By Alastair Hamilton
Most people buy bikes in order to get around - or to have fun biking cross-country or downhill. However, there's a new rage on the scene, people who like to trick out their bikes - bikes called low riders - and then display them.
The lowrider bike looks exactly as you think it would from the name - the seat is set low to the ground and the handlebars are typically higher than the head, indeed they can remind you of "chopper" motorcycles - indeed some are decorated to look exactly like a motorcycle - right down to the faux gas tank. The imagination is the limit when creating a lowrider.
When I say it's a rage, I mean just that. People have been known to spend thousands of dollars on their lowrider, adding sound systems, hand painted murals, and even hydraulics. They delight in using excessive chrome, overspoked wheels and even fur. They put two mirrors on each side of the handlebars, spare tires on the back...oh, all kinds of things.
To get an idea of what a lowrider looks like, visit the web, as there are many sites that display these creations. lowrider.com was one of the first on the scene, as you can tell from the domain name. There are many more including lovelylowrider.com and streetlowrider.com
The TV character Eddie Munster, from the 1960s TV show "The Munsters" is generally regarded as the "founder" of the lowrider bike craze. He rode a George Barris customized Schwinn Stingray. (George Barris is most famous for his car customasations - he created the 1960s Batmobile, for example.) However, these types of bikes fell out of fashion in the 1980s, when the BMX and mountain bikes came into use.
Lowriders came back into favor in the 1990s, when Chicano neighborhoods in California revived the hobby, and it quickly caught on in the urban areas of the country.
Lowrider Lingo
As with any other hobby, the enthusiasts have devised their own terminology for their bikes. Those tall upward-swept handlebars are known as apehangers. When you're creating your bike you're either "tricking it out" or "pimping it." "Pimped to the max" means there's absolutely nothing more you can add to it.
The future of the hobby
Lowriding is still pretty much a neighborhood thing - or enthusiasts might gather where there is a local car show, but there has yet to be an annual competition or major venue where lowriders can exhibit their bikes to the general public.
Most people buy bikes in order to get around - or to have fun biking cross-country or downhill. However, there's a new rage on the scene, people who like to trick out their bikes - bikes called low riders - and then display them.
The lowrider bike looks exactly as you think it would from the name - the seat is set low to the ground and the handlebars are typically higher than the head, indeed they can remind you of "chopper" motorcycles - indeed some are decorated to look exactly like a motorcycle - right down to the faux gas tank. The imagination is the limit when creating a lowrider.
When I say it's a rage, I mean just that. People have been known to spend thousands of dollars on their lowrider, adding sound systems, hand painted murals, and even hydraulics. They delight in using excessive chrome, overspoked wheels and even fur. They put two mirrors on each side of the handlebars, spare tires on the back...oh, all kinds of things.
To get an idea of what a lowrider looks like, visit the web, as there are many sites that display these creations. lowrider.com was one of the first on the scene, as you can tell from the domain name. There are many more including lovelylowrider.com and streetlowrider.com
The TV character Eddie Munster, from the 1960s TV show "The Munsters" is generally regarded as the "founder" of the lowrider bike craze. He rode a George Barris customized Schwinn Stingray. (George Barris is most famous for his car customasations - he created the 1960s Batmobile, for example.) However, these types of bikes fell out of fashion in the 1980s, when the BMX and mountain bikes came into use.
Lowriders came back into favor in the 1990s, when Chicano neighborhoods in California revived the hobby, and it quickly caught on in the urban areas of the country.
Lowrider Lingo
As with any other hobby, the enthusiasts have devised their own terminology for their bikes. Those tall upward-swept handlebars are known as apehangers. When you're creating your bike you're either "tricking it out" or "pimping it." "Pimped to the max" means there's absolutely nothing more you can add to it.
The future of the hobby
Lowriding is still pretty much a neighborhood thing - or enthusiasts might gather where there is a local car show, but there has yet to be an annual competition or major venue where lowriders can exhibit their bikes to the general public.
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