Mustang Bicycle

The Banana Seat High Handle Bar Bicycle

When I first laid eyes on it my heart leaped for joy. It came as a Christmas gift in 1965. This one was gold colored. There had never been any bicycle like it or come close to it since.

The best I can remember the tires were on 20 inch wheels. It came with a banana seat and high handle bars like the motorcycle choppers of the time. Somehow I had acquired some money to buy two side mirrors to put on the handle bars.

It looked bad to the bone. I couldn’t wait to get it outside and see how fast it could go. You could stand up and peddle it which was the equivalent of lighting up afterburners on a jet engine.

My first project was to build a parachute for it to slow it down like those found on quarter mile dragsters. The parachute would help save the wear and tear on the brakes.

My biggest fear was it would get stolen which it never was. I kept a close eye on it. Another feature was you could give your girlfriend a ride on the banana seat behind you or she could ride sitting down on the handle bars.

Usually after one ride with you she was no longer your girlfriend. The ideal girlfriend would have her own girls Mustang bike. I almost forgot with this bike you could pop a wheelie. That’s where you would pull up the front tire and ride on the back tire.

I wasn’t a wheelie show boat kinda man but I was into racing. In particular the quarter mile drag racing with the parachute which only worked half the time. I wore that bicycle out. Honestly I don’t even remember what happened to it. It just faded away like everything else in that era.