The Japanese 10 Speed Bike I Had When I Was A Kid In The '60s

I got a 10-speed when I was eight years old, in 1960. My grandfather won it as a prize at the newspaper where he worked, the Pasadena Star News, and gave it to me.

I couldn't reach the pedals at first, but I used it all through the 60s, during high-school and college. I even used it to ride from San Francisco to LA in 1973. I grew up in Anaheim (Apollo St), and worked at Disneyland in the early '70s, and I would ride this bike to work and back. The first couple of years I was in foods, and would often close. Riding the bike home at 2am, the scent of the strawberries in the fields along West St - they grew them there at that time - was wonderful. I also rode up to Pasadena to stay overnight with relatives there a couple of times, and down to Newport and Huntington Beach once in a while too.

Tragedy struck in '75 or '76, when it was stolen from my truck. I had taken it up to Oregon State where I went to graduate school, and was heading home on a holiday break. I stopped in San Francisco to walk around for a couple of hours. The truck (Ford Courier) had a camper shell which I'd locked. But when I got back to the truck, I found the shell window broken, and some of my stuff had been stolen, including my bike.

I never thought to write down the bike's manufacturer. I didn't even take a photo of it. Kicking myself. But recently, I was looking at an old family home movie, and by golly, there it was in a very short segment! I've posted the clip below. Unfortunately what can be seen in the clip is not very clear.

The bike was gold, had a Japanese badge and components, and a nifty bag attached to the seat. It came with white plastic fenders, and had white brake and shift cables. The handlebars were wrapped with white tape.

If you are reading this, my advice is to get out and ride your bike, and for goodness sake, keep a journal!

The clip shows my Mom holding the bike, my aunt Dee, my great-grandmother, my grandfather, and my folk's good ol' '57 Chevy Belair station wagon.  I'm also in a bit of it, taking a picture on my old camera, with my cousin in the background. (The second part of the clip is in Death Valley, with a bit more of the Belair station wagon).