Expat living in Canada, searching for my childhood bike.

[Mechagouki]

Hey, just joined the site last night. I live in Ontario, Canada now, but I gew up on the south coast of England, in Eastbourne to b precise. Got my first BMX in 1983, a Falcon Pro Theta, and I loved that bike, I owned it for around 5 years, although by that time only the frame, fork and handlebar were orignal. I continued to ride, into the mid school years and after I moved to Canada in the early 2000s.

I currently own a 24" Skyway TA, with Graphite Tuffs, my dream bike from the early 1980s, also in the stable are a 1995 S&M Holmes, a 1998 GT Performer, a WIP Kuwahara KZ-1 and a new school MirraCo.

But none of them are quite scratching the itch caused by my desire to own an 1982/1983 chrome plated Falcon Pro! The difficulty is that the brand was never sold in Canada, or the USA. I've looked for years and when a Theta or Omega has popped up on eBay, I've tried to get the seller's to ship across the Atlantic, but to no avail.

So last week, I'm doing my regular browse of eBay.co.uk when I see this:



It's a 1984 Falcon Pro Comp Flyer, which to the best of my knowledge is the same frame as the 1982 Omega, and the seller is offering international shipping! After some brief contemplation (it's the same price as I paid for my whole brand new Theta in 1983, and the shipping is another 60 pounds, and I'm not wealthy by any means), I hit Buy It Now and pay immediately, so, so happy and excited!

So that was just over a week ago, I emailed the seller after 2 days asking when he will ship and he tells me Easter has delayed things, but not to worrry (so I start to worry), I emailed him again this past Thursday, no response, and again this morning, still no response.

Now I'm not worried about the money, eBay and PayPal have me covered on that front. But it's heartbreaking to have thought this would be mine only to now have to seriously consider that it may not. I even bought a Falcon Pro padset already for another 30 quid!

I really hope the seller is just a bad communicator/slow shipper, but if not I'll be on the hunt again for another Theta or Omega frame, hopefully someone on here will be able to hook me up!

[griff]

Welcome to 

Good luck in your quest!

[Avro]

Good luck with the bitd bike.
Easter does mean delays, be it bank holidays or family days out, so do not fret.

[deeman]

#Hope it turns up dude....wouldn't panic too much. Lack of response is a bit of a worry though, although could be loads of reasons. 

[BMX1973]

  to   

[CustardLips]

Welcome to Rad mate . 

Hope you get this sorted... let us know how you get on. 

[Mechagouki]

Thanks for the welcome and reassurance everyone, I've been in contact with the seller, he says he's sick and is having trouble getting the frame packed and shipped. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt for now. he does have 100% feedback, including positive feedback for an wheelset he sld 2 days before my frame, so fingers crossed.

[Mechagouki]

Update! Frame is def. on its way, have tracking number and it's moving west! So excited!

[deeman]

Update! Frame is def. on its way, have tracking number and it's moving west! So excited!

Sweet, happy days! 

[Mechagouki]

Frame is now in my hands, amazing nostalgia seeing the headtube badge I remember so well from childhood. It will be going into a citric acid bath tomorrow after I get the old decals off. New decals from Del on their way.

[CustardLips]

Nice one... keep us updated. Look forward to seeing what you do with it. 

[Picklez]

 

Glad it worked out, and 

Just an Fyi, this popped up too:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Falcon-Pro-Theta-Old-School-BMX-1983-Skyway-Tuf-Neck-Dia-Compe-/252955912872?hash=item3ae558eaa8:g:JPgAAOSw8HBZJckD

Eastbourne, gee's that's a blast from the past, my mum still lives there but I moved over to Brighton as soon as freedom allowed.  . Years later that's a distant memory too 

[dancetothedrummersbeat]

Nice one. Welcome to RAD. I have 2 Falcon Pros - a Kappa and a Beta. If you're on facebook, there's a falcon pro owners group which is cool - always people selling and trading stuff. If you need any help with getting stuff shipped to Canada, please let me know. I'm happy to be the go-between on international sales.
Here's pics of mine. I also have scans of the 83/84 Falcon Pro catalogue if you need them for reference/parts lists





Andy 

[Mechagouki]

Wow those are clean bikes, takes me back to the bike store where I got mine.

Of course the frame arrived safe and sound, and the build is now finished: