Re:
howdy all, this is Michael, owner of the bike in question jumping in to answer a few questions. first off, I'd like to thank epptx for guiding me through this and introducing me to the Retrobike community, as well as the ace snaps and story behind the bike.
I've been in the business for nigh on 30 years now, and have owned Waterloo Cycles for close to 23 of those. in the original story he asked why I never rode the bike more than the first few times (hence the well justified "it's not NOS" comments from espresso and its_kirby.) the reason is that the frame was a bit too big for me, since I normally ride an 18" Kona.
robmac- I'm trying to get Francis Ford Coppola to get in *front* of the camera for the role. in a pinch I might see about his nephew Nicholas Cage ;}
tc- was your bike parked in London near Westminster about 5 years ago? I may have taken a snap of it when I was on holiday
makster- if you buy the bike I'll be happy to include the original paperwork from Kona with it, but due to dealer confidentiality they don't normally allow that info out
Anthony- if you check the invoice date you'll see that this was early on in the production run. since Kona was a fairly small company at the time they tended to be at the end of the queue as far as getting parts production orders filled by Shimano, RockShox etc.
Wold Ranger- again, check the invoice date, early on in the production run of the King Kahuna.
epptx recommended I put it up here first and exclusively for someone who could truly appreciate it , but I plan on offering it on eBay fairly soon.
for those holding off due to concerns about the costs of shipping/insurance/customs duties/VAT I'm planning on being on holiday in East Midlands (via a London flight) the end of July and we could possibly work out a deal for collection that would minimise those costs.