfromLaQuinta
      @KurtfromLaQuinta 6 месяцев назад

      @@philiphatfield5666 Nope. I preferred the single speed no frills stripped down version of the original Sting Ray.
      The do- dads just got in the way.

  • @jlovebirch
    @jlovebirch 2 года назад +8

    I still have my 1968 Sting-Ray Fastback with 5-speed shift. it's in great shape with 90% original parts.

  • @TheSourKraut
    @TheSourKraut 2 года назад +98

    OMG. The flashbacks of my bellbottoms getting caught in the chain...
    Looking back now, I'm amazed so many of us survived. But the jumps were totally worth the pain

    • @Vod-Kaknockers
      @Vod-Kaknockers 2 года назад +10

      Oh hell yeah! Turned a lot of jeans into shorts riding mine!

    • @TheSourKraut
      @TheSourKraut 2 года назад +5

      @@Vod-Kaknockers😂😂😂 😅😅😅 I totally forgot about THAT. Thanks!
      Remember? The mom that freaked out over the cost of the pants - and bike repair - and what the neighbors will say? The grandma that "fixed" the jeans with other old, leftover jeans, apron cloth or scrap leather (for the knees), and then MADE me wear that hippie patchwork to school - after making me promise to use wooden clothes pins next time, AND, of course, the (one legged) WW2 combat vet grandpa who showed me how to properly clean a wound "in the field" - with gasoline, or anything else that burns like Hell ... (i now remember the "stop crying and hold still you wuss, the stinging means: it works. They gave me only a leather belt to bite down on when the cut off my leg". You don't even know pain ....)
      STILL: good times!

    • @Vod-Kaknockers
      @Vod-Kaknockers 2 года назад +7

      @@TheSourKraut...Lmfao! We would carry a roll of duct tape on the handle bars to tape our pants down if we weren't already wearing shorts. Of course back then you could wear jean cut offs without being labeled gay. Give me those days back man cause these days suck!

    • @j.b.macadam6516
      @j.b.macadam6516 2 года назад +4

      I totally agree! My bellbottoms were frayed and grease stained as well! Damn, we had a lot of fun!

    • @gm7304
      @gm7304 2 года назад +1

      chain guards were for Sissy's we all had our pant leg rolled up all kool like

  • @marcogonzalez-hl2sg
    @marcogonzalez-hl2sg Месяц назад +5

    I came across this video by accident. Glad I did. My mom got me one for my thirteen birthday. Stingray mettle flake green with all the bells and whistles. She’s 92 now. I will never forget this birthday. Love you Mom.

  • @surfmarine3118
    @surfmarine3118 2 года назад +8

    First stingray for Christmas in 67 at 6 years old. Training wheels off before New year's so I could keep up with older brother and his buddy. Within a few years we had modified those bikes a couple of times ; single saddles and different handlebars for better jumps plus the short lived extended forks and "sissy "bar for the old banana seat. Could easily put in 50 miles of riding on any given summer day. Been a cyclist eve since.

  • @cletiskroeker3552
    @cletiskroeker3552 2 года назад +7

    My older Brother bought a bike for us younger boys for Christmas one year. It was a beautiful piece of art. Midnight blue...cheater slick...banana seat..sissy bar.. monkey bars...and the shifter. We were so proud of this bike. We had other bikes that we created into something similar. But,...we always traded ofon who could ride the BLUE RACER. Wonderful memories....Thank you my precious Brother. He just passed away last January. He was a wonderful person. ❤🙏🏻

  • @mightya
    @mightya Месяц назад +4

    When I finally learned how to ride my father bought me a red Schwinn stingray w/ 3 speed stick shifter and slick rear tire. I rode that gem to school everyday, weather permitting, from 1969-71. Put on a basket for my books and lunch. Rode in traffic, no helmet, not a care in the world.

  • @antonioblanco549
    @antonioblanco549 Месяц назад +1

    I only saw my grandpa about 5 or 6 times in his life. But one of those times he gave me a brand new yellow stingray, white sparkling banana seat, slick drag tire. One of the greatest gifts I ever received in my life. I rode that bike everywhere, jumped, striped it and painted red, bmxd it, it was pure freedom like nothing else a kid could have. From 6 to 14 I rode that bike in three different states! One object I've owned that gave me good feelings always.

  • @warrenbrenner4972
    @warrenbrenner4972 Месяц назад +3

    As a 9 year old in 1965 I bought a new gold Schwinn 5 speed Sting Ray with $$ I had worked for.Early production didn't have the Mag style main sprocket.I loved riding it,waxing it.Gave it to my younger brother who didn't lock it up/ got stolen.

  • @prmayner
    @prmayner 2 года назад +3

    Scwhinn Stingray 1964 Long Beach, Calif. purple. My older brother bought me that bike when he got out of the navy, it was probably a months salary for him back then, I practically slept with that bike. Thanks Bro for making my childhood.

  • @miket.220
    @miket.220 2 года назад +39

    When I was a kid, my first bike was the Sears version of the Stingray, when I was 7 or 8. Don't remember if it was a Huffy or Murray, but it was the basic 20" one-speed muscle bike. Yellow, with a black banana seat with a yellow stripe down the center. I learned how to ride on that bike, then rode that bike to pieces, literally everywhere. If I hadn't outgrown it, I would have rode the bike forever. I love cycling to this day, but that Sears "stingray" is still my favorite bike that I ever owned.

    • @jamesa.b.7194
      @jamesa.b.7194 2 года назад +2

      I had a 1976 Sears Spyder a knock off of the stingray. It had a rainbow paint job. In 1979 I spay painted it black and replaced the banana seat and ape-hanger handlebar to try to make it into a BMX. Saw a pick of the my creation a couple years ago, it was a real Frankenstein. Thought both versions were pretty cool at the time.

    • @concernedcitizen9466
      @concernedcitizen9466 2 года назад +1

      I had that bike also. Good, fast bike.

    • @kellybanning2013
      @kellybanning2013 2 года назад

      I had a grant's green dragon, that sounds similar to yours, but green and black.

    • @danocatster
      @danocatster 2 года назад +1

      Murray was Sears version my brother passed down to me. Best bike ever.

    • @rubengariby6539
      @rubengariby6539 2 года назад +1

      This video left out the 5-speed Sting-ray Fastback. It had thinner tires than the regular Sting-ray and preceded the Krates. I guess it didn’t make as big an impact as the Krates. I thought it was cool though.

  • @joeblow7853
    @joeblow7853 7 месяцев назад +5

    First Sting Ray I owned was 1963 in lime green with a white Solo Polo AKA "Banana" seat based on my Schwinn Varsity being stolen. I moved up to a 1967 Fastback 5 speed in blue which I still own today in the rafters In which I am looking at admiring this very moment! It still rides, and is complete.I'm going on 72 years young as well. My very first bike was a Schwinn Spitfire 20 inch in red. I still have the frame as well. Thanks for the memories. China can't hold a candle to my Sting Ray....EVER!

  • @dancook8583
    @dancook8583 2 года назад +6

    Ahhhhh....loved my old Stingray! It grew with me. At 10 I started delivering the newspaper in my small town. I had a Western Auto bike that looked like a ten speed but only had one gear. I convinced my parents that it wasn't good for delivering the paper....I needed a Stingray! Dad protested($ 50 was a lot of money then). But mom grew up with brothers that souped up cars so she "got it". They bought me a standard model in red. Threw the paper for 2 years on that bike. Quit the newspaper business at 12- the BMX thing was getting popular so i ditched the banana seat for a solo seat. Changed the handle bars to a black moto cross style with big soft rubber grips. Swapped the chrome fenders for the short plastic ones. Off came the chain guard and put on the big knobby tires. The bike was a beast! The handlebars allowed me to ride "Stand Up" wheelies down the whole length of our main Street.I was a legend! After that I traded 2 boxes of .22 shells for a Tall chrome sissybar with a hangmans noose in it. Put the banana seat, chrome fenders, chain guard, handlebars, and stock tires back on. I thought I was cool again! One day the local deputy sheriff stopped me and said my sissybar was illegal because it had the noose in it. I was scared and he had a big laugh...By my freshman year in high school I had outgrown my Stingray. It gathered dust in the garage untill a kid down the road bought it for 10 bucks. The old Stingray even got handed down to his little brother. The old Stingray had a full life and was a big part of me. Those were the days. I'm 60 now and really miss that bike...

  • @willg54
    @willg54 Месяц назад +2

    Got my blue stingray in 1966, when I was 11 years old, for 54 dollars. I still own it, it's sitting in my garage. I even took it out for a ride a couple of years ago. Had more fun on that thing than you can ever imagine. Pulling wheelies and taking jumps. What a great life it was back then! 😊

  • @69FOSTER
    @69FOSTER 2 года назад +26

    In 1965, Santa Claus left me a Schwinn Sting-Ray. I woke up Christmas morning hoping for a Sting Ray, even a knock off would've satisfied me, but getting a Schwinn added to the euphoria! I can still see it shining under the Christmas tree lights. I rode it almost everyday for the next four years.

    • @philiphatfield5666
      @philiphatfield5666 Год назад

      I know the feeling. I had the only one in the neighborhood and the boys I used to ride bikes with started shunning me! Their tiny egos just couldn't accept the fact that I was 'The Man'.

  • @jaywilliams9053
    @jaywilliams9053 2 года назад +2

    First bike a green Raleigh Chopper, black banana seat half sissy bar, small front tire with fender, big slick rear tire with fender & gear shift in the center. What a bike, what a DAD💯💯💯
    Can't forget the orange Schwinn Varsity, what a DAD!!!

  • @Prancer0210
    @Prancer0210 2 года назад +30

    My first bike was the Schwinn Stingray. I remember they came in a box and had to be assembled. My sweet Dad stayed up half the night putting them together for my twin sister and I for Christmas. Mine was green and hers was purple. Loved my bike so much. Great memories; thank you!

    • @RhettyforHistory
      @RhettyforHistory  2 года назад +4

      Sounds like you both had some nice bikes! I like the colors you both had too. Your dad was definitely busy putting two together! Thank you for watching and sharing your memories!

    • @realSamAndrew
      @realSamAndrew 2 года назад +4

      I never knew Schwinn bikes to need assembly. In my city, Schwinn was sold thru authorized dealers only, and they had rows of bikes ready for immediate delivery in the showroom. If you had to special order one, it would be assembled before delivery. Murray and Huffy were sold in dept stores and big box stores and came in a box unless you paid extra for the store staff to assemble for you.

    • @nomadbrad6391
      @nomadbrad6391 2 года назад +2

      ​@@realSamAndrew My dad bought me a 1970 blue schwinn stingray 5 speed at Sears. I remember it took him an entire Saturday assembling it. Got it for my 7th b-day.

    • @realSamAndrew
      @realSamAndrew 2 года назад +2

      @@nomadbrad6391 that's interesting. In my area, and as early as 1975, you definitely could not buy a Schwinn at Sears. It may have been based on where they did and didn't have dedicated dealers.

    • @nomadbrad6391
      @nomadbrad6391 2 года назад

      @@realSamAndrew This was in Seattle, WA October 1970

  • @shuster1921
    @shuster1921 2 года назад +5

    My first bike was a Mattel V-Room Bicycle in 1964, it had a gas tank glove box, front suspension that was meant for a Buick, a steel seat and plastic motor with a key to turn it on. Surprised I don't have spinal problems from landing on that seat! The bike was my pride and joy, I lived on it and beat the snot out of it, and never died though I almost did several times, lol. It was stolen from my school and I was broken hearted.

    • @DaveMack-iq9bk
      @DaveMack-iq9bk 4 месяца назад +1

      i had one to,,,red gastank,tail pipes,v-room,,,i was like 7years old,,,it was a blast,,,,memories

  • @j.b.macadam6516
    @j.b.macadam6516 2 года назад +5

    I got my first Sting-Ray bike in 1966, when I was 6 years old. Several more were to come, and we even modified them for dirt riding by replacing original parts with knobby tires, a traditional, smaller seat instead of the 'banana' seat, and lower, sturdier handlebars. These modified Sting-Rays could be called the prototypes of today's BMX bikes. Evel Knievel was big back then, and we used to build ramps and jump these things all the time. I even got a green 'Krate' in 1973, when I was 13. Man, we racked up thousands of miles with these bikes and had a lot of fun!

  • @sligacheese6470
    @sligacheese6470 Год назад +3

    I was 6 in Nova Scotia on Christmas with a green stingray bike number 76 on it. White metallic bike seat. ❤and snow on the ground. Had to wait to drive it.

  • @MoparDan
    @MoparDan 2 года назад +4

    This video brings back memories for me. I remember seeing others with a five speed Sting-Ray bike, however I owned a Schwinn Speedster and later a Schwinn Varsity. Those bikes were fine for the times but what I have today is obviously better. I ride my '06 Trek Multitrack 7500 with the lightweight aluminum frame, suspension front fork and 27-speed drivetrain.

  • @willhorting5317
    @willhorting5317 2 года назад +3

    Had a used one of those bikes, in the early 1970s.
    Since we lived on a farm, and my grandparents lived in town, the bike always stayed at their house.
    So I only got to ride it whenever I visited my grandparents.

  • @gilesquivel6151
    @gilesquivel6151 Месяц назад +6

    50bucks. I was the wheelie king on that Ride. Best time of my life. Spent hours polishing my rims and spokes. So proud of it.

    • @kingburbank9424
      @kingburbank9424 Месяц назад

      @@gilesquivel6151 I was the wheelie king of BURBANK CA.

  • @redkos
    @redkos 2 года назад +4

    My first bike was a Christmas present from my Mom & Dad: a bright red Columbia Stingray style with a horn & headlight. It was *exactly* what I wanted. Later my parents got me a Huffy Slingshot 5 with a padded sissy bar, and all my friends wanted it! I still have that Huffy today.

  • @larrydaniels6532
    @larrydaniels6532 2 года назад +20

    I'll never forget my first ride on a Sting-Ray, 1964 a neighbor rode up to where I had placed a ramp on the street in front of my house. I was 10, he may have been eight. His dad was a regional newspaper supervisor and had completed a bonus program for the delivery boys, a certain number of the top carriers were awarded Sting-Rays as prizes, his son wasn't a carrier, but there may have been an extra, so anyway, he had it that morning and he was more than generous to let me ride it. I had never ridden a bike of this design and really hadn't taken into account of how little the front wheel is weighted. I hit the ramp and saw the front wheel shoot straight up as I landed on my back (kinda wish I had worn a helmet back then) I was both hurt and ashamed for crashing someone else's bike. A year later I was a "paperboy" for this same newspaper and as I saved some of my earnings I was able to purchase my first bike with my money, hard , hard decision, every Saturday included a stop at the Schwinn shop and the other retailers selling bikes. I decided on a 'Purple Beetle" it was a 20" sting-ray clone, obviously purple, a Shimano 3.3.3.three-speed, two hand brakes. I wish I knew the manufacturer-- Murray, Huffy, I just don't know! If any one does know, please leave a comment. Should anyone have this bike in good condition, please leave info and I'll get in touch.

    • @vicO1323
      @vicO1323 2 года назад

      I see Stingrays for sale as high as $1000. Gee willickers. $49 in 1964 is $468 today which is hard to believe. There was no way I would spend that much on a bike, even today.

    • @pitman6992
      @pitman6992 2 года назад

      ​@@vicO1323 Gee Willikers!!!🤣🤣🤣

  • @whatsit2ya247
    @whatsit2ya247 2 года назад +3

    Brought back a lot of great memories!
    In the late '60s I couldn't stop gauking at those new stingray's and begged for one from my parents, we were dirt poor and I was #4 of 5 kids.
    To my surprise I got one for my eighth b day, a cheaper huffy that was purple like the one showed, I didn't care it was just as cool to me!
    My older brother borrowed it without permission and some kids jumped him (Milwaukee) and stole it just a couple weeks after new 😩
    Somehow Dad scrapped up some more money and I got another one for Christmas just a few months later!
    Thanks Dad, I love you and I miss you!

  • @crocuscreekwoodworks
    @crocuscreekwoodworks 2 года назад +4

    I had a sparkle green one! It was awesome and I was @ 4 years old in 1968 and that's when I got mine!

  • @deniselawrie3570
    @deniselawrie3570 2 года назад +4

    Wow! Blast from the past! Remember all of those! My most favourite was my Velvet doll, I still have her!

  • @Gratefulman1965
    @Gratefulman1965 2 года назад +12

    As a kid of the 70’s I worked at a bike shop when I was ten, the owner would pay me in parts and I would build my own bikes. My first and favorite bike I built was largely designed and resembled the Schwinn krate model. I loved that bike, I rode it everywhere and my friends liked it because it was the only one like it. Great video of better times thanks for this!

  • @agtrucks
    @agtrucks 2 года назад +3

    I was 13 years old in 1968. For my birthday I was allowed to pick out a new Schwann bicycle. I loved the Sting Rays and the Krate bikes but at 13 I was a bit too tall for them. I opted for a Campus Green 5 speed Schwann Collegiate: a full sized model, but asked the bike shop to install a set of high rise handle bars. I loved that bike and rode it all through high school, putting on no less than 5 billion miles. Lots of warm memories from those times. Thanks for posting this trip down memory lane. 🙂

  • @wmalden
    @wmalden 2 года назад +42

    In 1969, my brother and I got Huffy “choppers.” Mine was light sparkling green with slick rear and grooved front tires of same diameter. His was orange sparkle with smaller front wheel and “sissy bar.” Both had the 5 speed “console” shifter and hand brakes front and rear. We lived in Minnesota at the time. I used to ride mine in the snow. Easy to spin the rear wheel!

    • @RhettyforHistory
      @RhettyforHistory  2 года назад +4

      Sounds like you both had some really nice bikes and I like the colors you both had too. Those bikes with the console shifters were really unique. Thank you for watching and sharing your memories.

    • @wendycity99
      @wendycity99 2 года назад +4

      It was called a Huffy Slingshot

    • @artmchugh5644
      @artmchugh5644 2 года назад

      Orange crate !!!!!😁😁😁😁😁 sweet!!

    • @dehydratedwater9806
      @dehydratedwater9806 2 года назад +1

      My Slingshot was purple metal flake with a pearl seat.

    • @jw2218
      @jw2218 2 года назад

      You could buy bikes like that at Holiday gas stations in Michigan probably Minnesota also. Back in the 60s and 70s you could buy just about anything at the Holiday gas Station.

  • @davidjessee7701
    @davidjessee7701 2 года назад +2

    My big brother got the huffy wheel back in the 70s..
    It was a 20" with banana seat and high sissy bar, and a steering wheel that came off in his hands as he was popping wheelies down a long hill ..... he got skint up bad....

  • @johnconway8492
    @johnconway8492 Месяц назад +4

    Wow. Great memories. I had the Lemon crate stingray. They were great times. And let’s not forget the quality of those bikes. Top notch .

  • @bigguy1403
    @bigguy1403 Месяц назад +2

    My Mom got me and my brother each a sting ray bike in 1968. I remember walking 10 blocks to the bike store in Brooklyn on flatbush ave. That was 56 years ago and yesterday i heard that very store is closing down and going out of buissness. I remember everything about that day even the owner of the store helping my mom. Riding them home was such a high. 10 years after that she bought me and my brother our first Cadillac cars in the same day. I wish i knew back then how good i had it. Thank you mom RIP ❤️⚘️🐿

  • @ericteneyck8691
    @ericteneyck8691 2 года назад +22

    Great video! I had the 5 speed Fastback version. A friend of my dad owned a sporting good store and the bike was in the front window. Every time we went I drooled over that bike, Then one visit it was gone, I was bummed and jealous of the kid that got it. Turns out that kid was me, got it for my birthday!

    • @RhettyforHistory
      @RhettyforHistory  2 года назад +3

      Oh very nice! Sounds like you had one of the best ones! Thank you for watching and I enjoyed reading your story!

    • @ivanrousseau5066
      @ivanrousseau5066 2 года назад +1

      Yep stingrays 5spd was the deal. I remember the front shocks and small tire. The shifter was a 5 spd mounted on the top rail .

  • @nikitis13
    @nikitis13 Год назад +3

    My first bike was a Stingray, 6 years old at the time 🙂. 50 years on and many bikes have come and gone including motorcycles. My memories of that Stingray still the fondest. Recently I've been searching far and wide here in Australia for a Stingray even contacting Schwinn's distributor to no avail 😵‍💫. Searched far and wide for a decent used vintage model with no luck unless you're willing to pay a ridiculous amount of money now classed as "collectors items". Then out of the blue in 2020 come along a company in Australia called MilkBar Bikes! 🤩 The heavens aligned and my call was answered. A beautiful homage to the Schwinn Stringray. I've now come full circle, ride and owned almost every style of bicycle and recently bought my "Stingray" replica and I'm absolutely loving it 5 months in and not a single day passes without a ride out. Yeah a grown man with a kids heart living the dream on the coolest bike ever made. 20' wheels and classic curved frame, ape hanger bars, banana seat and sissy bar. "Cool ride", "tough bike", "love that thing", "totally gangster" are comments all too often heard. I'm bringing back the stingray craze in Oz! Get one! (MilkBar Bikes) 🤙

  • @jiggsjohnson7279
    @jiggsjohnson7279 2 года назад +3

    I was born in 1967 and I got my first Schwinn around 1973. My dad bought a used in excellent condition single speed Lemon Peeler with the front coil shock and 16" front wheel. In 1976, I got a brand new Schwinn Scrambler that came with motocross style handlebars and knobby tires. It still had the stingray frame and banana seat. In 1980, I got the very first Schwinn Mag Scrambler sold in my home town. It featured the BMX style frame, had the BMX style seat and motocross handlebars with magnesium wheels wrapped with knobby tires. I started my BMX racing career on that bike!

  • @johngaller9277
    @johngaller9277 2 года назад +3

    I'm a 63 year old cyclist and motorcyclist. My dad got my an early three speed Austrian built stingray style bike in 1965 which I broke jumping curbs... In 1968 next to the Christmas tree was a new Apple Krate complete with speedometer. The speedo was documented and logged at nearly 8700 miles. It rolled over at 999 miles. I kept it stock. Still own it. Its very very used, but the patina of abuse is something I love. I disassembled it and planned to restore it, but decided to just put it back together as is. Best present in my life until I was given a 1975 RM 125 Suzuki. Two wheels have helped shape my life, and I feel blessed that my parents believed in my passion for it. My mother wasn't allowed a bike as a child, as her mother believed it to be to dangerous. Every child should be able to own a bike. A great first feel of freedom and autonomy. I am not in these pictures, but my friends and I were living it too..

  • @martincarson9610
    @martincarson9610 2 года назад +19

    My favorite stingray had a two speed kickback gears on it. You pedaled backward sharply almost to the coaster brake to get it to shift.

    • @timc7312
      @timc7312 2 года назад +4

      I had the same exact bike ,I think it was called a Bendix 2-speed , I was born in 57 so probably had around 67 bike ,all my friends had similar bikes we used race around ,jump trash cans , now im riding high end mountain bikes can still ride a wheelie about a 1/2 mile

    • @jimmyfleetwood1118
      @jimmyfleetwood1118 2 года назад +3

      @@timc7312 Still have one--and yes, it was the Bendix 2-sp. Great shared experiences. Cheers!

    • @lightninganth
      @lightninganth 2 года назад +1

      I had one also..2 speed kickback was the hot setup!

    • @mortonbeard2240
      @mortonbeard2240 2 года назад

      @@timc7312 I still do wheel stands also. CANNONDALE now.

  • @jezdfax
    @jezdfax Месяц назад +1

    I was 13, had a paper route in 73’ riding a hand me down handle bar 3 speed. Lady came driving through a blind alleyway and I went flying over her hood. Being a kid with rubber bones, I got up to see her gorgeous daughter I went to school with in the car. Didn’t want to seem like a wimp so I got up and said I was ok. My bike how ever was trashed. I walked and finished my route and walked to a Schwinn store and bought a brand new lemon peeler sting ray with the slick rear tire. Great bike.

  • @MrPolarbear59
    @MrPolarbear59 2 года назад +4

    Those were such good bikes on trail and snow.

  • @keithpearson7059
    @keithpearson7059 3 месяца назад +2

    In 1966 when i was 6 my great uncle gave me my first bike , a 25 year old bike , a 1941 ( 100 % original ) Schwinn Spitfire ! Perriwinkle blue and white , when i was 8 , i took it apart , spraypaintered the frame and fork medium blue metalic , and my dad got me parts to make it into a Sting Ray , metal flake blue banana seat , narrow high riser handlebars with metal flake blue grips , chrome rear wheel with blackwall slick and a knobby front tire to go on the original Spitfire front wheel . That Sting Ray i could ride a wheelie any time FOR 2 CITY BLOCKS , any day , i had a white AM transistor radio with the strap on the handlebar for tunes , if i took jumps the back cover would pop open and the 9 volt battery would come off . In 1970 for my birthday my Dad bought me a new Pea Picker , i had the reciet until a few years ago , it cost ( including tax ) EXACTLY $100. NEW .

  • @tyrssen1
    @tyrssen1 2 года назад +9

    When I was a kid, I put the sting ray seat and high bars on my full-size 26" Huffy. The one with the fake side tanks that had a light in 'em. Cool stuff,. and frankly, I wish I still had it.

  • @RandysFiftySevenChevy
    @RandysFiftySevenChevy 2 года назад +1

    I just had to add this;
    In 1963 us 4 kids all got bikes for Christmas, My brothers got regular 3 speeds and I got a 10-speed but what I really wanted was what my sister got. A Sting Ray like everyone in the neighborhood already had. But hers was a girls version painted pink with that white basket in front. When she went inside for something I gave it a test drive by jumping curbs. Yep I broke the neck off at the frame going a little too hard on a wicked jump. I then had to walk a couple houses home with her bike in 2 pieces. When she came out you would think that i killed her pet dog with all the drama. 60 years later she still holds it against me.

  • @tomschlitter1594
    @tomschlitter1594 2 года назад +20

    Hey Rhett,
    Great video! The first bike I remember that was all mine and brand new (previously I got hand-me-downs or used) was in 1972. It was a Schwinn Apple Crate. I was the coolest kid in the neighborhood! A few weeks later, it was stolen, never to be recovered. I was heartbroken. I never got a replacement. Thanks for the memories.

    • @RhettyforHistory
      @RhettyforHistory  2 года назад +2

      That would be heartbreaking to have your bike stolen. Bikes were everything to kids back then. Sounds like you had a nice one though. Thank you for watching and sharing your memories.

    • @giffordely2289
      @giffordely2289 2 года назад

      AAhhh yes , the stolen bike..... Bastards got mine ,too

    • @SL-vi4tk
      @SL-vi4tk 2 года назад

      I had my blue 5 speed fastback stolen in 1976 in Calumet City. Still thinking of the person who might have done it.

  • @TheNoncritical1
    @TheNoncritical1 2 года назад +2

    My dad couldn't afford to get me a Schwinn Sting Ray for my eighth grade graduation. I ended up with the Huffy version instead. In restrospect, I came out ahead because the Huffy featured an elongated frame which allowed my tallish physique to apply more torque than I could have on the Schwinn's shorter wheelbase. Sometimes things work out for the best in unexpected ways. Thanks Dad.

    • @MrSloika
      @MrSloika Месяц назад

      All the kids in the neighborhood had Stingrays or Krates. My father thought that the price on the Schwinn was crazy. Why spend that kind of money on a kid's bike when the kid will outgrow it in a couple of years? In the early 70s the Schwinn retailed for $70, about $700 inflation adjusted for inflation. I got a Columbia Stingray clone. At first I was disappointed but now I have good memories of the fun I had.

  • @pepejuan2924
    @pepejuan2924 2 года назад +5

    I remember I had a stingray in 81 when I was 13 , we set up a ramp on on a downhill street and I jump further than the other kids at 13 feet, it was also good for wheelies , great video thanks for posting 👍

  • @myfavoritemartian1
    @myfavoritemartian1 2 года назад +2

    I had a 1965 model, gold with a slick on the back. I lived on that bike, until it got stolen off my back porch. I was ready to transition to cars about that time so I never gave it another thought until now. Thanks for the memory!

  • @RadioReprised
    @RadioReprised 2 года назад +3

    Still own and ride my '70 Stingray! It was yellow but I have painted it to match whatever DirtBike I owned so it has changed many times! It is a BMX with Redline fork and Black with Gold rims to match my Husqvarna 390 right now. 52 years of fun!

  • @jerricocke987
    @jerricocke987 2 года назад +7

    I do remember the '70s and bikes I was dangerous to myself and others. Have a wonderful weekend and a very happy mother's Day to your wife.

    • @RhettyforHistory
      @RhettyforHistory  2 года назад +1

      I think all boys were daredevils on bikes. I haven't seen any boys build a ramp in forever. Thank you for watching and sharing your memories!

    • @jerricocke987
      @jerricocke987 2 года назад

      @@RhettyforHistory shock shock ready I'm actually a woman. And we had a ramp in our front yard for my brother and i.

    • @samsosa98
      @samsosa98 Месяц назад

      ​@@RhettyforHistoryI don't see kids riding bikes. They are all playing video games

  • @jebsdaddy141
    @jebsdaddy141 2 года назад +8

    The fat rear tire was called a "cheater slick" for some reason and some had a red line around the sidewall. Tire colors other than black were a thing too. I remember borrowing my grandmother's 3 in 1 oil to keep the chain nice and lubricated. Those were good times.

    • @ronalddauro563
      @ronalddauro563 4 месяца назад

      Jebdaddy
      For those who are wondering grandmas three in one oil was for her sewing machine every grandma sewed our clothes back then. Thanks grandma

    • @jebsdaddy141
      @jebsdaddy141 4 месяца назад

      @@ronalddauro563 The smell of 3 in one oil makes me think of my early bicycle days and flipping the bike upside down and oiling the chain. Good ole days.

  • @danielbowden2401
    @danielbowden2401 2 года назад +11

    I got my Sting-Ray in 1966 and went everywhere on it. It was a very tough bike. I can't count how many tubes and tires I went through. My friends and I thought we were Steve McQueen and would get up speed, run down and up through the grass ditch and jump over the metal garbage cans like in the Great Escape.

    • @philiphatfield5666
      @philiphatfield5666 Год назад

      The tires would seemingly go flat if you looked at them the wrong way; what's more, at the first drop if rain, I had to walk mine home. No brakes!

  • @SKG1941
    @SKG1941 Месяц назад +2

    Oh yes, I remember that stick shift. It brought me many moments of intense pain. Loved that bike.

  • @dks13827
    @dks13827 2 года назад +6

    You captured it, exactly !!! Great memories.

  • @craigthescott5074
    @craigthescott5074 Месяц назад +1

    I had a blue Stingray bike in the 1970’s with banana seat and motocross handlebars nobby tires. Bought a 1964 Stingray Corvette coup in 1983. Been sticking with stingrays and bought a 2021 Corvette stingray a few years ago. I’ve owned 8 Corvette stingrays every generation except the C1, and one stingray bike which started it all!!

  • @keithhampton9700
    @keithhampton9700 2 года назад +6

    My first bike was a Huffy Thunder Road. Replaced the parts with Schwinn parts.Lighter weight frame on the Huffy made it faster than stock Schwinn.Got my parts frome the back of a lawnmower repair shop. A car ran over a Schwinn Scrambler. Got all parts for Mowing their lot for for 3 weeks.

  • @rogertootkaylok5716
    @rogertootkaylok5716 Год назад +1

    Hah ! I very well remember when the Shwinn Stingray was being sold -though not for me personally. I did buy a Stingray bike. It's frame was metal flake green with a white banana seat, ape hangar handle bars. A sissy bar on the back. From Montgomery Ward I was able to purchase a set of chopper fork's in the front-How About That ! Of course it had a dragster slick for the back tire. I did buy a chrome chain with a combination lock to keep it safe with I went out & about. I just remember the back had a red reflector underneath the back seat. I also, I think I bought a headlight for the front of my bike as well. Very fond memories of owning & riding my Schwinn many more times in Fairbanks, Alaska where I was raised by wonderful foster parents. So there is most if my memories of the Stingray I rode around at that time. Thank you for allowing me to share my life experiencies. Care of Roger Dean Ruuska.

  • @that70sschwinn
    @that70sschwinn 2 года назад +5

    Nice! Thanks for using my video Thumbnail at 4:21 The Krate line up was certainly special from 1968 to 1973, Schwinn introduced 6 models and 7 colors, Kool Orange was offered on the 1968 Orange Krate and Sunset Orange was offered on the 1973 Orange Krate with rear Disc brake. The other models included, Apple Krate, Lemon Peeler Pea Picker, Cotton Picker and the 1971 Grey Ghost, 1971 was the only year all 6 colors were offered, in 1972 Schwinn went back to only 4 colors, including Apple Krate, Orange Krate, Pea Picker, and Lemon Peeler. 1973 was the last year and offered only the original 3 models offered in 1968, Apple Krate, Orange Krate and Lemon Peeler... An unforgettable line up of the coolest bikes of the 70's.👍

  • @shaunroberts9361
    @shaunroberts9361 2 года назад +1

    I had a red sting ray. 1973. Best bike ever. Now i have a 1985 Red phantom. Love it.
    Thank you. This brought back alot of memories.
    I could do a wheelie for blocks...

  • @mutstumbo
    @mutstumbo 2 года назад +5

    My first bike was the Orange String-Ray with silver metal flake banana seat and rear slick tire. I can remember running into the rose bushes next to the house many times when learning to ride it.
    Thanks for the memories.

    • @RhettyforHistory
      @RhettyforHistory  2 года назад

      Thank you for watching and sharing your memories. Thqt could be pretty painful running into rose bushes. As long as you don't put out an eye it's all good though.

  • @georgekappland2935
    @georgekappland2935 2 года назад +1

    I still have my 75', Apple Crate red, Stingray Fastback. I got it new and it now hangs in a place of reverence in my garage. I love it just as much now as when I picked it out from the Schwinn shop in 75, when I was 6. Still one of the coolest things I own.

  • @budwengler6730
    @budwengler6730 2 месяца назад +4

    I had a blue 1965 with the rear slick. Loved it....

    • @joeatwell2644
      @joeatwell2644 Месяц назад

      @budwengler6730 still have mine

    • @willbe5994
      @willbe5994 Месяц назад +1

      Got mine in ‘72! Rode that bike for miles all over the neighborhood and beyond.

  • @doylegrizzle4906
    @doylegrizzle4906 2 года назад +2

    My nephew's from San Francisco had a lime green Sting-Ray with shifter, mini front tire, and Cheeta-Slick on back. It was rad!

  • @karlabramovic489
    @karlabramovic489 2 года назад +9

    My primary dream, as a lower middle class boy in the 1960s, was, first and foremost, to own an empowering blue Sting-Ray bike. Along with a pair of brown cowboy boots and black leather jacket. My dad, with his relentless philosophy of “Just as good as,” gifted me with an adult sized Huffy 3-speed on my seventh Christmas, gleefully explaining that it’s the only bike I’ll ever need and eventually grow into. Earlier that year he bought me brown Sears work boots and a jacket made of beige suede. My sense of self-worth is still in ruins from such a horrific childhood!

  • @JohnnieDorman77
    @JohnnieDorman77 2 года назад

    Love this mini doc. about Schwinn Stingrays and also appreciated credit given to Pete Mole for being the first one to market muscle bikes. Back in the mid sixties I owned a Mattel Varoom muscle bike. Wanted a Schwinn Stingray, but never got one. In my fifties I ended up making the collection of Stingrays my hobby. I own ten Stingrays, at least one for every decade up until the early eighties models before the Chicago Schwinn manufacturing company closed down. Five of my Stingrays are within the highest collectible range between 1963 and 1973. Some American tradition just never leaves us. The 1965 Sky Blue Stingray was the one I wanted when I was a kid but never got, but now I own a 65 Sky Blue Deluxe Stingray two speed. I cherish it more than anything else.

  • @douglasskaalrud6865
    @douglasskaalrud6865 2 года назад +8

    Racing with a single-speed Sting-Ray really developed your leg muscles.They were geared so it took a LOT of effort to get the thing moving. Once you got going though it was unstoppable. Just when your opponent thought they’d beaten you and slacked off you’d blow right by ‘em.

  • @caeserromero3013
    @caeserromero3013 2 года назад +5

    We had something similar in the UK called the Raleigh 'Chopper'. This had a big back wheel and a smaller front wheel, with the same handlebars and seat as the Stingray, which made it look even more like a Harley. My older brother had one. I was born in '78 so I missed this craze but was just the right age for a BMX. I had a yellow BMX with yellow polymer wheels.

    • @ronalddauro563
      @ronalddauro563 4 месяца назад

      Ceaserromero
      Sorry bro but plastic yellow wheels don’t compare to a chrome s-2 rim with a slick tire sprig fork and top tube shifter.

  • @harryfritter8266
    @harryfritter8266 2 года назад +4

    My dad went on a business trip over seas and brought back my first bicycle. It was called a libratoss, kinda like a modern gravel bike. That's what started my love for bikes and eventually a professional career racing mountain bikes. I had the libratoss all the way up to 2008 when a burglar stole all of my vintage bikes from my home, while I was on a trip to Alaska.

  • @cashmoney7660
    @cashmoney7660 2 года назад +17

    This video brings back a lot of great memories! I always wanted a Schwinn apple krate stingray. But I believe they cost $89 in 1969 so for my 12th birthday I got a $59 Huffy Rail instead ,identical to the one at 4:54. I was so thrilled because I got to ride my brand new bike for the first time in the Memorial Day parade! It turned out to be perhaps even better for wheelies than the stingray because of the extended frame. Could do wheelies for blocks on that thing .With the five speed it was great for all around riding.My best buddy had a stingray style Huffy with an all chrome frame and rams shaped handlebars does anyone remember those?

    • @RhettyforHistory
      @RhettyforHistory  2 года назад +2

      Thank you for watching and sharing your memories. I really loved riding my bike, doing wheelies snd jumping ramps and hills.

    • @jwmustang1
      @jwmustang1 2 года назад +1

      I had an Orange Crate. Great well built. I wish I kept it.

    • @chopperenduro6590
      @chopperenduro6590 2 года назад

      Those bars were called billy goat handlebars , l had a set at one time as a kid .

  • @lindaandreasen9735
    @lindaandreasen9735 Месяц назад

    We lived on ours. Got into mountain and road biking later in life. A friend had found a stingray at a yard sale. When I looked it over, I was amazed at how heavy the darn thing was compared to more modern bikes, and it’s amazing how we road them non stop everywhere.

  • @RavenStJohn
    @RavenStJohn 2 года назад +13

    Those bikes were life changers for my friends and I back in the late 60's...we would find fields with small hills and try to do jumps on our bikes......it was great when you made the jumps and usually pretty funny when you didn't.

    • @RhettyforHistory
      @RhettyforHistory  2 года назад +5

      Bikes were really hours and hours of fun for kids and now days I feel like most are missing out on that. Thank you for watching and sharing your memories!

    • @RavenStJohn
      @RavenStJohn 2 года назад +3

      @@RhettyforHistory I agree......when you have a bunch of kids brought up with video games like GTA, they're not going to grow up playing outside and riding and having the fun we did back in the day.....the result I'm afraid is evident by what's on the news constantly.

    • @guymorris6596
      @guymorris6596 2 года назад +3

      My friends and I jumped each other and trash cans with our bicycles in the first part of the 1970s. I had a Schwinn Stingray and rode that bike everywhere. Then I upgraded to a ten speed road bike and followed the successes of my pro cycling hero Eddy Merckx.

  • @zareththealchemist8982
    @zareththealchemist8982 2 года назад +1

    In 1971 my mother and I moved in with a multimillionaire. He bought me a Grey Ghost. Loved that guy - LOVED that bike. All the kids wanted one. 5 speed, chopper with shocks in the back and suspension in the front. Thanks for posting this.

  • @billdozer3674
    @billdozer3674 2 года назад +15

    I got a blue deluxe stingray with white wall tires and a slick on the back in 65 or 66 and could ride a wheelie from one end of the block to the other, man I loved that bike!!! Someone cut the lock off of it at the city pool and I was so bummed out to learn that there were bad people in the world 🌎

    • @billdivine9501
      @billdivine9501 2 года назад +4

      Yep, had 2 Stingrays, both got stolen. Then I got an AMF Evil Knievel looking bike. Nobody wanted to steal that thing! 🤣

  • @johnpugh327
    @johnpugh327 2 года назад +1

    Had a Gray Ghost when I was a kid. Miles and miles of fun. Thanks for the memories of a better time.

  • @lesliehackney7519
    @lesliehackney7519 2 года назад +6

    I got my first bike in 1957, before the Stingray but it was a Schwinn. My older brother and middle brother both had Schwinn's too, but also before the Stingrays. My two youngest brothers both had the Stingrays. The Schwinn's were really good bikes and took a lot of abuse from the kids I knew.

    • @RhettyforHistory
      @RhettyforHistory  2 года назад

      They really were great bikes that could take a beating. I'm curious how tough the new schwinn bikes are but it would really be tough. Kids don't ride them anywhere near the same amount. Thank you for watching and sharing the memories of what you and your family had.

  • @demej00
    @demej00 Месяц назад

    I had one in Lewistown, MT in 1960s. Learned to ride bicycle on it in the snow and ice. Wrapped chain around rear slick to get some traction. Wonderful bike. Defining moment.

  • @macmccollum6064
    @macmccollum6064 2 года назад +5

    Yes, Christmas 1964. I got a lime green Sting Ray with fenders. I'd still have that today if mom hadn't stuck it in a garage sale when I wasn't looking.

    • @RhettyforHistory
      @RhettyforHistory  2 года назад +2

      Mom's sure are good about doing that! You're bike sure would be worth a good penny with that year. Thank you for watching and sharing your memories.

  • @doctorcountersteer6580
    @doctorcountersteer6580 Месяц назад

    Had a blue Rampar BMX in '75 right when double-clamp goose necks came out. Went to try to take a buddy to Gapplebees off the line in a race; juiced the right hand pedal, HARD, first, really pulling up on the handle bars and the chain broke! The underside of my right knee cap and my patellar tendon came down hard enough the rear edge of the clamp-plate to lay my knee "wide" open, through my jeans, AND make the front wheel steer hard-left, instantly, and threw me over the handle bars resulting in me doing a somersault or two after impacting with the tarmac.......
    Still love to ride at nearly 60 y/o!! GREAT vid; never saw any Huffy's or Murray's that were influenced by the Schwinns though, in my neck of the woods. All of the Schwinns I recall had the 16" front wheel w/a drum brake, a springer front end, and the five speed rear rim with a TALL sissy bar. Didn't know they even made one with a coaster brake, either. Then Huffy came out with their BMX called Thunder Road and it had a motorcycle-looking number plate I believe that said "19"? Anyone remember THAT one, in the mid and late 70's?

  • @SlowPCGaming1
    @SlowPCGaming1 2 года назад +6

    I loved my Huffy with the banana seat! I went everywhere on a Huffy right up til I was in my late teens. I never knew about that wheelie attachment. We did wheelies the old fashioned way by bouncing off curbs to pop 'em. Nowadays I think the closest you'd have to a wheelie wheel are the rear mount pushers for making e-bike conversions.

    • @RhettyforHistory
      @RhettyforHistory  2 года назад +2

      I never had a wheelie bar either. I never had a problem popping it up and riding it as long as I didn't have to turn. Thank you for watching and sharing your memories!

  • @davidbarrera308
    @davidbarrera308 2 года назад

    My uncle bought me a green one in the 1980's. I can remember jumping ramps with that bike, falling down and getting back up. So much freedom and adventures back then.

  • @keithhunter3910
    @keithhunter3910 2 года назад +6

    My first good bike was a yellow, '72 Stingray. I couldn't believe my mom could afford a $60 bike. I was set to pick out something cheaper.
    In the last five decades, the only other material possession that made me happier was getting my Martin D18.

  • @steveskuras2515
    @steveskuras2515 2 года назад

    I got the 5 speed Sting Ray Fastback in blue with a white metalflake seat in 1966. Two years later I put ram's horn handlebars wrapped in blue grip tape...SO COOL. That bike was my prize possession and I took great care of it. Wish I had it today

  • @samuelschick8813
    @samuelschick8813 2 года назад +11

    Had both a Schwinn and Huffy at different times but never the shifter. Butterfly handle bars, banana seat and the standard sissy bar. One thing is for sure. Just like the Tonka trucks back in the day, Schwinn and Huffy bikes could take a beating and still work great. Only thing that slowed you down was a flat tire or a tank ran it over. LOL

    • @RhettyforHistory
      @RhettyforHistory  2 года назад +2

      Yeah I went thru a lot of tubes and tires as a kid. I really enjoyed my bike. At one time i had one of those spedometer/odometers on one bike. It would go all th3 way to 999 miles and then flip. I flipped it twice. Thank you for watching and sharing your memories!

  • @suze816
    @suze816 2 года назад

    I rode my Huffy bike to school in 4th, 5th, and 6th grade. One mile each way. (Houston TX)..
    It was great and I went everywhere on it in the mid to late 60's.
    Good memories !

  • @JoeR203
    @JoeR203 2 года назад +6

    Something tells me the "Cotton picker" color wouldn't go over very well in today's market.
    Two bikes I remember having were, a chopper that had a purple frame, mirrors, a flame design on the seat and actual chopper fork extensions, putting the front wheel out farther than the "Choppers" in this video. The other bike I had, had a black frame, knobby tires, motorcycle type hand grips, thick dirt bike type seat and a yellow plastic faux gas tank. I remember my cousin rigged up a car headlight and a 6v battery that fit perfectly in the frame of the handlebars.

    • @maxwedge5683
      @maxwedge5683 2 года назад +3

      We would hacksaw the forks off wrecked bikes and just slide them over the existing forks to rake our Stingrays. That and small front wheels gave it the true chopper look. I even bent the seatpost back too (I was getting bigger) but that put my weight so far back behind the rear wheel that I couldn't keep the front wheel on the ground.
      Eventually I graduated to the next logical step. The iconic "Ten Speed".

    • @scottanthony3426
      @scottanthony3426 2 года назад +1

      Yeah, I thought I was pretty cool with those knobby tires. Back in that era you could get a lot of accessories. My family always went for the headlight/tail light combo that ran off a small generator. You mounted it so the tire would spin the generator. Wasn't much good when you stopped though. I also had a bolt on siren. It went on the front fork, and when you pulled up on a string, it engaged the end of the siren impeller with the tire, causing it to spin and make siren noises. Some of the kids thought it might be "illegal" to be possibly confusing someone with this fake siren. LOL

  • @jacksaintjack2844
    @jacksaintjack2844 2 года назад

    My best friend who lived 3 houses down from me got a purple one. I had to have one so my Grandmother ( I love you ) bought me one in purple as well. The main thing I recall is the spring and rubber gasket shock absorber for the front wheel which was smaller than the rear wheel. Ours also had chrome fenders. It was fun, but it couldn't compete with my metallic green Schwinn Corvette that I got rid of when I got the Sting Ray. The Corvette was an early 60's model andawas a full size bike with white sidewalls, chrome fenders and chain guard and that thing could not only fly, but punished potholes and any type of faulty asphalt or concrete. It was a beast. I wish I still had it.

  • @bostonrailfan2427
    @bostonrailfan2427 2 года назад +4

    you really know how to trigged memories with these videos, first the station wagon now this!
    this was the first bike that i ever owned, and also involved the only car crash that i was involved in and closest i ever came to breaking a bone…had one for three days and crossed the street in front of a car, got clipped on the leg sending me flying. bike was totaled, but the driver ended up buying me a new Huffy bike and helmet(at the insistence of the police in lieu of prosecution for failing to yield to pedestrians).

    • @RhettyforHistory
      @RhettyforHistory  2 года назад +2

      Wow! That sounds scary and could have ended very badly. Did you get on that new bike much after the crash? Thank you for watching and sharing your memories.

    • @bostonrailfan2427
      @bostonrailfan2427 2 года назад +1

      @@RhettyforHistory i got a cheap Huffy that got six hard years of use before it fell apart so it wasn’t too bad. plus the neighborhood got speed restrictions that were needed so kids benefited for years afterward

  • @louispidi9236
    @louispidi9236 2 года назад

    Excellent video! I had a 1968 Schwinn 3 speed Stingray. I loved it! I wish I still had it!

  • @bettytordoff8920
    @bettytordoff8920 2 года назад +6

    Oh yes, my brothers had the 'rays. My first was a hand me down Schwinn tricycle, "borrowing" my brothers bikes, until I got my first blue cruiser. I then was able to scavenge onto one of my brothers 10 speeds, when he left the house. I was in bike heaven. My Grandfather was a Schwinn salesman. Nothing but a true Schwinn family, we were.

    • @RhettyforHistory
      @RhettyforHistory  2 года назад +2

      Sounds like you all had some nice ones and those schwinn's were great to pass down. Thank you for watching and sharing your memories of what you had.

    • @throwingsparks
      @throwingsparks 2 года назад +1

      Oh Betty, I am green with envy! My folks would never pony up the $ for a Schwinn but then again I did seem to destroy every childhood bike I owned.......

  • @rangerjones5531
    @rangerjones5531 2 года назад

    Watching this in my shop and across from me is my perfect Lemon Peeler and three stingrays . Thanks for the great upload!

  • @bushranger51
    @bushranger51 2 года назад +5

    They were made under licence in Australia by Malvern Star, and were called "Dragsters" if my memory serves me correct. A lot of kids in my home town had them, although my Dad wouldn't let me have one, my old 28" wheeler 3 speed, could out do them anyway. I did envy them though, as I thought those kids were cool.

    • @RhettyforHistory
      @RhettyforHistory  2 года назад +1

      That is interesting that they made their way to Australia. I figured there might have been a brand unique to Australia that made some sort of version of them. Thank you for watching and sharing your memories of what you had. I'm sure the other kids were mad when you smoked them in races!

    • @wyatberp3611
      @wyatberp3611 2 года назад +1

      bushranger51... I think you and I had the same Dad

    • @TheHsan22
      @TheHsan22 2 года назад

      Drag Star…. I wanted one, but settled for a 27” semi racer hand-me-down from my brother, with 3 speed Sturmey Archer hub gears

  • @devarskinnee8760
    @devarskinnee8760 Месяц назад +1

    Cool I had a 1968 matalic light green metal flake,yea first b.m.x.er. then modified it to race.won every thing on that bike. Miss my Schwinn.