the first ever copy of ride i ever bought had an interview with mike griffin inside. i had already worn his section out to static and fuzz on my vhs copy of bmx inferno. it really did light a fire inside me and inspired me to go out and ride as fast as i could at the biggest piles of dirt i could build and maybe take a few limbs off in mid air and try to put them back on again before the ground came back up.
anyways, this interview in ride was an amazing insight into one of my favourite riders and i already thought the sheep hills locals were cool as shit but there was a couple of photos that cemented mike griffin as the coolest mothertrucker in the whole universe, stood there filthy as fook, wrist in a brace and smoking a burn! that was it man mike griffin (and shaun butler) were my heroes! no question about it haha.
luckily, also included was a shot of his bike, and i wanted to own a bike like it sooo badly......
and now i do.
after almost ten years now since i decided to build a replica of that bike, on and off at times but i have finished it. and i love it.
heres that photo of mike
and heres a picture of his bike from the same issue.. look at that slice of pure midschool loveliness
so id been collecting parts for years but the right frame eluded me for the longest time of all.
i knew i wanted a 21" toptube because i want to ride it and even when i was 14, a 20" toptube just felt like a toy so 21" it was and it had to be an oversized challenger but not an international. i think the model i wanted was only made for about a year so it was quite tricky. then, whilst talking to someone in america regarding some "stupid" forks they mentioned they had a frame kicking about at home that i may be interested in. so i asked for some pictures... (these where taken by me after i received the frame from america but show it in its absolutely shite paintwork that it was sold to me with) AND I WAS
here we go...
and here.
so i got in touch with the absolute legend that is superbike dan and he worked his magic and turned the frame and crank arms out like this..
(someone else is also having a nice kuwahara re done too it looks like)
and then it was just a case of putting it all back together... and here she is!!
and again but side on so i could compare the versions.(and to please the very strict mods at bmx museum if i decide i can be arsed to put it on there too)
IT RIDES LIKE AN ABSOLUTE DREAM COME TRUE!!!!
