1995 Kona Sex Too

[GeneralOsik]

Introducing my latest purchase, John Balmer's 1995 Kona Sex Too.



I recently purchased this 1995 Kona Custom Cruiser, from a personal friend of former Kona employee John Balmer. I had originally passed on this one, but I couldn't stop thinking about having all three 'New for 1995' Kona bikes:



I am currently disassembling the bike and taking note of what is factory original, and what is not. I am likely going to use the Ritchey brakes, Sugino cranks, and Kona SUS 999 front hub on my 1995 Kilauea:





I have a set of XT M737/Mavic 237S wheels for this bike, a Sugino Mighty 900 crankset, and I'll put on some black LX brakes on here.

There's some really cool original Kona parts on this bike too, like the bar end plugs which usually get lost, and a front Maximum tire in great condition! It appears Mr. Dirt has gone bald though.

 

[GeneralOsik]

Now that you've seen the good, here's some of the bad and the ugly.

The paint is on this stem is excellent, so new decals would make this perfect:



The head badge has been worn away by some really poor cable housing routing:



The O-Beam seatpost has both a worn logo, and a worn spot around the clamp:



The front Marzocchi XCR is leaking, and the decals are peeling, but much like the stem, the paint is excellent. I think a rebuild kit would do this fork good. Paging @Dr-Zocchi! I've heard you're the person to talk to about this fork!



I am also looking for a replacement Marzocchi A25 rear shock. These are hard to come by in the states, but there appears to be a few NOS pieces on German Amazon and Italian eBay. If anyone would be willing to purchase one and ship it to the US, I would be eternally grateful!

 

[Dr-Zocchi]

...

I think a rebuild kit would do this fork good. Paging @Dr-Zocchi! I've heard you're the person to talk to about this fork!

View attachment 803191View attachment 803187

I am also looking for a replacement Marzocchi A25 rear shock. These are hard to come by in the states, but there appears to be a few NOS pieces on German Amazon and Italian eBay. If anyone would be willing to purchase one and ship it to the US, I would be eternally grateful!

View attachment 803188

No problem for the 26mm XCR seal kits. I also have new stanchions for that fork. Check this for different options in Service Kits : https://dr-zocchi.projectweb.de/produkt-kategorie/seals-24-26mm/ .

Regarding the shock : why don't you simply order it from Ebay IT or Amazon?

 

[GeneralOsik]

It's been far too long since I've posted an update to this bike, so I'll get y'all caught up. I disassembled the bike and mulled over the theme of the bike, while I sourced a few parts. I just finished a 1987 Diamondback Arrival, that I'll create a thread for soon, so my work stand was empty again. I decided it's time to tackle my first full suspension work job.

Many thanks to Dr. Zoochi, who procured two Marzocchi A25 rear shocks, and shipped them to me in the US, along with one of his fantastic rebuild kids for an XCR fork. More on that process later, I'm waiting for a tool to arrive to get to the bottom most bolt in the stanchion.

The NOS rear shocks are exactly the same as the old one, and it fitted to the freshly polished frame perfectly







Two nights ago, I finished cleaning and polishing the brake set, and fitted the rear brakes and swing arm adapter



I also cleaned and polished the front derailleur and crankset, and fitted that last night





Tonight, I'm cleaning the wheelset and tires

 

[Dr-Zocchi]

Wow!

 

[al-onestare]

Now that's looking great. The fact you got it with the brake adapter is a huge win, and with @Dr-Zocchi on the case, it's all downhill from now on.

It's not often you see one in a decent size either. What are your riding plans for it?