Two things hit my collecting mindset at the same time..� S&M bikes rule� and “I need to start racing!� I built up a 20� Holmes and hit the track. keep in mind I was a freestyler BITD. I think I raced once in about 1983. After taking my 20� to the track a few times, I borrowed a friends cruiser for a lap…bad move..now I HAD to have a cruiser.. vintage one…a S&M one…that meant…WIDOWMAKER!!
Despite their rarity ( only 100 or so made I have heard) I found a couple for sale.. but I do not care for the Widomaker graphics. When William ( Larock) posted up the survivor Widowmaker that came from S&M with HOLMES decals, I knew I found a winner!!!
After some prodding, I managed to pry it out of his hands ( Thanks buddy!) and start my build!
Now, while it was somewhat of a survivor, some things needed to be addressed.
The rear wheel was toast! Sun rims laces to purple Crupi hubs..fortunatly, I never cared for purple ano stuff. After searching for what seemed like forever I found the wheelset on there now..some SWEET PMC hubs and sun rims with stainless spokes..I decided to go for it and picked p a set of NOS skinny and fat silver label Tioga Comp 3 tires.
Missing seat set up..I had a NOS PMC clamp I got from Erole at ‘G� s birthday swap, so that went on..while looking for a post I pulled this one out of the pile..it had some ELF shaped sticker residue on it! I had been using it to hammer out headset cups with..DOH! I dug a MX seat out of the pile and seating was done..
Brakes..had Odyseey 1999’s on there..ick…901’s and a Tech 77 now
Cranks.came with some redline one piecers and a GT chainring set up..bleh.. I lucked into a set of 2nd gen Prince Alberts..all original BB and one sticker stll intact ! These are 185mm..big boys! I put on what has apparently become my signature ( I have the same set up on three bikes) A Pro Neck sprocket and Odyssey Black Widdow pedals.
Pads..when I got the bike it had two very nice original S&M pads ( frame and bar .. no stem pad)..pretty sweet, but I thought the red and yellow in the pads and the purple decals didn’t really go together very well.. While checking out Ryan’s super cool S&M blog page I saw a pic of Moeller doing a wall ride with a “Kegels racing� frame pad on his bike..I did a little research and found out it was a shop in IL. I shot them an email with the pic of Chris and asked if they had any lying around. A long shot, but what the hell.. I recived an email the next day from Rob at Keggels..yup he had one..and he was going to be in So Cal the next week, he could hand deliver it!!!! Crazy!!!
So here’s the finished bike..I had to wait to post it until I gave it a test ride..I made the main at the track last night, but slipped a pedal and came in last..oh well..I had tons of fun racing my Widowmaker!!
Hope you all like it!
All parts original finish, no repainting or polishing
Frame & Fork; S&M Widowmaker with factory applied Holmes decals, 24� Pitchforks
Headset; Tioga Beartrap
Stem; S&M shafted Redneck with Wedgie Jackson
Bars: S&M cruiser slam bars
Grips: ATI pistol grips
Seating: PMC clamp, ELF post Kashimax MX seat
Brakes: Dia Compe Tech 77 ( bent) , Dia Compe 901 caliper
Wheels: PMC high flange hubs, Sun chrome rims, stainless DT spokes, Tioga Comp 3 silver label tires
Crankset: S&M 2nd gen Prince Albert cranks 185mm, Pro neck 42t sprocket, Odyssey pedals
Extras: Kegels frame pad, Flite stem and bar pad, UGP plate
