TI Kona KK arrival at Ernie Towers

[Ernie]

Rob and onestare,
there have been quite a few threads/discussions on the KK v Hei Hei. Our resident kona guru Anthony and Pipmeister{who himself has both kk and hei hei} has given together with others loads of information on this great website. Myself i have always wanted a unicorn kona{the Score is probably rarer..one went on ebay US about a month ago}I was fortunate/unfortunate to be clipped by a bus going home one night in dec 2010 after a 12 hour day shift { again there is a thread on that}.The company paid up and i saw frame on ebay. Like others i did some research on here mostly. The fact the condition was used but superb i had a feeling this would go high, the famous kona geometry,Factor in that only 150 were made in that size in that year and its a 18" frame{ the average bloke in UK is 5' 8"} i was prepared to go high for it..and won by 89 pence :shock: .

Yes i do understand that there are other makes..but i love konas..simple as that..and too be honest i have ridden one other make..marin..that was back in 1995..but always lusted after kona's

thanks Ernie

 

[thomas]

I just read that and smiled. Gotta respect that. I love Kona's too

 

[MiniNinjaRob]

I'm not judging about the money spent - I am genuinely interested - is this the same as a Hei Hei or better in some way? I don't know much about this era in Kona history.

 

[Ernie]

I'm not judging about the money spent - I am genuinely interested - is this the same as a Hei Hei or better in some way? I don't know much about this era in Kona history.

Rob..
this is the problem with meassaging/text..you cant get the full "expression/context"..i know you were not having a go..please forgive me if you "thought" that i was getting arsy

Anthony posted this on the kona page...

Just out of interest, it isn't a Hei Hei, it's a King Kahuna. The Hei Hei didn't have the gussets on the top and down tubes.

1997 King Kahunas had the same Hei Hei decals on the top tube as the Hei Hei, but it also said King Kahuna in lower case script on the seat stays, and those seat stay decals have presumably come off on your example.

The King Kahuna frames sold for £300 more than the Hei Hei, but nevertheless attracted the great majority of sales, as they were perceived to be 'better'. That may be a matter of taste, but they are slightly stiffer and heavier than the Hei Hei, so certainly better for racing.

another piece from Anthony

My guess is that with steel getting swamped by aluminium at that time, both on the race track and in the marketplace, they were looking to make the Explosif ride a bit more like a Kula. They also developed the King Kahuna at the same time, as a stiffer variant of the Hei Hei - apparently partly in response to calls from the race team - so maybe that was the thinking with their top-end frames.

Anthony again...viewtopic.php?f=1&t=172636&hilit=hei+hei+kk

But as i say there is loads more on Retrobike..as i say we are all adults..i didnt take any offence mate ..honest..me and you are good

Ernie

 

[91lavadome]

Stunning. This thread has finally motivated me to share some pics of my KK

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=246019

Looking forward to the build.