Hi all ; more and hopefully better-focussed pics to follow
Little bit of backstory ; South-Coasters of a certain age might remember a shop called Mean 'n Dirty in Bognor Regis that used to sell GT/Marin/Kona bikes. A guy called Merrick used to run or maybe own the shop ( I was never sure which ) and he used to have a Hei Hei fully loaded with 90's bling - I think it was about '93 but couldn't swear to it ; anyway the bike was from another planet compared to what I rode at the time and I always swore I'd have something like it. Fast forward to a few years back and my first Retrobike ride ; met Jonnyboy666 and had a good chinwag about bikes - I mentioned my longing for a Hei Hei ; he opined that as a tall and .. erm well-upholstered sort of guy I would probably find a HH too flexy and should aim for a King Kahuna. Fast forward again to a couple of weeks back ; and I spot Mr. Kawasaki's advert for this piece of loveliness ; did the deal (Mr. K is a great guy to deal with BTW) and here it is ( not the first time this frame has been on RB) .
So a few thoughts : The frame literally oozes quality ; god knows how many man-hours went into these but I'm betting it was a few! Secondly ; 19 years and I don't know how many owners have left it in pretty much perfect condition ; I aim to keep it that way but it will be ridden both off- road and on- ; would be an awful shame not to I think. Build-wise ; it will be getting all the XT kit from my Kula ; much as I'd love to festoon it with boutique kit I'm too impatient to try it out and see what all the fuss is about Ti frames and how they ride. Updates as soon as I learn to use a camera a bit better :facepalm:
Big Thanks to everyone who has helped me get this far ; Kampos/Dave
Little bit of backstory ; South-Coasters of a certain age might remember a shop called Mean 'n Dirty in Bognor Regis that used to sell GT/Marin/Kona bikes. A guy called Merrick used to run or maybe own the shop ( I was never sure which ) and he used to have a Hei Hei fully loaded with 90's bling - I think it was about '93 but couldn't swear to it ; anyway the bike was from another planet compared to what I rode at the time and I always swore I'd have something like it. Fast forward to a few years back and my first Retrobike ride ; met Jonnyboy666 and had a good chinwag about bikes - I mentioned my longing for a Hei Hei ; he opined that as a tall and .. erm well-upholstered sort of guy I would probably find a HH too flexy and should aim for a King Kahuna. Fast forward again to a couple of weeks back ; and I spot Mr. Kawasaki's advert for this piece of loveliness ; did the deal (Mr. K is a great guy to deal with BTW) and here it is ( not the first time this frame has been on RB) .
So a few thoughts : The frame literally oozes quality ; god knows how many man-hours went into these but I'm betting it was a few! Secondly ; 19 years and I don't know how many owners have left it in pretty much perfect condition ; I aim to keep it that way but it will be ridden both off- road and on- ; would be an awful shame not to I think. Build-wise ; it will be getting all the XT kit from my Kula ; much as I'd love to festoon it with boutique kit I'm too impatient to try it out and see what all the fuss is about Ti frames and how they ride. Updates as soon as I learn to use a camera a bit better :facepalm:
Big Thanks to everyone who has helped me get this far ; Kampos/Dave