1993 Kona Hei Hei

[BrushedAluminium]

Ending in just over ah hour but at £1100 which I think is all of its money (and a bit more). under the incorrect badly positioned decals is a 1993 Hei Hei frame with some original parts. easily identified by its rear brake cable arch. frame number will begin will B and looks to be a 17"

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/184908797357
Either way rare frame and they dont come up often even in this condition

 

[Pipmeister]

........ under the incorrect badly positioned decals is a 1993 Hei Hei frame with some original parts. easily identified by its rear brake cable arch. frame number will begin will B and looks to be a 17"

Hello there,

I very nearly missed this at the time of your posting, although I have now added it to the Kona Serial Number List as unconfirmed - I cannot obtain a picture of the Serial Number, and only have seller's word for the number B17010.

I'm curious to know why you seem sure that it is a 1993 model. It is actually a 1991, with it's Pre-Bullet Dropouts, Canti Bridge which you mention in your post. The Serial Number also puts it in 1991.

As a general note to everyone, please do bring these frames from the Custom Program to my attention in a Private message (Conversation), and I can then add them to the Titanium, the Hot or the Ku List as appropriate. It is becoming harder now for me to keep up with browsing this site as a result of my condition.

Pip

 

[BrushedAluminium]

Morning Pip

I am glad this post got your attention in the end I have been following your posts on this forum re custom Konas including Titanium Hei Hei`s, KK`s, Hots, Ku`s and other rarities like the Team painted frames for best part of 10 years!

To be honest I didnt look to hard at the listing on eBay for this bike but I knew for sure that it was 93 or earlier due to the cable arch on the rear stays and could easily identify it has a 17" going by the geometry. I also knew that the frame number had to begin with B as early Ti Konas all started with this prefix.

I was more than tempted by the frame and contacted the seller myself but the price was a little heavy considering the parts and components didnt hold much value.

If it is actually a 91 then I guess its even more rare and desirable

Full respect to you for your knowledge and information on this subject!

 

[Pipmeister]

Thank you for your reply.

The 1991and 1992 models have identical frames - Geometry, Dropouts, Cable Stops including Canti-Bridge and Noodle. The Decals are also the same, so it does make determining between those two years somewhat tricky. I do have a few pictures of invoices on file, which have helped with collating all of the information on these frames.

Something that does confuse the issue between those two years, and 1993 model is the U.K. 1993 Kona Catalogue.

You'll notice that the Hei Hei does not feature in the listings in the 1993 U.K. Catalogue, but there is a double spread on pages 4 & 5 of a 1992 Hei Hei (Pre-Bullet Dropouts, Canti-Bridge and Noodle and 1992 Decals), which is advertising the full Titanium Hardware Kit.

1993 U.K.

The 1993 Hei Hei does however feature in the U.S. Catalogue, with its correct Bullet Dropouts, Single Top Tube Cable Stop for the Rear Brake requiring a Dog Collar and Louvred Down Tube Decals. There are a few transition versions out there that I have on record, with Pre-Bullet Dropouts but lacking the Canti-Bridge, although these are very rare - I only have one documented on the Serial Number List, and a couple more pictures on file with no information on the Serial Number.

I think that covers it, but do ask if there are any further details that you would like me to add regarding these frames, and do have a browse through the Serial Number List, which gives a certain amount of detail.

Scroll down to 1st August 2019 for the List

Pip