Tiny 93? Kona Kilauea?

Re: Tiny 97 Kona Kilauea

OK so the results are in:

Everythiing stamped on the BB:

3I 291

3W22

LA95NY128
 
Re: Tiny 97 Kona Kilauea

Nice little bike you have there.

I would say its a '93, had a respray, the forks look '93 too. What is the a/c length of the forks?

mark
 
Re: Tiny 97 Kona Kilauea

395mm ...
Cranks are 165mm - do I need to go shorter?
It could be a respray, it looks like original paint but the chap I bought it off is the second owner so nothing is sure!
Frame number saying 95 do we think?
 
Re: Tiny 97 Kona Kilauea

CTK":25rb2ypo said:
395mm ...
Cranks are 165mm - do I need to go shorter?
It could be a respray, it looks like original paint but the chap I bought it off is the second owner so nothing is sure!
Frame number saying 95 do we think?

Some closer pictures of the frame would help answer that.

So far, based on these shots, it's looks kosha. The decals are in the right places and exactly right in design, colour and style. The colour is as good, or close as quality, to the popsy red and others with that faint metallic. It looks pretty consistent too.

I wonder if it's a warranty replacement or dealer special, nabbed from the warehouse gathering dust, and brought up to date at the time. Since it's such a small size, these weren't two a penny and I'm pretty sure would have needed a dealer to place a special order regardless.
 
Re: Tiny 97 Kona Kilauea

When my brother looked at it and sent pics through I was sure it was a legitimate frame with lots of older parts bolted onto it.
Didn't look like a respray, although there is part of one of the Kilauea logos missing from the top tube iirc.
The guy had a Cindercone in the shed as well.

165mm cranks are still pretty big for little legs, from memory I went down to around 150 and would rather have had 140s.

Decal placement from a bottom of the range tiny frame for comparison:
 

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Re: Tiny 97 Kona Kilauea

I don't know how to interpret that serial number.

The dropouts and fork length say '92-'93. The only year the Kilauea used that "squashed" seat tube was '92. The fork looks like the cheaper single-butted version (the dropouts are welded on, rather than cast and brazed in) but may not be original in any case. The paint job and decals look good, but note that there are no decals on the seat tube. Seatpost size might give a clue.

It's a really nice little bike whatever it is. I just can't resist a mystery!
 
Re: Tiny 97 Kona Kilauea

Seat post is 26.6 or 26.4
I will take the forks off tomorrow to look for clues re paint. I had a 92 Lava Dome that my brother bought off me and repainted in 97. In exactly this colour! with decals from kona it looked spot on. I'm coming round to the idea it had a respray in 97.

BUT the frame number that 95 in the middle...
 
Re: Tiny 97 Kona Kilauea

Ok I've just taken the forks off... It's a 1" steerer! Plot thickens!


It's got a 93 stamped on the fork! Plot less thick
 
Re:

The 1991 - 1993 Hahanna & Fire Mountain had 1" headsets, all other models were 1 1/8".

As one-eyed_jim highlighted last year, the Dropouts with the triangle cut-out indicate no later than 1993. However, he also mentioned a squashed (not flare-butted) seat tube bottom end, which my 60 year old eyes are struggling to see.

Pip
 
Thats pretty definitive then, thanks Pip. & Yep seat tube squashes/ ovalises at bb end. I'm guessing Fire Mountain and Hahanna had the same frame? I'm going to get it painted and new stickers. Won't be going for Kilauea decals this time lol!
 
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