Okay here is the quick story. I pieced together bike around 82-83, lived on the bike for 3 years, Dad sold bike in 87 or so. Got back into bikes last year and really wanted my first real BMX bike. After some searching I found my old bike and repurchased for 125.00. Here is the link to my first post about that.

http://www.vintagebmx.com/cgi-bin/ultimate...5583;p=1#000000

Well after taking apart and reassembling it here are my pictures. Some things that I still want to do are get some Oakley grips and a new seat.

I kept all the stickers original except the forks. Had the wheels relaced with new spokes and new tires. Otherwise it just the way I had back in 83.








[ March 07, 2007, 08:21 PM: Message edited by: Ponch ]

[ March 07, 2007, 08:35 PM: Message edited by: Ponch ]

You're lucky man to be able to locate your old bike.

looks good

What a cool story. It has got to feel good to end up with your old bike back.
Looks great by the way.

Nice bike Ponch! I am partial to 83 GT's.

I would love to find my old bikes. In 95 I traded my 83 GT Pro, a GHP, and a PK Ripper for a new Cailoi mountain bike. Yes, I kick myself every day for that blunder. Had all those bikes for 10+ years and swapped for the MTB that has been haning from my garage ceiling for most of the past 12 years. Still has the knobs on the tires as I dont ride it much.

killer bike Ponch, I bet John is jealous lol !!

very cool that you built your old bike back up, and those early GTs rule...

That is a great looking GT. It just screams old school. And the fact that it is your old bike makes it that much cooler.

great looking bike, yours again Like it was ment to be

Hey Kevin,

That's a cool GT. It's great that after buying it back it still had so many of your parts. So often later owners don't respect them and the parts are trashed, stolen or replaced. I managed to buy my old DB Pro back, but nearly all my running gear was missing - ah well.

Great (and fast) job on your gentle resto. Well done.

lovin'it --- don't get more real then that !

Thta surely is an awesome story and bike.
Bet it rides great!

and I like your crank set up - lol

Okay somebody talk some sense into me, since I have completed my bike it just sits in the basement and I have been thinking about selling it. I'm not a collector but more of a new school racer and it just sits there getting dusty. I did take it to the local BMX track but it just doesn't compare to how my new bike feels. I can't beleive how small it seems. But I was able to locate some oakley F1 grips but never did find a seat, the current kasimax is messed up where the rails are molded into the seat, the rails will kind of glide side to side as you ride it sitting down, it has been that way since I had it back in the 80's.

Anyway how many here have sold there bike only to have real bad sellers remorse?

Don't do it! You will regret it, and then you will spend a fortune trying to rebuild it, and in the end you will still feel incomplete!

Anyway how many here have sold there bike only to have real bad sellers remorse?
[/quote]

Happens every time I sell a bike now as I think I want to keep them all. The worst was when I traded my actual bikes from BITD in 1996. Gave my 83 GT, 84 GHP, and PK Ripper for a new MTB. I kick myself for that blunder.

Today the remorse lasts until the next box arrives in the mail and it starts over.

Sell it to me and I will give you first rights if I decide to part with it. I am in need of a an 83 Pro in good shape. Yours would fit the bill.

Paul

I raced an almost exact replica of that bike in the mid 80s. I'd give my left axle nut to get it back. No way I'd sell it.

Very cool story and I love the bike.
I too am a GT fan, and I've stuck allot of money to get it the way I want (STILL NOT DONE!).....and there it sits, because now I'm afraid to scratch the stickers I found and I don't wanna scratch the finish, etc. Ya, I know what your going through. I'd like to display it nice on the wall and that's the plan when the oldest goes to college and I can have the room. Haaahaaaa.
4 kids and a 5 bedroom house and its full... (who woulda think?) LOL!

BTW, it needs red GT pads... The repops sold are really nice and cheap

I wish I still had the original pads from this late 83 pic

very cool bike.

Don't sell it for any amount. I know you think it will be ok but it won't. I sold my looptail PK in '88 and have regretted it every day ever since. You might not be lucky enough to find it again.

Hey Ponch, that's a mighty sweet ride. Nice job. I have to agree with Coasty though, it might make sense to sell it now but you would certainly regret it down the road.

DONT DO IT ! I'VE DONE IT ,AND REGRET IT ! IF YOU DO IT I'LL BUY IT! I'LL SELL IT BACK TO YOU IN 5 YEARS FOR DUB! YOU'LL BEG AND SELL OTHER STUFF TO GET IT BACK..... TRUST ME! KEEP IT AND FINE ANOTHER BIKE TO MAKE MONEY WITH. I'D BUY IT THOUGH, PM ME IF YOUR FOR REAL. YOU SHOULD KEEP IT THOUGH!

Put it out by the curb overnight. Someone will steal it and at least you'll be mad, and not sad. lol

don't sell

bikes looks awesome, great color combo..

Its on ebay right now on buy it now for 1300 bucks. Put your money where your mouth is.

Old School BMX 1983 GT nora cup Survivor

I'm kinda hoping it doesn't sell. But I have some Christmas bills that need to be paid.

^^^

Well good luck not selling it! It really turnout great.

I understand your dilemma though. I feel like once I've completed rebuilding my old bike, taking a few pics of it and staring at it for a month or two, I'd be an idiot not to off-load it for the money.... though I'm sure I won't want to.

Ponch, that bike is almost identical to my race bike back in the mid 80s and the only thing stopping me from clicking quick buy is the divorce papers that surely would accompany the bike to here. As much as I've tried, I cannot explain to her why a bike would be worth 1300 bones.

wimmin!

Ohhh Ponch, your gonna regret this. At least sell it to someone who will sell it back to you for the same price later, when you come to your senses and feel the pain and regret. Money is easier to replace than your childhood race bike. Good luck brother and I hope all works out how you need it to.

Just my opinion, but if it doesn't sell, you should contact Joker808 as he makes amazing replica GT pads. Then it will be just as you remember it back in the day.

To me you cant look at your old bikes in a dollar amount. That temptation will make even the best of us want to sell out. But you cant put a price tag on memories, and I bet even though it may just sit in the basement right now, every time you walk past it it make you feel like 10 years old again.

been along time since i've seen an okolona schwinn sticker. i had a gt almost just like that in 83 also, with the red GT pads.

KEVIN

Hey just list it on ebay with a huge reserve one that someone would be crazy to pay for it if it sells then oh well someone paid too much and you paid your bills, I traded all the parts off of my old hutch pro racer to sack years ago so I could pay some bills, I kept the frame and fork there is no way I could get rid of that but i wish I would have kept the profile cranks and hutch pedals and powerlite bars, they had some special meanning to me, but sack sold the cranks and he has the pedals on his ghp, the powerlite bars I don't have any clue what he done with those i guess what i'm trying to say now that i think about it DON"T SELL YOU BIKE !!!, forget the high reserve end the auction now, I know getting old sucks and we have to pay bills, but this is what we all lived for back in the 80's pass it on to your kids, just think of how our parents would have loved to give us one of their old baseball gloves or footballs but they let it go at a yard sale,,,that bike is a piece of history, not just any history but your personal history,,bby the way thanks for sending me the ols pics for my myspace nostalgic bmx,,Joey

I hate seeing that on the auction block for sure. I know that money gets tight and if it is now, then keep doing what you've been doing and it'll all flow back into the pot.. money comes and goes, but these bikes, ones like yours and the fact that it's your from sooo long ago, just can't have a dollar amount that really equates to not having it anymore.

Before you knew what it was worth in todays market, it was a pal, a good friend that you could sit on and remember good times with. Don't sell your friend because it'll never be happy with another owner.

I know.. too far, but you get the sentiment.

Wow. I didn't know that there was such a following for old BMX stuff. I just happened across this and started thinking what to do with my old BMX bike. I have a GHP from ~83 or 84 when I raced for Peddle Power. It has SST hubs, Flights, etc. I ride every once in a while when I think I not too old. It brings back old memories of racing, traveling and just having fun. I didn't realize there is a great demand for these things. It makes me want to bring it in from the garage and park in my room like when I was a teenager.

Wow...Great bike. Real clean. Here is my thought for what it's worth...There is something special about being the "original owner" of a bike. I mean, it's yours...you have a connection to it. It knows you and you know it. It's been over every jump with you, every spill, every bunny hop...and you could probably explain every ding, dent and scratch on it to anyone who would listen. I was at a point in college when mountain biking was the sh..t so i ALMOST sold my 85 Pro Performer. But I didn't and now I am so happy I didn't. I say do whatever you want to. Just remember this: Bills will always need to get paid...but you can NEVER (well almost never) replace your original ride.

I had exactly this "jeez, this stuff is worth a ton and I've got it rotting under my parent's deck!" moment a little over a year ago, but now that I'm almost done restoring, I've grown reattached to the stuff I'd virtually forgotten about for 20 years (it lives in my "man" room now). At one point in the 90's my Mom was going to cut it up and make a wall sculpture out of it and I said "fine".

I can't imagine that sourcing the same parts to replicate the bike would have even half the sentimental value, so think long and hard!

Well, its getting crunch time, less than a day left. I feel like the guy in 40 your old virgin packing up his toy collection, playing with them the last time before boxing them up. It still may not sell, I'll find out tomorrow at 5 eastern.

Just thought I would give an upddate, sold it last week for 1025, 1085 with shipping included. I boxed it up and dropped it off at Fedex this morning. So far it hasn't bothered me at all. It might hit me later

Kevin

I hope your car is fast so you can beat that FED EX plane to where it is going, Just don't forget to take the cash with ya so you can give it back to the guy who bought your old GT,

Its going to be a long ride, La Quinta, Ca

I can respect your reasons for selling it, responsibilities should take priority over fun. I am kinda sad you had to though, as it was your childhood bike, and no replica you may build in the future will ever have that feeling(I know from personal experience).

On a positive note, if someone was willing to pay that price, then they are probably serious, and will take care of it.

Yep he is going to pimp it out on the streets of California,

It's cool. I honestly believe that I hang onto everything I have because I sold/traded/lost
too many things in the past. It's pop-psychology on myself, but true.

Any time I'm picking something up, somewhere in the mix I'm thinking about
what I'm spending vs what it may go for later. But instead of going for profit
I end up spending more for resto, more components, etc.

There is ONE bike I keep threatening to sell, since it doesn't have any
sentimental value to me. And it seems to be in real demand right now.
(who knows how long that will last)

For me, now, I can make plenty working overtime whenever I feel like it.
In one month I could make more than the bike would go for just by staying
awake at work during some intense overtime. That's one month.
If I sell the bike, that's forever...if I keep it, that's forever.
That's why I almost never sell.

If I were to ever get any of my personal '80's rides back, forget it.