# 1989 Kona explosif TBG



## vintageman (Oct 1, 2009)

Got an '89 Kona Expolsif. Pretty much original cond. Fugly paint job and looking to repaint it original black if anyone knows paint code. k seriously. looking to find out which side of the border this was welded up. heard the paint was done in a basement in van. B.C. not sure.

anybody have an mb zip. I've an extra syncros powerlite.


----------



## LARRYJO (Aug 7, 2007)

Did you buy it today?
This is the same that is for sale in Bellingham, WA.
Great bike.


----------



## vintageman (Oct 1, 2009)

Hey thanks. I posted this today on bellingham cl. bike is super cool but too big for me (19.5in) and I'm more comfortable moving it along in favour of another vintage ride my size.


----------



## mechagouki (Nov 30, 2007)

That's a beautiful bike, painting it would be a crime. My size, wish I had the $$$ to take it off you. If you want to sell it on here the correct way to do it is to pay for an MTBR ad, otherwise you might meet with a less than friendly reception. Frame was asian made BTW - as were most all Kona's other that Hot, Ku, Caldera and Hei Hei. IIRC Kona was started by Kona as a way to bring Paul Brodie's designs to market at a more affordable price point by having the frames welded overseas.


----------



## anthonyinhove (Nov 3, 2007)

The bike was welded in Taiwan, and finished and painted by Paul Brodie. At least, I assume he painted it - he painted the regular bikes and it looks as though it's an original custom paint job to a customer's special order. The Tange Prestige Concept sticker looks original, ditto the decals.

Brodie worked as an artist before going to Rocky Mountain as a painter. He learned to weld there and then went off to start his own company as well as working with Joe Murray to establish Kona. I've never tried spatter, but I would guess it isn't as easy as it looks - so if you're going to have spatter, best to have it done by an artist. Your spatter looks similar to Brodie's spatter to me. He may well have been operating from Vancouver, but whether he painted it in a basement I couldn't tell you.

The 1990 Kona catalogue (I know the bike was built in 1989, but I think it's conventional to call it a 1990) was given over 50% to Brodie's own bikes. Note that the Explosif in there isn't black - I've never seen one in the catalogue colour.
http://www.konaretro.com/showarticle.php?path=articles/catalogues/&id=1990

I'm not sure I would agree that it's fugly, perhaps a bit goofy, a bit like some Fats in its colours, but its value lies in its uniqueness. If you're going to sell it, I would sell it with its unique history as its selling point - leave it up to the next owner whether to repaint it. If you want to paint it 'standard', you need somebody to replicate the Brodie finish (see example below) and I don't know who's going to do that for you.

Personally, if I had a choice between your bike and a standard one, I would choose yours every time and pay extra for it too.


----------



## vintageman (Oct 1, 2009)

*Explosif*

Thanks all, for the input. Repaint comment was made with tongue firmly in cheek. I agree that the paint is a nice example of the movement at the time. Only referred to my bike being on cl in response to Larryjo's question. Re. the splatter, yeah, it appears to be distinctly different from the other splatters I've seen. Funny, they did the fade paintjob, then applied the decals, then on went the splatter.


----------



## proto2000 (Jan 27, 2007)

Looks great as is. Nice thing about the paint on your frame is that when it's dirty it's hard to tell.


----------



## yo-Nate-y (Mar 5, 2009)

That's really cool.


----------



## jacdykema (Apr 10, 2006)

Oooh. I REALLY like that. Too big though.


----------

