i had to have one when they came out but they were way too expensive for my parents to buy me one. my dad said if you want one that bad save your money and buy one yourself. so i did (100.00) and i bought a cotton picker, 5 speed and disc brakes. i got the schwinn dealer to add a rear view mirror and a speedo. (i still have the speedo).
HOWEVER, i was never so disappointed with something that was so grand in my eyes. as cool as the bike was, it was not a good bike to race others. with the front and rear shock system, all of your torque of peddling was absorbed by the shocks and it kept you from accelerating as fast as a bike without the shocks. i kept it for about a year and sold it and bought a bike at tg&y that had a car steering wheel, rear spring shocks, and a console with a 3 speed shifter that had a " T " handle. the seat was supposed to be like a bucket seat and it had a 3/4 sissy bar. however again, i couldnt get the krate bike out of my system and the girls really thought they were cool so i bought a lemon peeler and hardly ever rode it. i kept it in mint condition and finally sold it to a guy about 20 years ago for at the time an unheard of price of 850.00. the guy was a bigtime bike collector and the last i heard, it was still mounted on the wall of a local bike shop. he told me that in all his collecting that it was the nicest original krate bike he had ever came across. i wish now that i had kept it.
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