Thanksgiving weekend of 2016, I was contacted by my brother’s long time friend Chuck, who said he had Jake’s 1992 San Andreas and wanted to know if I was interested. “Absolutely” I said. It was explained that the bike was not in great shape and nothing like it was originally. For Jake, after each race season, he would give away to those in need: equipment, parts, and bikes he didn’t need. Most he gave away, some he sold at a discount or in exchange for a dinner at the local Baja Fresh. Sometimes, he would take what he had, build a bike for someone so that everyone had a bike to ride. These became frankenbikes of sorts.
This is the picture I was sent. Jakes 1992 main frame. New rear shock. Jake’s 1994 AC cranks, Judy DH, and Xray Shifters. The wheels were Ringle from 1995 and the brakes were v-brakes. The rear swing arm had the disc mount shaved off.
I figured most of what I needed for a rebuild would be somewhat easy to find – the hardest part to locate was the original black and gray and red elastomer rear shock. After much searching, I was able to locate a few of the parts I was going to need:
- Control Stix Bar ends. The ones I found were blue and so I had them anodized black
- XTR shifter/levers.
- Black ribbed ODI Grips: Thanks Ben at Newbury Park Bike Shop
- Tioga Psycho Tires (I had bought these for the Trimble)
Still in need of an original elastomer shock, rear swing arm with disc mount, and silver Pulstar wheels, I found everything I needed in one post. Bas Hoeven had 1992 San Andreas with the parts I needed and after reaching out, he agreed to sell the bike to me. What a blessing.
Bas had the wheels, the rear shock, the rear disc and front disc, an intact swing arm, headset. . . it was everything I needed to essentially complete the bike. With Bas’ bike in my garage, it came time for the build to begin. There were a lot of old parts that did not want to come off, including that rear swing arm.
It is amazing how things fall into place. . . About two years earlier, another friend of Jake’s had reached out with Jake’s 1991 Trimble.
What Jake had done was sold this bike to him back when, but in true Jake fashion, the fork on the Trimble was the newer fork from his 1992 San Andreas which was “better” technology. After I agreed to take the bike and rebuild that back to original (still in progress), I had Jake’s original fork for the San Andreas. What I was told was that the elastomers in the fork had exploded over the years and as such, the owner had filled the fork with rocks! I thought it was a bit of a joke – I was wrong. Blue goo and rocks filled both sides of the forks. The insides of the red fork from Bas were now given to Jake’s fork along with new elastomers I found online.
Removing the swing arm and headset were the hardest parts to work on.
Once past that, everything seemed to fall into place. With the bike ready to go for the most part, I took the bike on what was the first trail Jake ever took me on – Triunfo Canyon.
The bike still had Bas’ saddle on it but I could not wait any longer to get it on the dirt. So after some searching, I found the same Flight saddle Jake had used in 1992. With that, I had a local friend take a look at the bike and make some shifting and brake adjustments. Three days later, I was on the way to Mammoth for what would be the bikes return to the Kamikaze – 25 years later after Jake raced it in the Reebok Eliminator. . . Jake took 3rd place.
Thanks everyone for reading. . . hope to get to Jake's other bikes shortly.
Josh
This is the picture I was sent. Jakes 1992 main frame. New rear shock. Jake’s 1994 AC cranks, Judy DH, and Xray Shifters. The wheels were Ringle from 1995 and the brakes were v-brakes. The rear swing arm had the disc mount shaved off.
I figured most of what I needed for a rebuild would be somewhat easy to find – the hardest part to locate was the original black and gray and red elastomer rear shock. After much searching, I was able to locate a few of the parts I was going to need:
- Control Stix Bar ends. The ones I found were blue and so I had them anodized black
- XTR shifter/levers.
- Black ribbed ODI Grips: Thanks Ben at Newbury Park Bike Shop
- Tioga Psycho Tires (I had bought these for the Trimble)
Still in need of an original elastomer shock, rear swing arm with disc mount, and silver Pulstar wheels, I found everything I needed in one post. Bas Hoeven had 1992 San Andreas with the parts I needed and after reaching out, he agreed to sell the bike to me. What a blessing.
Bas had the wheels, the rear shock, the rear disc and front disc, an intact swing arm, headset. . . it was everything I needed to essentially complete the bike. With Bas’ bike in my garage, it came time for the build to begin. There were a lot of old parts that did not want to come off, including that rear swing arm.
It is amazing how things fall into place. . . About two years earlier, another friend of Jake’s had reached out with Jake’s 1991 Trimble.
What Jake had done was sold this bike to him back when, but in true Jake fashion, the fork on the Trimble was the newer fork from his 1992 San Andreas which was “better” technology. After I agreed to take the bike and rebuild that back to original (still in progress), I had Jake’s original fork for the San Andreas. What I was told was that the elastomers in the fork had exploded over the years and as such, the owner had filled the fork with rocks! I thought it was a bit of a joke – I was wrong. Blue goo and rocks filled both sides of the forks. The insides of the red fork from Bas were now given to Jake’s fork along with new elastomers I found online.
Removing the swing arm and headset were the hardest parts to work on.
Once past that, everything seemed to fall into place. With the bike ready to go for the most part, I took the bike on what was the first trail Jake ever took me on – Triunfo Canyon.
The bike still had Bas’ saddle on it but I could not wait any longer to get it on the dirt. So after some searching, I found the same Flight saddle Jake had used in 1992. With that, I had a local friend take a look at the bike and make some shifting and brake adjustments. Three days later, I was on the way to Mammoth for what would be the bikes return to the Kamikaze – 25 years later after Jake raced it in the Reebok Eliminator. . . Jake took 3rd place.
Thanks everyone for reading. . . hope to get to Jake's other bikes shortly.
Josh
Attachments
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1992, Jake, Mountain Cycle Bike (2).jpg -
1992 MC, BAS, San Andreas.jpg -
1991, Jake Watson, Trimble, From Noah Richstone and Russell Zimmermann.jpg -
1992 San Andreas, Fork Insides reduced 1.jpg -
1992 San Andreas, Fork Insides reduced 3.jpg -
1992, San Andreas, Jake (2) reduced.jpg -
7 1992 Mountain Cycle, San Andreas, Complete reduced.jpg -
8 9 15 2017, Mammoth, Jakes 1992 San Andreas reduced.JPG
