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SE Racing Quadangle

Can someone give a definitive answer to exactly what constitutes a looptail quad to be labelled as a STR-1? My understanding all these years was the twin downtubes went under the BB as one piece and continued through the loop and to the seat stays. Also that these are quite rare (under 10?) Lately, people have been posting up bikes (not here, but the opposite 'circus' side of bmx forums) and claim them to be STR1's when clearly the tubes do not go under the BB shell. The belief is that if it is a 'mild steel' quad...it is a STR-1. These fucktards will take it to their grave that they own a STR-1, when they do not. I mean, there are a couple nice examples of early SE goodness, but the frames aren't what they think they are. STR 1, Quadangle history

My wife and I took a ride to Florida for a gathering in late April. I knew of this Quad since 2013. Every year I would always asked him if it was for sale.....this year he said yes. 1980 Loop Quad! Serial # 1512! This bike was raced all its life and I wanted to keep the build real, real believable and built like it was ready to get down! My candy red loop Quad now has an older brother to hangout with. Parts: OG finish candy blue Looptail Quadangle frame OG finish Landing Gear fork Tange Meriter headset Tuf Neck stem (original to the bike) GT Pro Bars Oakley .5 grips NBL NJ issued Plate (I added the SE and Terrycable decals) Mx1000 and Tech 3 lever with Terrycable (original to the bike) Mathauser finned and curved brake pads Xcalibur seatpost clamp Aluminum SE Racing seatpost Jaguar seat Araya 7c hoops laced to Sunshine hubs 2.125 Carlisle Aggressor MX tire up front 1.75 yellow label Comp II out back DID chain Takagi 175mm crank (original to the bike) Addicks spider (original to the bike) 16t Suntour freewheel 42t Suntour chainring Tange BB (original to the bike)

I love a good early days of BMX puzzle. A lot of confusion about early SE forks, and Cycle Pro forks. So, I decided to jump in and see what I could figure out. Lots of reading, lots of PMs with folks, lots of pictures. Heck, I've even bought multiple forks to be able to do side by side comparisons and take pics! But, I think I've pretty much got it sorted out. Maybe I'm wrong, but, I trust folks here won't be shy correcting me. First, we have to talk about Race Inc. Prior to manufacturing SE bikes, RI was making bikes, branded with either Race Inc. or Cycle Pro (and sure, FMF before). And, those bikes both had forks. Which forks? Well, we're only talking about the leading edge fork here, which ended up being the SE fork, so, we're dropping the straight leg out early. So, here's our first point. Race Inc. made forks early. Both RI and Cycle Pro branded. The first problem we see starts here, the only difference between them is the stickers. I own both of these forks, and this picture is an RI and an early CP fork side by side. My forks don't have stickers any more, but, the fork on the left is Cycle Pro, on the right is a Race Inc. fork. RI forks were not drilled, but, this one was drilled by a prior owner (you can tell), and did come off an RI complete, so, although there is a drill hole in it, it is an RI fork. Unfortunate, but, that's life. And research. Notice, they are identical in shoulder shape and dropouts. Starting in 1978, with SE and the JU-6 and BD-III, and later the PK Ripper and DB-IV, SE also branded the same fork with SE/BMX Innovations stickers. So, at this point, we now have one manufacturer, with one fork, yet, 3 different brandings. RI, CP, and BMXI. And now it gets even more confusing. Because it appears with RI taking over SE manufacturing, they quit making Cycle Pro stuff. You don't see the Foiler or Spoiler anymore! And, likely the RI made Cycle Pro fork went away. But, we have Cycle Pro forks appearing as late as 1982. Where did they come from? As early as January, 1979, we start to see Cycle Pro forks that are manufactured by Tange. So, it appears CP went off to Tange to manufacture a fork, in general, with the same overall specs as the RI made fork. Check out a Tange fork on the left vs. the RI made forks. Really close, but, a bit different. The shiny red fork is an NOS Tange made Cycle Pro fork, stacked up next to the other 2. Note the dropout is almost the same, and the shoulder is almost the same. Almost. But, look closely, they are distinct. I have documented 2 Tange made Cycle Pro forks, with 9A stamps, nothing earlier. And, I've seen that fork stamped as late as 2B - Feb. 1982. So, Tange made Cycle Pro forks from 1979 to 1982. I'd expect with the LG fork coming out in 81 (or so), the market for CP forks dried up. Could it get any more confusing? Well, of course. SE still needed a fork until the LG was out. So, how about we slap an SE/BMXI sticker on a Tange made Cycle Pro model? This is the same fork as the shiny red fork above. A Tange made model. The only difference, the sticker. So, to begin the wrap up, here's what we have: Race Inc made one fork model. It could be stickered with Race Inc., Cycle Pro, or, SE stickers. Tange made one fork model. It could be stickered with Cycle Pro or SE stickers. So, 2 manufacturers, 2 forks, 5 distinct "versions": RI RIs RI CPs RI SE's Tange CPs Tange SEs. And, now for the uber-detail oriented person. The Tange made fork had a 79 version, and an 80+ version. The 79 version had a "blob" weld, the 80+ had a nicer weld. And then, the early, early 79's were not drilled, and had no weep holes. The later 79's were drilled and had weep holes. All the Tange made, SE stickered forks I've seen are the 79, blob weld version. Here's a shot of the weld diffs. On the left is a 9A dated version, and the right, a 2B version. The red NOS version above is 0G dated. Any additional info appreciated. I know there were SE stickers on Tuff Forks, but, there isn't any confusion about that. I've also seen Cycle Pro S/L stickers on a set of early forks, don't know what's up with those. And I've seen the RI made forks with welds the full length of the DO, and split into 3 welds. No idea if that means anything. I believe the full weld is early, split weld later, but, additional info is always appreciated. More research on other fun topics to come later!

Well as some of you know I am a bit of a newb and need you vets to school me os style. I am very fascinated by SE the bikes the attitude and style. Was looking at the thread where Scott was posting personal pics etc.... seeing the add for the FMF frame made me think about my FM-Flyer and how similar it is to a PK etc..and of course the Race Inc connection as well. So tell me what the connections were and how these various companies were connected who were the people behind these and why. Also I keep seeing these STR-1 JU-6 etc.......I have no idea what these are so could someone post pics along with explanations as to what these models are? Maybe a good thread to discuss the SE timeline and offshoots. thank you in advance Will

Is there a way to find out the year of an SE bike per it's serial number, Like the GT frames( first for numbers show the month and year) Thanks for any help. Joblizzard

A friend of mine just picked up a Floval Flyer with a serial number of IS58I013319289. What era is that? Mid or later?

What a great pic , Bicycle Motocross Action Feb 1980

An original 1975 Scot Enterprises Presentation 2nd Annual Yamaha Bicycle Gold Cup in Soledad Sands flyer, signed by Scot Breithaupt.

I'm not 100% sure of the year (1981 or 82...anyone know for sure when Denny signed with Skyway?) but these are from a trade show. Probably in Arizona, maybe Cali. Our shop (GH BMX) traveled out of Austin for the show and to race a few tracks out west. That JMC display? Sick The Goose set up? Sick Who knew there were black Bottemas??? Maybe someone on here will know the exact show and location. Fun little time capsule.

i don't think i've ever posted this and just found the pictures on a old hard drive. SE Racing Quadangle downhill GPV frame set. story is, my buddy Jason (a non-collector) brought it out to show me years ago. he worked for a mutual friend that asked me bring some bikes to display at a clothing store opening event. Jason found out i was into old bmx and hit me up saying he had some old stuff he'd bring to show me. long story short....he shows up with this and the GJS freestyler he sold me. (i was told it was shown to Scott and that he tripped out. said it was his old frame he made to do GPV downhill racing...and could only remember making the one. mentioning he cut the bottom tube behind the head tube to extend the angle of rake.) (sorry for wack old cell phone pics)

enjoy it's in LA if you're interested...

I was wondering if anyone has fixed a broken off seat tube with any success? I was thinking about removing the tube and replacing, but didn't know if it would relieve too much stress in the frame?