Can anyone help me identify an old Kona?

[-Alex2-]

I sold this bike the better part of a decade ago, but I've never been quite sure of the year. I bought it second hand with some strange parts, and the decals and paint seem to be off a 1999 King Kikapu, but the frame seems to be a '98. To make things even more confusing the fork (which I still have) seems to be a '97 Z.1 with '98 decals on one side (missing the word 'BAM') and none on the other. This was my first real mountain bike, so it would mean a lot to me to be able to put a name to such a meaningful piece of my personal history.

 

[BerthaPog]

Looks like an "odd" mix...

Suspension linkage looks like the '97, cranks are '98 LX (same as on my '98 Kona Kilauea), decals as you say are '99 or '00, and the colour doesn't seem to be a stock UK one - other markets sometimes had different colours.

 

[-Alex2-]

Thanks TedC. It was bought locally at a consignment store, so should be in its native market as Kona was still Canadian at the time. The cranks are actually XT by the way, the writing isn't visible in this pic.

Before asking on here I did some quick internet searching, and from what I can tell it's not a '97 frame as it doesn't have the top pull canti mount, and it's not a '99 as it has the split seat tube. However the '98 seems to have only come in orange, and the '99 seems to have only come in this exact colour with these exact decals. Also the drilling and colour of the link doesn't seem to match perfectly with any year.

As for the fork, the knobs are round and red, the dropouts are long and sleek, the arch is very sparingly drilled and it has matching disc tabs on both legs, all '97 qualities, but the two remaining decals are the blue '98 style.

On a different note, I still have most of the parts, wouldn't this make a great Spooky Metalhead build ?

 

[slope]

It appears to be a 98 frame with 99 color and decals.
Perhaps a mid-year special edition?
Man, I miss the special editions.

 

[-Alex2-]

Thanks slope, I'm glad I'm not crazy!

Should have put something about the fork in the title, might have to start a separate thread to identify it...

 

[coomber]

The rocker might be an upgrade? For more travel etc, dont BETD do those?

 

[slope]

That's what I was thinking. Definitely not stock as I'm looking at a 99 brochure right now.

 

[-Alex2-]

That did occur to me, but aside from the drilling the proportions of the rocker look stock...

 

[slope]

They appear to be longer than stock.