Easy Riders

Schwinn Sting Ray Chopper

Back in the 50s , 60s and 70s even the Bicycles had Style just like our Cars did. You could purchase groovy looking rear-view mirrors for the handelbars, some wild designed headlight and tail lights, even neat little license plates! The Schwinn Sting Ray gave that close to riding on a motorcycle look and feel. The Schwinn Sting Ray was built from 1963 to 1980 and came out in various models and designs. Many Sting Ray names are: Chopper, Coaster,Cotton Picker,Deluxe,Fair Lady,Grey Ghost,Junior,Lemon Peeler,Lil' Chik,Lil' Tiger,Orange Krate, Pea Picker, Pixie, Slick Chik, Sparky, Super Deluxe, and the Tornado. You could even get an electric motor kit for the Sting Ray Chopper. I suppose when you are a kid , you wanted your bicycle to resemble a motorcycle because that's what you really wanted. For some reason I wanted a larger more real looking bicycle so I choose the Schwinn Racer. Maybe it's because I didn't grow out of it. I did get into bike racing a little so I bought a Fuji Finest racing bike and my Schwinn Racer started collecting dust. It must have cried a lot hanging on the wall of the garage while I neglected it for my Fuji Dura-Aced equipped beauty. Eventually I moved out of my parents home and the old schwinn racer was sold in the big garage sale along with old clothes, baby buggys, toys and 60s record LPs. There are lots of memories riding that schwinn racer that I must tell about in a later post but this post is about the old bikes and style, their sleek lines, their wide fenders, their imaginative headlight and tail light locations, their seat designs and handelbar configurations. Even the colors of bikes have been used with every shade one can think of. Just think of all the after market products as a result of bicycles. The bells, the horns, saddlebags, baskets, racks, bottle carriers, bike backpacks, fanny packs, helmets,gloves, lights, reflectors, softer seats, mirrors on handlebars and helmets, clothes, whistles, locks, and video cams and brackets plus GPS brackets, you name it, they got it for bikes. This is Jimio saying: "Ride Safe and Ride Fun"