Schwinn Chopper Stingray

Schwinn, a classic cruiser brand. Whether a Black Phantom '54 or a '68 Schwinn Stingray has over the years many collectibles and put on the market. The Chopperdome has a fine collection of classic and modern stingrays, excluding the Stingray Fat Boy with a limited number of 1950 models worldwide. I suppose if You Were being pedantic, Could you trace the history of the schwinn chopper stingray right back To that fateful day in late 1930 When Henry Ford Ford Motor Company Unveiled the range of cars for the 1932 model year. Why? I hear you cry? Because That was the first car to have a Ford V8 engine, and was born with it hot rodding and customizing as we know it today. All over America, but of course centered around California, people started putting That ol 'flathead V8 write just about Any Car That Would take it, the 1932 Became a Kustom Klassic, and slowly the trend for changing what Came from the factory started to hit the Motorbike world also. If we jump forward a few decades, by the mid 1950s the California custom scene was in full swing: A certain style of motorcycle was firmly Established When this picture of Ralph "Sonny" Barger was taken in May 1959. Exactly the way the picture shows the custom motorcycle was Develop. The engine was highly tuned, the frame was stripped to Bare Necessities, the front end was stretched and lightened. But must important from our historical viewpoint, two factors stand out, the first fitment or high "ape hanger" handle bars . . Purely a style statement, and secondly the fact thats the rear mudguard leg was cut in half to save weight (and look cool). This process was Known as "chopping" and the style of bike was taken from this particular ITS, the style was the Harley-Davidson CHOPPER. And the guys who built themself had younger brothers . . . . . . Eventually we arrive at our "seat" as Mentioned in the title of this piece, An American Bicycle Saddle Manufacturers called Pearson's Majestic Developed had a seat for bicycle polo. Yes, riding around with a stick in your hand trying to pot goals, just like Prince Charles. But cooler. The seat was long and thin, and supporting Needed at the rear by a tube of hope attached to the rear wheel nuts. For bicycle polo, the seat was fitted to 20 inch bikes, with low flat handle bars. Now, bicycle polo never really caught on (Surprised?) But Pearsons persevered with the solo polo seat, trying to sell it through cycle accessory shops. Jumping Quickly back to Those Californian younger brothers, They had seen the potential of the seat, the rear support hope Looked like a motorbike sissy bar, and as motorcycles and bicycles shared a similar handlebar thickness, fitting 15 inch high ape-hanger handlebars was easy. No one knows it was a rejection whethere bike polo That got the treatment, or whethere it was a purpose-built schwinn chopper stingray bicycle, but the fact remains as well That some unknown Californian kids back in the very early 1960s Produced in Their backyards, the first bicycle to bear the name 'Chopper'. Huffy is an American bicycle company based on the west coast, and rumor has it That They tried the polo saddle / 20 inch ape-hanger combination on a bike in 1962. That rumor HAS built to legendary status over the last few years on the American Muscle Bike sites, but Quickly jumping to historical fact, a guy named Al Fritz was working as a concept designer for the giant Schwinn bicycle company in the early 1960s and he Also Saw the California chopper bikes, and he fired Also note. . I think this fact alone indicates thats the ape-hanger Fairly big bike craze was on the west coast by 1962, with two major bike companies sitting up and Taking Notice. The Huffy soon faded from sight, but Al Fritz fired what he had seen back to His bosses Thousands of miles away in Chicago, and built a 20 inch bike to Demonstrate what he had seen out west. This polo bike seat and ape-hanger, legend has it, was no hit with the bosses of the super conservative schwinn chopper stingray Corporation, but Al was sure he was on to a good thing, and persevered. His perseverance won over in the end, in June 1963 as the first Schwinn Stingray 20 inch bicycle rolled Writing dealer stores all over the USA. The schwinn chopper stingray was an overnight success, thou sands Were sold in the first month, and Al Fitz had a grin going from one ear to the Other . . . A new era in bicycle history had bene . . The Muscle Bike had arrived. . .
.