BMXmuseum.com Bikes / Roadway / 1987 Roadway Master Series 14" Freestyle Scooter

I found this awesome 14" freestyle scooter in well used condition from a guy in Germany. Thank you Tom! In the time of purchase the scoot had no brakes, pegs or rotor and it needed some cleaning. Good cleaning. It also came with one of those crazy "Scooter heads" figures (Homer Simpson) attached to the handlebars, who knows why. But that alone was a good enough reason to get this machine.

Anyway, freestyle scooters are a whole new experience for me. I have never owned or ridden one ever in my life. Freestyle scooters never really landed here in Finland and the scooter craze was more less over by the time i got into freestyle bikes. But i remember seeing those scoots allover in the magazines in the late 80's but i didn't really care nor paid much attention to them. These scooters fall into the undefined twilight zone category, more less. They are not exactly a bike or skateboard, either. In fact they are pretty confusing pieces of work in allthe variety of frame design, spare decks with silly slogans like NoPed or hence, the "Curb Master". Maybe they're the bastard son of BMX invented for people who can't choose between a bike and skateboard. But i know it took me some 20 years to realize how much fun they are and now that i do, there is no way back! I'm hooked. Big time. But better late than never they say.

"Roadway"
Now that if anything sounds like a generic taiwanese brand, which it pretty obviously is. The frame appears to be made of hi-ten steel, no way this is chromoly but that's cool. And looking at the bent down tubes caused by aggressive stylin' there's no doubt about it. I was happily surprised to find out these things have serial numbers and why wouldn't they? Cool. So maybe there is actually a Roadway cousin somewhere out there in the world who knows. The steering angle is laid back to say the least, it's not like uncomfortably laid back but i wouldn't mind having a slightly quicker steering angle, either. The frame and fork have the original paint and original set of decals which is very nice bonus. Some battle scars here and there on the frame & forks and plenty of them in the bottom from curb slides, grinds and whatnot but they kinda add to the street cred character and ofcourse history of this vehicle so they're cool too. Besides, how could you call it the "Curb Master" without some scars huh? I have never heard of "Roadway" before but who cares! Generic doesn't mean it couldn't ROCK! Right?

Ever since i saw the auction photo i thought "that baby needs not only TLC but also some decent parts on it and it needs them bad". So, i have upgraded the scoot with various quality parts like Dia-Compe Tech 6 (128) levers, Tange Spin-Z rotor, ODI Mushroom grips, beat up CW stem and GT pegs, Dia-Compe Bulldog brakes and Dia-Compe Freestyle brake pads to make it more trick looking. I even added the Freestylin' stickers and a handlebar pad for those definitive and era correct stylin' looks. 

When the scoot arrived the first thing i was worried the most were the gumwall tires because i knew they would be victims of merciless dry-rot. At first glance they looked bad. But after some thorough cleaning and polishing with few coats of silicone, they turned out looking "ok" and more importantly, they still function despite those rotten gumwalls. New black wall tires just wouldn't have been the same, wouldn't they? 

The costs on this build were consciously kept at minimum because i wanted to join the club called "i just used some leftover parts i had lying around the house" using spare parts from my all my previous builds and projects. All i needed to purchase new was a fresh set of inner tubes and cables. The scoot alltogehter cost me somewhere around 90 USD with shipping.

Conclusion:
So, this is my first freestyle scooter i have ever owned or ridden and so far it simply kicks ass!! I love it. Forget those folding alloy new school toy scooters with them horrible rollerblade wheels because they're just a waste of time and money and get youself (or you kids) kickin' on a REAL freestyle scooter they can be proud of!! They're out there still, just keep your eyes open.

Thanks for reading.

Parts & Specs:

Fresh updates:

• October 2008: switched to white Dia Compe Tech 6 ("128") levers and moved the blue Odyssey RX-3 levers for upcoming another 14" scooter project. The white Dia Compe levers do have scars but so does the whole scoot so they match perfectly.
  
• Replaced the red Skyway Tuffpads with black Dia Compe freestyle pads for superior (noise & discoloration free) braking performance. 
• Also changed the white dice caps to red ones to maintain the color balance. 
• Added a "Speed Metal" sticker to the bars for the hell of it. Guess it's new school brand of some sort as i have no idea, but it looks cool.
• Last but definitely not least, returned Homer (after a bath) to where he truly belongs :)