Pat-A-Lar

Yeah she did turn out nice. Now if anyone can send me a nice black frame Rad Pad, I’ll love you forever.

This 1979 (PK2) PK Ripper was found in the attic of a house over in Butler, New Jersey USA. Been there since 1985. This one was a bit of a mess though. Badly Spray Bombed in black and could see that it wasn’t in its original get up, but could see the Red it should have been wearing. So out came the stripper and once the black started to come off, we were then struck with a bit of yellow (possibly primer) before getting back to bare metal. There was evidence of its original colour still in the BB and around some of the welds. I’m not a fan of refinished frames so attempted to hand polish it to as near burnished finish as I can get. Lovely frame, rear drops are a bit chewed but no repairs. Spent a few hours going over and over with Autosol and microfibre cloth just cleaning her up slowly. I decided to go in that direction as I prefer bare metal/chrome frames. Gold headset swapped out for Silver and the forks got a clean up. Then just popped the original SE decals on. Plenty of pictures for ya.

Thanks Brian.

I’ve never been entirely happy with the head tube decal on my Ripper. Firstly I’m not convinced it’s orginal due to pixelation in the print and secondly the colour seems pale. So anyway I have an early decal, but I’m wondering if it’s too early? I’ve done a bit of research and noticed that on other 79 Rippers, some have the ‘bmxinnovation’ Font and some don’t. Can anyone shed any light on it for me. Thanks

Was great to meet you and your family Ely. You done a good job looking after the Quad

I found this info online... BMX Plus! december 1982 : The official word from Skyway was that the company worked on the development of the frame for over one year. Initially; according to Craig Raudman of Skyway, once the decision was made to produce the T/A frame, it took quite a search to find someone to produce the unusual tear-drop shape they needed. After looking everywhere in the United States, Skyway finally turned to Japan, where they found two factories capable of producing the special chrome-moly tubes. The Ishiwata Seisakusho Co. Ltd. of Japan ultimately won the job, and we must say, the job they did was flawless. There were two ways to make the odd-shaped tubing. It could be drawn through a die in the desired shape or, as in the case of the Skyway tubing, it could be drawn round then shaped in a forming die. Once the tubing was dialed in, welding it all together in the right angles became the next step. The trick for Skyway was to figure out geometry that would work as well for the huge Andy Patterson as it would for the quick and nimble pro, Bob Medrano. According to Craig Raudman, countless hours of cutting and redesigning went into the prototypes. With the .geometry finally nailed down, Raudman hopped a plane for Japan to get the final manufacturing specs on the tubing settled. As of this writing, the frames are being completely produced in Japan. The forks are welded then shipped to this country, where Skyway gives them special treatment which involves annealing, re-heat treating, and plating. According to Craig, this is done in order to assure and verify that the fork is up to spec.I found this info.... And a list of K serials that are known. There could be more out there.... K 0037 curved brake bridge - chrome K 0041 curved brake bridge - chrome K 0044 curved brake bridge - chrome K 0069 curved brake bridge - chrome K 0088 curved brake bridge - chrome K 0108 curved brake bridge - chrome K 0118 curved brake bridge - chrome K 0133 curved brake bridge - chrome K 0137 curved brake bridge - chrome K 0165 curved brake brdige - chrome K 0186 curved brake bridge - chrome K 0216 curved brake bridge - chrome 0226 curved brake bridge - chrome NO K stamp K 0246 curved brake bridge - chrome K 0247 curved brake bridge - chrome K 0264 curved brake bridge - chrome K 0299 curved brake bridge - chrome K 0306 curved brake bridge - chrome K 0426 curved brake bridge - chrome K 0447 curved brake bridge - chrome KB 00512 curved brake bridge - chrome KB 0524 curved brake bridge - chrome KB 0529 curved brake bridge - white KB 0558 curved brake bridge - chrome KB 0632 curved brake bridge - chrome KB 0673 curved brake bridge - chrome KB 0690 curved brake bridge - chrome KB 0740 curved brake brigde - chrome KB 0771 curved brake bridge - chrome KB 0808 curved brake bridge - chrome KB 0810 curved brake bridge - chrome K 00877 curved brake bridge - chrome K 00933 curved brake bridge - chrome K 00957 curved brake brigde - chrome K 01013 curved brake bridge - chrome K 01031 curved brake bridge - chrome K 01134 curved brake bridge - chrome K 01144 curved brake bridge - chrome K 01177 curved brake bridge - chrome K 01233 curved brake bridge - chrome K 02840 NOS frame - white K 01288 curved brake bridge - chrome K 01298 curved brake bridge - chrome K 01323 curved brake bridge - chrome K 01349 curved brake bridge - chrome K 001522 curved brake bridge - chrome K 01638 curved brake bridge - white K 01846 curved brake bridge - chrome K 001900 curved brake bridge - chrome K 001907 curved brake bridge - chrome K 002046 curved brake bridge - chrome K 002056 curved brake bridge - chrome K 002097 curved brake bridge - chrome K 002143 curved brake bridge - chrome K 002175 curved brake bridge - chrome K 002180 curved brake bridge - white K 002248 curved brake bridge - chrome K 002356 curved brake bridge - white K 002395 curved brake bridge - chrome K 002397 curved brake bridge - chrome K 002406 curved brake brigde - chrome K 002423 curved brake bridge - chrome K 002443 curved brake bridge - white powdercoat K 002458 curved brake bridge - chrome K 002484 curved brake bridge - chrome K 002654 curved brake bridge - chrome K 002671 curved brake bridge - chrome K 002792 curved brake brigde - chrome K 002852 curved brake bridge - chrome (rechromed) K 003033 curved brake bridge - chrome K 003181 curved brake bridge - chrome K 004268 curved brake bridge - chrome I’d like to know what KB means too.

Hey Curt, to be honest I don’t know if there are any differences between an 82 and 83 onwards models. Regarding the looseball Tuffs, I’m not sure what you mean about low friction trick? As far as I’m aware, all Tuff 1’s, Tuff 2 Steel Hub & early Tuff 2 Alloy hub are all looseball from the factory. Reilley1, I’m not sure exactly how many. In fact, it had never crossed my mind. I’m going to find out though.

A K-Serial frame is a prototype Japanese made frame built in 1982 before the official release of US made frames in 1983. The serials did not have a date code, just a ‘K’ serial which would read ‘SKYWAY K001522’. The usual Skyway BB stamping from 1983 onwards would include a date code and would look something like ‘SKYWAY USA 8-83’ followed by a unique serial number. I’ve included a picture of both.

So a few months ago I was offered the chance to buy back the only frameset I ever regretted selling. I jumped at the chance to have her back in my small collection. So here she is in her second version... 1982 Skyway TA Frame and Skyway forks (K001522) RedLine 401 Cranks/Chainwheel with DD spindle Tange BB & HS Shimano DX Pedals GT Pro Bars Amé Bubble font grips Tuf Neck Tiger Stamped Stem Elina Seat Suntour SeatClamp Shimano DX Lever MX1000 Caliper with Shimano blocks Tuff 2 Looseball wheels Zeronine Plate New Comp 2 and Snakebelly for riding Original CyclePro Snakebelly and Comp 2 for Show.

I was 39 years old when I found this out.

So much better with the rims. That’ll be one cool ride.

Well done Shawn!

Very cool Steve. Being able to know your frames history is something many of us wish we knew. I’d love to be able to sit back and have a beer with my frames whilst the whittled on at me of days gone by.

Merry Christmas you lot. Hope you have an awesome time with your family’s.