Search the Community

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?

Could use your help guys! This frame is not for sale... It has been mine for 40 years and I don’t plan to sell it. L I am looking to rebuild it, but this is my first time doing this. Hoping you guys can help me find some Tange TX-1200s which is what was on it back in the day. Also looking for a California Lite top tube frame pad in red. I seem to remember it had a Mongoose threaded stem set that was silver on bottom and possibly more of a copper color on top. Possibly Mongoose handlebars and seat post too. The other thing I remember is a sprocket that had 4 air or paisley/teardrop shaped cutouts in it. No idea of the brand, but it was a 1 piece crank set that most likely came on a Mongoose. I bought a set of new Tuff Wheel IIs in red, which is what was on it. My bike was originally a Mongoose frame that my Dad took back pretty quickly due to some quality issues. They essentially swapped everything off my original bike onto a PK RIPPER frame. Below is the story inspired in the SE Racing Vintage 70s and 80s group. PK48771 I am the original owner. I am told it is a 1981. I rode the hell out of this bike as a kid. It had Tange forks on it, red Tuff Wheel II mags, gold lettering, and red Oakley 3s. I was stupid and threw out the mags and other parts during a move 20 years ago. I had plans to build the bike up with Landing Gear forks, and a lot of SE racing stuff, so I figured I didn’t need that old “crap” wish I would have kept it. I did some searching on the internet back in probably 2002 or so, found a number and end up taking to Mike Devitt, the notes I took are below. He explained who he was and that based on my serial number he was most certain that he had built my frame. He also told me about “The Old Man” and said he would go over my frame and fix anything that needed fixing for $50. I had to ship it to him and back too. I was a broke college student, and I didn’t do it. I have always felt like that was a huge mistake. So here is my frame 20 years later, still sitting as a frame. Also, that sticker set is original stickers, those were purchased in probably 1985 or so. My bike was stolen, luckily I got it back, and those stickers were purchased as an extra set because I had to get a new set due to my stickers being taken off when the thief had my bike. Hope you all enjoy the story and the pics. I am adding... In 1981 I would have been 6 years old. We didn’t have much money, Dad was a fire fighter and mowed grass as a second job. But he wanted me and my brother to have awesome bikes. We easily had the best bikes in the neighborhood... :-)

This 1979 (PK2) PK Ripper was found in the attic of a house over in Butler, New Jersey USA. Been there since 1985. This one was a bit of a mess though. Badly Spray Bombed in black and could see that it wasn’t in its original get up, but could see the Red it should have been wearing. So out came the stripper and once the black started to come off, we were then struck with a bit of yellow (possibly primer) before getting back to bare metal. There was evidence of its original colour still in the BB and around some of the welds. I’m not a fan of refinished frames so attempted to hand polish it to as near burnished finish as I can get. Lovely frame, rear drops are a bit chewed but no repairs. Spent a few hours going over and over with Autosol and microfibre cloth just cleaning her up slowly. I decided to go in that direction as I prefer bare metal/chrome frames. Gold headset swapped out for Silver and the forks got a clean up. Then just popped the original SE decals on. Plenty of pictures for ya.

So I picked this Frame up from my step-brother, and I have had no luck identifying it. He says the gentleman that he got it from told him that it was a "PK Ripper" but I cant find any pictures to verify. Thank you in advance for any help ideas or suggestions

What a great pic , Bicycle Motocross Action Feb 1980

passed this bike parked on the sidewalk in downtown LA. spotted a checkered SE Racing pad....haven’t seen this before and thought I’d share.

I have had this up on Facebook and the museum and had told myself I would pump the brakes on sharing it but then today I read something Steve wrote about having a repository in the event that FB goes the way of Friendster/Myspace etc. and wanted to make sure it had a good home here. I bought this bike from the original owner. He told me that his stepfather bought it for him in Portland at (he thought) Bob's Bicycles when he was living in Estacada, OR. After speaking with Ben Joy he pointed out that Bob's didn't carry DG parts so that would suggest it came from The Bicycle Gallery. He said that his step-dad was trying to make some amends for poor behavior and bought him, "...the most expensive bike they had at around $360-$380." It has a serial number on the BB shell: 777# (leaving one digit off) He didn't recall adding that. The seller contacted me and said he had a Late 70s Mini-Ripper that he had put in his family's storage in the early 80s and not touched since. I told him for a nice painted Mini-Ripper I would probably pay around $750 for a factory painted blue frame, thinking he'd never have a nice 78-79 Baby Blue frame, right?? He said,"ITS FACTORY BLUE!!" LOL He never sent photos as he isn't a smart phone user. The first time I saw it was when he text me from downstairs at my building. It hit me in stages. OH it's a PK...OHFUCK its a RTT...OHGOODGRAVYITSANODIZED! I told him I was happy to give him everything in my pockets, $8 plus what I could pull out of the ATM on my two cards and he said DEAL! I didn't have the 750 waiting because he gave me an hours notice at 6pm he was headed over. I did give him two very nice 1967 Ford Econoline head Light Bezels too but that is another random aspect of the story. After all that, here is the dang bike:

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)

I saw Todd Lyons a while ago at a swap with a few things for sale. I was talking to him for a bit and noticed this seat sitting off to the side. I asked him what bike it was for, and he said it's not....it's a prototype/sample that never happened. I had to grab it. Note: I don't like using "prototype" but it's what was said)

I found this pk ripper last week. I know serial numbers don't tell the story so i was wondering what light you SE guys can shine. I stripped the cheap spray bomb paint job and saw some remnants of red in the headtube and a few stubborn places.

scored these Aero / SE Racing pants today. size 34 does "Iron Mike" ring a bell with anybody?

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

Here we have a rare facebook find. This bike is in amazing shape, call it what you will a race inc or and SE. I will not be putting that seat clamp back on, the electrical tape stays til I find a nice clamp which won't harm that seatpost.

PK Ripper XL Test BMX Plus, August, 1992 PDF File attached... PK_Ripper_XL_Aug_92_BMXplus.pdf

Footage from the gathering @ El Dorado Park, Long Beach 2008. Matt Bass (the guy behind Sk8face) gave this shirt to Scot... I think he said he got it in a thrift store. Scot was blown away and told the story. Pretty cool. BMX Society event - Scot Breithaupt, on the origin of SE camo Long Beach, CA from BMX Society on Vimeo.

picked up this reynolds quad with landing gear lites the other day at the gathering. thought i'd post it up.

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?