I was 10 years old and found this next to the Christmas tree! WHEEE! 
-
Enjoy XS650.com? Consider making a donation to help support the site.
XS650.com receives a small share of sales from some links on this page, but direct donations have a much greater impact on keeping this site going.
My best Christmas ever! 😃
- Thread starter Mailman
- Start date
Update! I just found a more accurate photo. Mine was not the highly desirable Schwinn Stingray, mine was actually a Sears Spyder, this color but without the sky high sissy bar. 
.......and wheelies became a thing........
Still, very cool!Update! I just found a more accurate photo. Mine was not the highly desirable Schwinn Stingray, mine was actually a Sears Spyder, this color but without the sky high sissy bar.
View attachment 258247
Back in the day, I rode a standard. My friends all rode Specials. It used to bother them that I was much faster.
My little brother had the StingRay style bike, being older I had a RollFast.
Oh man, you know it! Wheelies and jumping over anything I could! I thought I was Evel Knevel on that bike!
That’s a nice bike!
When I started high school I bought a 10 speed, they were all the rage then. I had two best friends, one rode a Schwinn Varsity, one rode a Peugeot and I had a Steyr Clubman.
Steyr Daimler Puch was an Austrian company that sold bikes back then ( 1970 ) the Clubman had an all aluminum frame and was light as a feather. And it was also considered their low tier, entry level bike.
I still loved it though, man I rode the wheels off that bike!
And what is a RollFast? I’m not familiar.
Thinking they were distributed through Western Auto.
I "inherited" my older brother's Fat Tire Schwinn. It did end up with a set of ape hangers and a banana seat. I don't recall for sure but those were probably gifts as my allowance certainly wouldn't have covered them.
cycleranger
Generally Ok.
The Stingray was the bike I wanted. That bike is almost exactly what I got..
It wasn't a great Christmas.
This one Kevin posted in the WTF thread
See that unicycle in the back that's
kinda like my first bike cause dad wouldn't spring for the second wheel
See that unicycle in the back that's
I was too old for a Stingray bike but in 1958 I got a new Schwinn Corvette. 26" with semi pneumatic tires, Bendix 2 speed and generator lights. Way cool! What`s left of it is still hanging on my basement wall waiting for restoration.
Identical to the one pictured.
Identical to the one pictured.
Last edited:
As a young lad I used to ride around on my dad's get to work bike; a small wheeled heavy durable tank of a bike similar to this:
Hardly the thing to beat your mates in a race; and certainly nothing to impress the chicks with!
What we all really wanted back then was one of these:
A Raleigh Chopper! Totally crap to ride and poor handling; but Oh what a style statement of the day. Only one lad on our street had one, 'Spoilt' Mark who's seemingly wealthy parents owned the local news agent store. I never got one of those bikes. Image above taken from eBay today £3,000.00... Nuts!
My first proper bike I got when my Grand Mother passed away and left me some money in her will. I loved cycling and coveted a racing bike so I bought a Peugeot Triathalon machine similar this one:
I loved that bike and road it everywhere daily. I changed the gearing to a more touring friendly set up and embarked on my first ever 'distance' tours around the UK: Cornwall, North Wales and other beautiful areas. Always went with my mate Tony who had a Team Raleigh Europa Replica bike like this one:
We toured all over on these bikes until old enough to go pub drinking, chase girls for favour, and smoke fags!
Of course Motor bikes were the order of the day by now and we toured on many classic and modern machines all over Europe until into our late twenties. That is until he got hitched to a woman that changed his whole state of mind! Sadly he lost his own sense of direction together with his hair.... Shame!
Hardly the thing to beat your mates in a race; and certainly nothing to impress the chicks with!
What we all really wanted back then was one of these:
A Raleigh Chopper! Totally crap to ride and poor handling; but Oh what a style statement of the day. Only one lad on our street had one, 'Spoilt' Mark who's seemingly wealthy parents owned the local news agent store. I never got one of those bikes. Image above taken from eBay today £3,000.00... Nuts!
My first proper bike I got when my Grand Mother passed away and left me some money in her will. I loved cycling and coveted a racing bike so I bought a Peugeot Triathalon machine similar this one:
I loved that bike and road it everywhere daily. I changed the gearing to a more touring friendly set up and embarked on my first ever 'distance' tours around the UK: Cornwall, North Wales and other beautiful areas. Always went with my mate Tony who had a Team Raleigh Europa Replica bike like this one:
We toured all over on these bikes until old enough to go pub drinking, chase girls for favour, and smoke fags!
Of course Motor bikes were the order of the day by now and we toured on many classic and modern machines all over Europe until into our late twenties. That is until he got hitched to a woman that changed his whole state of mind! Sadly he lost his own sense of direction together with his hair.... Shame!
In 67 or 68 I don't recall which, I got "The Rail" sold at Sears. 5 speed derailer, ape hangers, banana seat with fake woodgrain on the shifter console.
My bike as a kid was a Schwinn Typhoon, like this one:
As I recall though, mine had the chrome fenders. I was probably 8 years old at the time, and to me, that bike was like a HD. A great big one-speed that, compared to most of the other kids' bikes was fast as hell. Nobody wore helmets (why?}. Baseball cards in the spokes were optional. I rode it into the ground. I had a Raleigh Record in high school, but when I got my license, "who needs a bike when I have a car?"
As I recall though, mine had the chrome fenders. I was probably 8 years old at the time, and to me, that bike was like a HD. A great big one-speed that, compared to most of the other kids' bikes was fast as hell. Nobody wore helmets (why?}. Baseball cards in the spokes were optional. I rode it into the ground. I had a Raleigh Record in high school, but when I got my license, "who needs a bike when I have a car?"
I was too old for a Stingray bike but in 1958 I got a new Schwinn Corvette. 26" with semi pneumatic tires, Bendix 2 speed and generator lights. Way cool! What`s left of it is still hanging on my basement wall waiting for restoration.
View attachment 258287
I’m always amazed that people can hang on to one thing for decades. A first car or motorcycle or bicycle
. I still have exactly three things that I have carried forward from my youth, a Louisville Slugger baseball bat that bought with money mowing yards as a kid, a youth model 20 guage shotgun that my father bought me as a boy, and a Ruger .22 caliber rifle that my grandfather bought me for my 13th birthday. And that’s it!
Last edited:
I`ve still got the Louisville Slugger, Spaulding ball and Wilson glove and a Savage .22 rifle. Never had a shotgun as a kid. Still got the Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, Lionel train, Gilbert chemistry/microscope set and a shit load of stuff I`ll never use again but will make a hell of a estate sale.
I`ve still got the Louisville Slugger, Spaulding ball and Wilson glove and a Savage .22 rifle. Never had a shotgun as a kid. Still got the Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, Lionel train, Gilbert chemistry/microscope set and a shit load of stuff I`ll never use again but will make a hell of a estate sale.
Wow! That’s pretty amazing.
Well, my parents are like that, and I appreciate it. When they go, I can get rid of just about everything with no remorse. I believe my wife won’t be that lucky.I’m always amazed that people can hang on to one thing for decades. A first car or motorcycle or bicycle
