# THEY CAME! FINALLY! The Western Flyers are here!



## partsguy (Jan 6, 2012)

These are not the ultra rare Dealer Catalogs I typically want or find, but these were close enough. There was a set of three 1991-1993 Western Auto catalogs from the Christmas season that I missed. They didn't sell (surprisingly) and after contecting the seller, they got relisted, in a one lot, no pic, BIN. I bought them and as it turns out.. had a whole STASH of them. He listed them all for me in one lot, no pic, and I hit that button so fast! after waiting for them for what seemed like an eternity, here they are! I FINALLY FOUND THE AD FOR MY WILDCAT! LET THE RESTO BEGIN! As said, these are the Christmas editions that were out for the average consumer in the newspapers and are NOT the Dealer catalogs, so many bikes are in here, but not all. I still need to find anything for 1986-1988.

The package..ooohhh....so gently to open with scissors I must!





:eek:




*AT LAST! I HAVE AN '89 WILDCAT!*







Who says Western Auto never had serious bikes? Titan ads (I own one of the bikes, awaiting a ground up resto)




HUTCH!




Schwinn built?




Group pic of the 1989-1993 ads. Hopefully I can figure out a way to decode the serial numbers...wish me luck!


----------



## Aeropsycho (Jan 6, 2012)

*Hmmmmm....*

I used to put that junk together at Toys R Us...from 1981-1990... still junk!


----------



## fordsnake (Jan 6, 2012)

Congratulation on your find!


----------



## JOEL (Jan 6, 2012)

Maybe you can still warrenty the frame.


----------



## partsguy (Jan 6, 2012)

Aeropsycho said:


> I used to put that junk together at Toys R Us...from 1981-1990... still junk!




Some were. Toys R Us and Wal-Mart are actually the WORST places to buy bikes. Western Auto had the worst and the best from what I'm finding. Interesting, after Titan fell apart, most Western Flyers built for the 1995 model year were Huffys. A new Titan I think is just a name on another Chinese bike. From what I've found, the BMX racers that owned the company resigned after undisclosed reasons and they folded in 1997. At least our "big 3" bike companies were still alive then...


----------



## partsguy (Jan 6, 2012)

Did I mention that I now have found COLOR ads for almost all of the reproduction cruisers? I also figure out the Event codes on the back and figured our I also had a 1988 one in here too! Here are group pics of the whole collection.


----------



## kngtmat (Mar 14, 2012)

How did I miss this thread because that is an awesome find and I see a BMX with white discs kind of like the one white bike with white discs I had in the early 90's but I don't remember who made it or where I got it though.

Here the pics of a 90's Western Flyer here at the house.


----------



## scooter_trasher (Jan 20, 2016)

I know it's an ancient thread, but I used to love the Western Auto in my dad's home town in Kentucky, coolest parts store ever, so I gotta ask, Parts Guy do you have the catalog with this bike?


 



and here's a cool download of the last western flyer book
http://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/bitstream/handle/10919/9225/LastWesternFlyer.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y


----------



## partsguy (Jan 20, 2016)

I sure do! I can get you a scan. I have at least one catalog with bicycles from 1977-78 through 2001. I think. Since I found some late model Western Flyers, I went out on a goose chase to research the fate of the famed Western Flyer - and Western Auto - name through the end in 2001. It's amazing who built some of the bikes after Murray started to get dropped. Even Hutch and Titan threw their hat in the ring in 1987! I never did figure out who made the repop cruisers though.


----------



## scooter_trasher (Jan 21, 2016)

partsguy said:


> I sure do! I can get you a scan. I have at least one catalog with bicycles from 1977-78 through 2001. I think. Since I found some late model Western Flyers, I went out on a goose chase to research the fate of the famed Western Flyer - and Western Auto - name through the end in 2001. It's amazing who built some of the bikes after Murray started to get dropped. Even Hutch and Titan threw their hat in the ring in 1987! I never did figure out who made the repop cruisers though.



Columbia made the black one first with parts left over from the RX5, that didn't sell as well as hoped
then some company in Florida and finally Aerofast in Cal , who still make a version of the red&white one

"

<mrcolumbiaman@yahoo.com>
Jan 20 at 6:15 AM
To
scooter_trasher

*Message body*
Hello Scooter Trasher
The bike will not be in any Columbia catalog. It was made for and sold exclusively through Western auto stores. This was not a reproduction of any Western Flyer ever made in the old days. Nothing on it was based on any previous design. The history of this bike is simple. When Columbia ended their run of the RX-5 5 Star replicas they had lots of spare parts as they never made all 5,000 that was planned and never produced a ladies model either that was also planned for. What Columbia did was make what was essentially an RX-5 Repro in a different colors and pitched them to companies like Western Auto. Western Auto marketed these bikes as replica Western Flyers even though they were certainly not, just red and black RX-5's. As parts ran out these bikes became less and less RX-5's and got more modern parts. There is about 5 different versions of these Western Flyers, yours being an earlier one and the last ones having almost no RX-5 similarity at all.
I have all the certificates of authenticity, literature and owner's manuals for your bike if you are interested. "


----------



## Donald E Kratzer (Apr 26, 2018)

Looking for information on this bicycle . It is a western flyer titan frame. Do you have any in the flyers ?


----------



## bikemonkey (Apr 28, 2018)

I just cleaned up this '83 for a lady. It belonged to her dad who rode it until he was 88 years old. She said he loved it so I took good care of it for her.


----------



## partsguy (Apr 28, 2018)

Donald E Kratzer said:


> Looking for information on this bicycle . It is a western flyer titan frame. Do you have any in the flyers ?
> 
> View attachment 795516
> 
> ...





Hi there! I am currently engaged, and an expecting father, so I do apologize for the delayed response.

This bike is from about 1987-1993. I will need to see my catalogs to pin it down more precisely. I am, however, excited to see another old school Titan survive.

Your bike was mid-level, it has the much better center-pull caliper brakes, three-piece aluminum crank, more durable sprocket, taller stem, and possibly Shimano derailleurs (I cannot tell for sure). Likely retailed for about $250, about $450 today.

The one I own was rescued only minutes before going to the crusher in a scrapyard. Mine is a 1991 Kodiak, and was the entry level bike. Same frame, but inferior components. It had a steel, one-piece crank, cheap chrome on the wheels and sprocket, shorter stem, Falcon derailleurs, and cheap off-brand side-pull caliper brakes. I went with a slightly custom hybrid build, and upgraded everything.


----------



## Patrick Jones (Jun 27, 2018)

Partsguy - Is it possible for you to take straight on clean photos of the ad pages that have the Freedom 1 or Freedom 2 BMX bike. These would be in the ads from 1986-1989. Looking for anything with those bikes.





partsguy said:


> These are not the ultra rare Dealer Catalogs I typically want or find, but these were close enough. There was a set of three 1991-1993 Western Auto catalogs from the Christmas season that I missed. They didn't sell (surprisingly) and after contecting the seller, they got relisted, in a one lot, no pic, BIN. I bought them and as it turns out.. had a whole STASH of them. He listed them all for me in one lot, no pic, and I hit that button so fast! after waiting for them for what seemed like an eternity, here they are! I FINALLY FOUND THE AD FOR MY WILDCAT! LET THE RESTO BEGIN! As said, these are the Christmas editions that were out for the average consumer in the newspapers and are NOT the Dealer catalogs, so many bikes are in here, but not all. I still need to find anything for 1986-1988.
> 
> The package..ooohhh....so gently to open with scissors I must!
> View attachment 515003
> ...





partsguy said:


> These are not the ultra rare Dealer Catalogs I typically want or find, but these were close enough. There was a set of three 1991-1993 Western Auto catalogs from the Christmas season that I missed. They didn't sell (surprisingly) and after contecting the seller, they got relisted, in a one lot, no pic, BIN. I bought them and as it turns out.. had a whole STASH of them. He listed them all for me in one lot, no pic, and I hit that button so fast! after waiting for them for what seemed like an eternity, here they are! I FINALLY FOUND THE AD FOR MY WILDCAT! LET THE RESTO BEGIN! As said, these are the Christmas editions that were out for the average consumer in the newspapers and are NOT the Dealer catalogs, so many bikes are in here, but not all. I still need to find anything for 1986-1988.
> 
> The package..ooohhh....so gently to open with scissors I must!
> View attachment 515003
> ...


----------



## partsguy (Jun 28, 2018)

Patrick Jones said:


> Partsguy - Is it possible for you to take straight on clean photos of the ad pages that have the Freedom 1 or Freedom 2 BMX bike. These would be in the ads from 1986-1989. Looking for anything with those bikes.





I will try to find time here in the next day or two, juggling a lot right now. I am missing everything from 1986 and most of 1987. I have ads and catalogs for 1988-89. Check my photo gallery for stuff I already scanned in.


----------

