Stepson gets a Cranny for Christmas

[Sgt. Howard]

Yuppers! My 9 year old showed me this morning that he can float along on his brother's Cranbrick quite easily... I was about to buy him the 24" version but changed gears as it were and got the full-sized grey-and-black-and argyle 2011 model. Of course, it will be 6 & 1/4 years before I can motorize it for him... but by then he will be accustomed to it well enough that handleing will be natural. Bought James the blue & cream 2010 model... only to find out he has to be 16! THAT was a bummer... but he's just marking off the calender (only 2 & 1/2 years!!!). Need to get Annie up to speed on a two wheeler, she never had a bike growing up... but the day will arrive when the lot of us can terrorise the road. Until then, I have a steyr three-speed that I pedal with the boys and similar for the pretty missy once she gets the hang of it. MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! L'Achiem! and Shalom! Frolich Weinachten! Felis Navidad! Joeux Noel! ... and to those who do not celebrate... BAH! HUMBUG! (also- GUNG HAY FAT CHOY!)
the Old Sgt.

 

[motorpsycho]

wow, do you think that bike will still be around in 6 1/4 years?

 

[wheelbender6]

Bike size for youngsters is always a tough call, Sarge. Some kids are safer on a bike that looks a bit too small. Some kids will only ride the biggest bike they can straddle.
A friend of mine used to lean his dad's motocross bike against the porch so he could climb in the seat and ride it. He had to stop next to the porch to be able to hop off without falling.

 

[Sgt. Howard]

My 2010 Cranny is still in top notch after over a year of hauling my fat carcass with a motor, so I suspect it will be around by then... I remember these things from my childhood, the Huffy was known as the 'Demolition Derby Bike' for the abuse it would handle. Granted, they are not made by the same assembly line anymore but they are still the same design and the assembly line they ARE being built on is climbing the learning curve as we speak... the 2010 issue is where they got most everything right. The 2011 can only be better, IMHO.
While the bike in question looks too big for Andrew to manage, he is actually quite graceful getting it in motion to mount and dropping to the centerbar to dismount. I saw enough competance to not worry over the bigger size- He's 4'6" now and will be taller come Spring. I'm not overtly concerned.
the Old Sgt.

 

[motorpsycho]

yeah, when i was a kid Huffy's were not the bikes to have because we always broke the frames.
I'm talking early - mid 70's here, and I busted my fair share of huffy frames when i was a kid.
sure the design is the same, but the materials are not.
sorry, I'm just not a fan of huffy bikes or any bike that you can buy at wal mart or any big box store.

 

[Big Red]

Huffy (1892-2011)

Hey Sarge, I also remember the Huffy bikes as indestructable. I am remembering a time further back than the 70's, But as I recall, a Huffy was the bike you could'nt break. The schwinns and other bikes were lighter and faster and I tore a few of those up, and then had to ride the old, heavy huffy untill I could get another "better" bike. Thing is, That darned Huffy was always there ready to be rode when the other bikes were waiting for parts. Sometimes it took a while to save my pennies for the part. I'd ride that old thing TRYING to break it so I would'nt have to ride it anymore. But, It was still good when I got that part or another bike, Then I'd park the old heavy huffy in the back of the garage untill I needed it again.
I don't think they make anything like they used to, Not even bikes. And I'm sure not even Huffy puts out the same quality it did in the 50's or 60's. I'm just hoping, as I've heard, That the 2010 and 2011 bikes are better than whats been coming from Huffy lately. I guess we'll see, Because My Dark Blue Cranbrook keeps looking at me as if to ask, DUDE, WHERE'S MY ENGINE?
Big Red.

 

[Sgt. Howard]

Trust me, once the mill's in that thing you will not be dissapointed. Mine is better than prozac

 

[motorpsycho]

well, all i know is that I broke sevreal huffy frames and forks in my day. Of corse these were 20" huffy's that looked a lot like schwinn stingray frames.
here's the reult of what happened to me the last time i rode (and broke) a huffy. My parents never bought another huffy for me after this happened (this happened 30 years ago when i was about 12, but the pic is new). The forks broke up inside the headtube and the broken forks fell out of the headtube, and i landed on the fork tube.

 

[Big Red]

Huffy

Sorry to hear about your misfortune with Huffy's Moto. But if we're talking the 70's, isn't that about when EVERYONE started having their carp made in China? I'm only guessing, but I would bet a dollar that is what happend. According to what I've learned, it only took 40 years for them to hit the learning curve, but the 2010-2011 huffy's are stronger, with better welds than they have been for a long, long time. and also, We have all heard a little of your antics as a (daredevil) kid, and personally, I think your lucky to be alive. I don't think I'm gonna take the Crannie off a jump, 40 feet in the air, doing backflips on the way down through a ring of fire. If it will simply carry my XL behind to the store and back I'll be ecstatic.
Anyway, you seem to have survived your childhood with only a few battle scars to show for it. I hope now you're leaving the stunt bike thing to your kids and grandkids. (And good luck with that too.)
Big Red.

 

[motorpsycho]

yeah i forgot to mention that the huffy i was riding at the time was a 26" 3 speed cruiser. I didn't jump it, i rode over a dirt mound and on the way down the otherside the forks let go.
ha ha, Ive only jumped through a ring of fire one time and it was only a 1/2 backflip....lol.

oh yeah, i do own a bmx bike to this day and i do jump and do wheelies on it, but nothing too extravagant anymore.
I don't heal the same as i did 30 years ago.

yeah i know that no one in their right mind would be jumping on a cranbrook, all i'm saying is that a cranbrook is not as high quality as (for example) a diamond back.
but they have to be a little better than they were in the 70's.

oh yeah, next saturday i'll be jumping 15 garbage cans outside in the parking lot of Arnolds drive inn....be there or be square.....lol.