"There's never been anything like it. It may look like a sleek "High-rise" ... but with the turn of a coupling, the rear wheel becomes steerable."

"With SWING BIKE, you can invent wacky maneuvers which leave everyone else bug-eyed in amazement!"

My interest in these bikes began when my wife found one at a garage sale. She knew I was looking for a Schwinn Lemon Peeler and this bright yellow bike with the glitter seat and 16" front wheel caught her eye. Upon closer inspection she noticed something wasn't quite "right" with the bike. There was no bottom tube in the frame, just two top tubes! She phoned me at work and I headed right over. I had never seen a Swing Bike before, nor had I heard of one (I'm fairly new to bike collecting). The owner of this bike was very adept at riding it (he had one as a kid) and I was left "bug-eyed in amazement !"

Click here to see why this boy is nervous

So that day the yellow Swing Bike became mine. Plans are in the works for a complete restoration. The bike is original, except for one pedal. However, it has suffered damage to the handlebars, sissy bar and part of the sub-frame. Hopefully this will be remedied soon.

Since then I have run across a few other Swing Bikes. Greg Johnson of Portland, Oregon was kind enough to send me the aforementioned Boy's Life ad and a picture of his orange Swing Bike. Though this bike is missing a few original pieces, it is in much better condition than mine. Jim West of Loomis, California sent in several photos of his low mileage green Swing Bike. Check it out, it is very nice! I have also found a couple of Swing Bikes locally. One is a green Swing Bike that belongs to Jesse Tate, a local (Springfield, Missouri) collector and former owner of the local Schwinn dealership (1952-1992) who sold several of these bikes when they were new. It is in pretty rough shape (once you ride a Swing Bike you can understand why). Here's another example of an orange Swing Bike that was for sale on the Web recently. It too has seen better days! The nicest Swing Bike I have seen is owned by Tom Labs in Bellevue, Nebraska. It is a blue Swing Bike with only 50 miles on it! It was originally owned by a Shriner who only rode it in parades. I want this one! Here's another view of Ol' Blue.

There have been several new-in-the-box Swing Bikes from the mid-Seventies that have come to light recently. Hopefully I can get a picture to display on the page soon.

Here are more specifics:

• Manufactured by: Swing Bike, 412 West 10th North St., Logan, Utah 84321
  
• List price (1976): $119.00
  
• Colors: Yellow, Blue, Orange, Green
  

Click here to view Jamma build Jake's custom Swing Bike!

Click here to view the Swing Bike Gallery on Chris Bentley's Australian Dragster Bike Web Site!

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Bob Hufford