Re:
Yes I did get a reply from a very helpful guy who works for Kona in Nelson, British Columbia.
The main body of my e-mail was:
……..I bought the frame from a guy in Boston Massachusetts in September, and imported it into the U.K. He told me that he had contacted Kona who in turn said that the Stars ‘n’ Bars custom paint job on titanium King Kahuna was an option available to Kona employees.
I had always assumed that the only painted titanium frames were the few done for the Kona Team in 1997 – Roland Green’s Yellow Flames on Green for example.
Anyway, the serial number of this one is K18066, and any information with regards to who may have owned it back in the day would be very much appreciated.
Best wishes, Pip.
(Aged 57 years - Currently owning 12 Kona bikes… cool)
His reply was:
Hi Pip,
I’ve confirmed with Dan, the guy who ran our custom paint program that the bike pictured was definitely not one we did out of the Kona paint program, this was done privately and I will not be able to give out the previous owner’s name due to privacy restrictions. It was not a staff bike.
Best,
So it would appear that the Stars ‘n’ Bars was not one owned by a former Kona Team member. It is interesting to learn however that a private customer indulged themselves in a paint job on a titanium frame – that must have cost them a fair bit back then.
Pip.