ROYGBIV - the 1985 Haro Freestyler Master.

Something a little different to the usual...!
Not so much a car as it is.. a bike? It's a bike. But hey, it's colourful, its 80's.. and just a bit of fun.

After months of gathering parts, and a solid weekend of putting all together; a replica of one of the most iconic bikes in early Freestyle BMX - the 1985 Haro Freestyler Master in Neon Green.

2015 being the 30th anniversary of the 1985 range of Haro Freestylers, saw Haro re-release a very limited run of the FST, Sport, and Master framesets. ~50-100 of each was available worldwide.
Fortunately for me, the Australian distributor was allocated a handful of these; so off I went to the bike store to get myself one! Was genuinely stoked to be able to wander into a bike store and see the Sport and Master sitting on a shelf behind the counter.. added an extra original 1985-vibe of sorts!


Trying to resist going into too much detail on this here.. but, a little from the brochure quickly..:

1985-specific brochure showing the 1985-specific bikes.

A couple period advertisements, borrowed from here.

..and the 2015, 1985-tribute framesets.

The blue sport is so very tempting, but as mentioned above.. the green Master is bloody iconic.

SO; off to the bike store.. and fortunately got my hands on one of two the store had been allocated!

...Went in the AW11 as I'm not the brightest; but too chuffed with myself to care.

Success.
Just has such a fantastic frame. Those full-length twin top tubes, rear standing platforms integrated with the chain-stays, fork-standers... and the bright green paint...

Decided to go with a bright blue/red combo to tie in the with the decals. Knew it would be fairly ridiculous compared to the otherwise-very-pretty colourway in the brochure.. but ehh... worth a laugh!
Ended up causing me a fair bit of pain, as I had to wait a good 4months to get the teal Skyway II's I'd ordered. No dice in the end, and at the last minute changed to the dark blue anyway.
Otherwise everything (bar one or two pieces I didn't have much choice) I bought the nicest bits I could get. Most of the parts are reproductions of period originals; not just because it makes the finished product more 'correct', but as its a 100% reproduction of an original frame, you're forced to continue on with old tech/parts that have LONG been otherwise phased out. 

Bike going together - this took a somewhat embarrassing amount of time. Seriously the best part of a weekend..

But done! Painfully resisted the urge to jump right on.. nope, it was only going to be perfect once. So wiped it down, and carried it to the closest "that'll do" location. 20minuted of pics, then FINALLY got to ride it..!

The pics.

More than a little happy with how this all turned out. Seriously chuffed..!




Anyway.. what else?


The previous ride-around bike was then retired...

1987 Haro FST.
Pulled apart and packed away for another day. I just don't have the room (..or need) to have them all set up unfortunately..

..leaving just the Master above, and this.. an unrestored (or 'survivor') '87 Sport. I REALLY like this. Will do a nicer photoset of it another time..




Done.
There you go. Educational and fun..