Well, after a couple of years of excuses and finally tracking down a few needed parts, I have finally starting rebuilding a few of my old bikes. For those of you who build these bikes year in and year out, I applaude your efforts. Tracking down some of this stuff almost seems impossible at times and very time consuming at the very least. Anyhow, here is a sneak peek at the first bike being assembled. I checked a lot of my old personal photo's and some magazine pics to re-confirm what I had known all along, but had forgotten after more than 20 years. This project would not have been possible without the help of more than a few memebers here on vintage and when the bikes are done, with their permission of course, I will post who helped me out.

So here is a sneak peek...
My gold Hutch

I am down to needing a pair of brake levers and it will be 100% complete, I can't believe it. If anyone has a pair of tech 3 locking levers, in any color, in just decent condition, please let me know. I will be happy to pay what ever the going rate is to be finished with this bike. Thanks and see you in Rockford.

FYI, I've read in a few posts about bikes being built for the show this year. Rest assured, anything I may bring with me, would not be entered in any type of judging venue. I'm dong this for me and my kids some day to appreciate.

What a teaser shot. I have a feeling even if you dont enter any of your bikes you'll win either way. Cant wait for the rock. Good luck with your final pieces. Chris

(LOL). That "sneak peak" picture is ridiculous, Woody. Just awesome. Like a movie trailer - you know what's coming, but they're not gonna show you just yet! Too cool. Can't wait to see it!

INSANITY at its finest!!
I guess Rockford can just put it in the "24kt gold Trick Star SURVIVOR class
Thanks Woody
Rick

..man I wish I had some levers for ya! thats gonna be AWESOME!!!!

Seriously. Get the posse together. We got to get some Tech 3's somewheres...

My eyes bugged out when I opened that pic! That is the ultimate freestyle bike IMO. Can't wait to see it in person!

Can't wait to see it!
Do locking tech 3's exist? Good luck finding them... wish I could help.

Woody, Do you plan on reviving one of your old diamond backs eventually as well?

I searched used BMX but didn't find any lockers.

I've never seen locking tech IIIs either. Killer bike though Woody. Did you have to get the frame replated or does have the original plate job.

Is he referring to acs mini mountain levers with the locking buttons?

Did you look though all the threads to find an appropriate place for your plug?



Did you look though all the threads to find an appropriate place for your plug?

That "sneek peak" shames anything I've ever built! LOL. Can't wait to see the whole bike! It's funny, I remember seeing that thing for the first time more than 20yrs. ago in BMX Plus!

I still can't believe Woody is on this site! For me it's like being able to chat with Wayne Gretzky or Michael Jordan...it just blows my mind!

If I had the levers Woody, I'd give em to ya for free!

Actually, I'm building three bikes at the same time, that's why this has taken me so long to get too. 2 Hutch's and 1 Diamond Back. I already have 1 other DB complete. I seriuosly gave away so much stuff back in the 80's I barely saved anything for myself. Good thing I gave my 2 favorite Hutch's to good friends of mine, otherwise, I wouldn't have those either.

As for the levers, they look exactly like tech 3's and lee chi makes one that looks exactly like it as well. I know the levers I had on that bike had locks, I'm just not 100% sure of the model name. There was even an article in one of the magazines about how the locks didn't work very good which was correct. But most likely they were dia compe. They were really kind of cheaply made to be honest and came loose pretty easy. Right after the first round of pictures of that bike came out, I swithced over to the ACS Mini Mountain levers, which sadly enough I also don't have any of those either. I figured the original ACS mini mountain levers would be tougher to find than the dia compes?

I'm sure someone here know's the name on those levers I hope? It's been really fun to restore these bikes back the way they use to be when they were new. As to the plating, some stuff survived in perfect condition and other stuff had to be replated. I wanted to leave it alone, but some areas of the bike were so worn, I just couldn't leave it looking like it did. Woody.

Speachless!

That's going to be so cool to see you and that bike at Rockford! Wish I had the levers for you too. I'll keep an eye out.

I've been looking for those mini locking acs levers that were in that acs ad for years. I can only hope someone here is hording some away. Lets get a pic of them up here so everyone is on the same page. Axlepeg? I know you have a scan.

Woody. Have you called acs to ask if they may have a stash of old stuff(rims/levers)? I bet if they still had some they would be yours for the taking. Oh get me a set too
ct

I do have a set of the ACS Mini Mtn levers on my green TS. No Tech 3's though. Here's what the Mini Mtns look like. Let me know if you can't find the others and decide to go with these.

Hey Woody this Rockford is going to RIP Are you going to bring Golf Clubs I had a blast in the Wis.Dells last time!!

Those aren't the levers...the ones he is talking about are old school style...really exactly like tech 3's but with locks...i may have a pic of them...they are kind of a unique part on Woody's bike...

Yeah, those aren't the tch 3's, but the ACS Mini Mountain levers that they were switched out to.

I know exactly what levers Woody and everuyone is talking about. They looked exactly like Dia-Comp tech III's but they were ACS levers and did have the locking button. I even remember the add in the magazines. It was an ACS add for the rotor and the levers with Woody doing a cherry picker on the pick trickstar & R.L. doing a trackstand on his yellow RL-20II. I'll try to find the add and post it. In fact I bid on a set of those levers a few months back on E-bay.

Mark

Here is the ad. They are the potts 2 levers. Hey Woody any chance you'll be sportin the stach and the fadora for old time sakes?

Hey Woody,Did you find your unitron grips?Oh yeah nice teaser pic.Can't wait till rockford.Remember we have to find a pool table.


Rob

i just tossed a set of those acs mini mountain levers. Woody -- were you into building bikes BEFORE you came to this site or did we spark your interest? You think you were broke on a freestylers salary? you aint seen nuttin yet

Gotta say I never seen a pink BMX before. I was alittle to young for some of the early 80's stuff. The stash and fadora should make a comebake. Here is some picks I think we are looking for.

^^^^^dia compe tech 7's

Anyone check on Rinis? I know she had a decent collection of nos ACS levers at one time. Haven't been on there in awhile.

Woody, Google "Gini Rini". Then click on her old school bmx store. Maybe you'll see what you're looking for or maybe something that will work for u?

Sorry Woody, It's spellled "Ginny Rini"

I FOUND EM!! THEY LOOK ROUGH BUT THEY ARE AN EASY RESTORE. THEY ARENT EVEN SCRATCHED. ALMOST WENT IN THE FIRE TODAY.
Click to view attachment

the levers woody needs are not the mini mountain levers in the ad but the ones labeled potts 2 levers. They are dia compe type 3 with a locking button.

I'm interested in those mini mountains if woody doesn't need them Lee.

Hey guys, this last week was a rough one for sure for me. I had two out of town trips and my oldest pup passed away on Tuesday after 13 years. Man, that was brutal.

Anyhow, as for Rockford, no golf clubs, just bikes for me. I'm really looking forward to seeing some of the old bikes I use to race on in better than mint condition and some of the other bikes I really liked, but never owned.

Thanks for posting that ACS AD, the levers on the left are what I used for a long time. As soon as the Mini-mountain levers were available, I switched over to those, they worked so much better. So if anyone is willing to part with a set, please email me at FSWoody@charter.net.

Hey Rob, no grey/black unitrons yet. Funny thing is, when I first got the bike, it came with a simple pair of AME tri-grips. I spent hours digging through my old personal photo's and some old magazine photo's to confirm this. In the photo shoot with BMXA, the plain black grips were used. You can also see that in the pics from the war of stars contest in NH, pretty much the only public event I rode that bike at. It wasn't until hutch fixed an issue I had with the frame for me that I switched over to the unitrons. There were some photo's taken with the new changes that ended up in the magazines and for some reason, everyone seemed to focus on the grey/black unitrons as "the" grips that ended up in a couple of pics that were featured in a Euro magazine. As time went by, after I wrecked the grey/black unitrons, I switched to black/white unitrons which I thought looked better. I do have a pair of those still in good condition, but I"m going to use the regular black AME tri grips I think? As for the pool table, sounds good. I've gotten pretty rusty since college, but I am always down to play.

Finally as to the actual inspiration for building that bike, I would have to credit my wife with that in the very beginning. After we dated for a few weeks, she asked me when I was going to tell her about my past so to speak. She was pretty internet savvy and knew all she needed to know about me before I told her. That was a pretty funny evening for sure. Anyhow, after we had our first child, she thought it would be a good idea to get that bike back to show our kids..The rest is history. I found the VBMX site and saw all the cool old bikes everyone here had built and I was shocked to be honest. If it wasn't for some of the members on this site, it would have taken me much much longer to find the parts I needed to finish my bikes, for sure. I will say that after seeing all the articles about groups of people getting together and going riding, that was the real inspiration for me. It was cool to see friends getting together to have fun and not worry about how was working on what tricks....

As for Rockford, when is the best day to arrive? Thursday, Friday, ? I know the big event is on Saturday, is there anything going on Sunday..Thanks, Woody.

Almost forgot, thanks for the info on the levers. As for the hat, not going to do that, but I may be able to work on the stache. Of course I would have to color it, because it would be 50% grey today I think-LOL.

^^^^ 50% Grey, that gave me a chuckle. As for the best day to arrive, it seems that most people arrive either Thursday or Firday for sure to catch up. I always arrive Thursday because I enjoy talking and hanging out with everyone. Looking forward to meeting you! Sunday is mostly the day everyone heads out.

Dan

Love knowing that I am the only one in the world that was able to build a true Itson replica.....Even the man himself can't do it, hahaha.


































I'll call you later this week as I know where you can get a set.

Very cool. Any help would be appreciated, Woody.

yeah i agree with Dan that Thursday is the best day to arrive....check in, chill out in the lobby spotting other VBMX'ers...going into the confrence room to help put prizes / packages together for the weekend....

Friday...usually people go out to the track to stake their claim early....watch the Pit race..Tiger Tail (from what i hear)....then head back to the hotel....friday night flatland session in the parking lot is TONS o' fun.

you know what happens Saturday.

courtesy of the cool guy at eww2new
BEFORE Click to view attachment

AND 45 minutes later--- BOO-YAH!! READY FOR PAINT!!
sometimes i just scare myself with the skills i have! AS OF NOW THESE LEVERS ARE SPOKEN FOR.

Took my advice I see. Nice work lee!

Woody did you find your levers yet? If you are looking for the ACS ones that everyone keeps posting pictures of, I got mine from Jeff Norton so you might want to check with him. If he doesn't have any more then I might have another set I can rob off of one of my builds just for you. However the ones that I am pretty sure that you are looking for nobody posted a picture of yet. They are much smaller and all chrome right? If you have them already- then awesome, but if not then PM me and I think I have them on my Haro Master from BITD. I didn't want to part with them, but for you, and that build..... Well, lets just say- PM me if you still need my help. Pat.

woody will have said levers in hand tomorrow

Hey Guys, Lee hooked me up with the mini-mountain levers. As he said, they should be here tomorrow. I'm still looking for a set of the ACS potts mod levers as well.

I also want to thank Pat who thought he had them in his garage. He sent me a pic and unfortunately they were not the correct levers. He offered to send them at no charge as well after I told him I would gladly pay for them. I may not find a set, but thanks to the generosity of more than a few members here, my bikes will be 100% complete, except for one pair of brake levers. Thanks again everyone. I should have a couple more sneak peaks by weeks end. Woody.

Hey Woody, Tom Gass here, I dug through my stuff trying to see if I had some levers, no luck there but found some extra actuators for the hutch prototype brakes, I noticed in your pic that the actuator wasnt in place so wasnt sure if you had one or not. Forks look great! Tom

Hey Tom, I have that part you mentioned. I'm going to the platers tomorrow, I hope and pick up the last few small assembly pieces I need. Still looking for those levers, but other than that, I have everything else. It's a pretty good feeling knowing that two of my favorite bikes will be put back together here soon. Thanks for the offer, Woody.

Woodrow, Go To Bed!!!!!!!!


X

As with the rest of you, the first thing that caught my eye was
"locking tech 3's".

Never heard of them (and I should have). Still not sure if the
whole thing got settled, but I know I haven't seen a
pic of said item yet.

If I were ever to find a pair I'd just have to build an
entire complete around them. LOL

Then again, I have tech3's. I have tools....

hur hur hur

Pic of said item is in the ad on page 2 of this thread posted...