Post by Whiterook on Apr 7, 2023 11:34:20 GMT -5
Yes, like every American guy, I loved my first car; but the first love of my life ride was my Grants Green Draggin bicycle!
It was made by Huffy for Grants department store, which was a staple of my hometown shopping choices ans where I’m sure my parents got it for me for Christmas. It had a nice shiny green paint job, black striping, a dragon painted on the side chain guard… and the coup de grace was the awesome drag brake in the center. So you could do cool burnouts! These way cool banana seat bikes mirroring the famous muscle cars of the time.
…in fact, you couldn’t drag me off that bike! It was not only fun as heck to ride, but it was my freedom from tedium at home; it allowed me to explore the city, ride with friends and long rides alone to myself.
It would followed by a Schwinn 10-speed, used until after high school; and then, a little over 30-tears before I would own another bicycle (a Trek)… but it was by far my favorite bike!
These aren’t my bike, but I found some rare pics of the bike sold by Grants..
Mine was augmented with Tiger handlebar grips (a growling tiger’s head and body for grips) and early on, a giant Tiger head at center of the chopper handlebars that had a black handle, when pulled, would make the tiger growl loudly, mouth opening and eyes lighting up! …I kept the latter on for about a year, but it probably broke and I didn’t replace that.
Among my favorite rode memories:
— I used to live across from a church and school (of which I attended both), that had a huge parking lot that I rode around endlessly for hours… there was one spot that had a small slope that I’d whip around at top speed after flying the length of the lot, do a hairpin turn and fly through the air! (…never missed it).
— Unlike the folks that ride bikes all year ‘round, including in the snow, we didn’t do that back then in the 70s… the bike was stored over the Winter, and it was torture waiting to take her out! I’ve fond memories of riding in a city parking lot by a Cumberland Farms mini-mart…the lot had parking meters in several long rows, and I’d slalom through them, getting my ass quite wet from the melting snow! It was that Spring aire of wet ground, melting snow, and fresh air… Heaven!
— I had a hiding spot in the woods of a street not far from me… I loved biking out there and climbing up to a huge rock and looking over a playground down the hill. It was escapes from home t like that, which made owning a bike an amazing thing.
— Long rides to neighboring towns…all day events that were great explorations!
So many amazing memories! I wish I still owned that bike, just for nostalgia sake. Interestingly enough, these bikes, rare as they are now to find, are popular with Muscle Car Enthusiasts! …you can find one pop up for sale every long once in awhile for about $1500 USD…but what price can you put on amazing childhood memories!
It was made by Huffy for Grants department store, which was a staple of my hometown shopping choices ans where I’m sure my parents got it for me for Christmas. It had a nice shiny green paint job, black striping, a dragon painted on the side chain guard… and the coup de grace was the awesome drag brake in the center. So you could do cool burnouts! These way cool banana seat bikes mirroring the famous muscle cars of the time.
…in fact, you couldn’t drag me off that bike! It was not only fun as heck to ride, but it was my freedom from tedium at home; it allowed me to explore the city, ride with friends and long rides alone to myself.
It would followed by a Schwinn 10-speed, used until after high school; and then, a little over 30-tears before I would own another bicycle (a Trek)… but it was by far my favorite bike!
These aren’t my bike, but I found some rare pics of the bike sold by Grants..
Mine was augmented with Tiger handlebar grips (a growling tiger’s head and body for grips) and early on, a giant Tiger head at center of the chopper handlebars that had a black handle, when pulled, would make the tiger growl loudly, mouth opening and eyes lighting up! …I kept the latter on for about a year, but it probably broke and I didn’t replace that.
Among my favorite rode memories:
— I used to live across from a church and school (of which I attended both), that had a huge parking lot that I rode around endlessly for hours… there was one spot that had a small slope that I’d whip around at top speed after flying the length of the lot, do a hairpin turn and fly through the air! (…never missed it).
— Unlike the folks that ride bikes all year ‘round, including in the snow, we didn’t do that back then in the 70s… the bike was stored over the Winter, and it was torture waiting to take her out! I’ve fond memories of riding in a city parking lot by a Cumberland Farms mini-mart…the lot had parking meters in several long rows, and I’d slalom through them, getting my ass quite wet from the melting snow! It was that Spring aire of wet ground, melting snow, and fresh air… Heaven!
— I had a hiding spot in the woods of a street not far from me… I loved biking out there and climbing up to a huge rock and looking over a playground down the hill. It was escapes from home t like that, which made owning a bike an amazing thing.
— Long rides to neighboring towns…all day events that were great explorations!
So many amazing memories! I wish I still owned that bike, just for nostalgia sake. Interestingly enough, these bikes, rare as they are now to find, are popular with Muscle Car Enthusiasts! …you can find one pop up for sale every long once in awhile for about $1500 USD…but what price can you put on amazing childhood memories!