# Fisher Grateful Dead bike



## First Flight (Jan 25, 2004)

On to the MOMBAT Fisher page! I never really cared for these bikes but it is probably the one that we get the most inquiries about. I still have the original box for this one and only took it out a couple of years ago. I suppose it should have been left in the box but I'd rather look at the bike than a big old slab of cardboard?

















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More details and pictures @ https://mombat.org/1995_Fisher_Dead.htm


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## Boy named SSue (Jan 7, 2004)

Now if you had one of the Red Rocker bikes made by Fisher for Sammy Hagar, that would be something. Not much but something.

I think I'ld prefer to look at a box than this one though.


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## FairfaxPat (Jan 29, 2008)

*Fisher Greatful Dead bike*

The funny thing about the Greatful Dead bike and the Red Rocker is they were ordinary Hoo Koo E Koos with different graphics. The Greatful Dead bike is wrapped in plastic graphics designed by Prairie Prince, former TUBES drummer. The Red Rocker was painted COMPLETELY red and sold only at Sammy Hagars bike shop in Sausalito-now called Mike's Bikes at Gate 6 road in Sausalito. I was chatting with Gary Fisher about these two bikes a couple of days ago and he said they sold less than a thousand of the G.D. bikes and around 3-4 hundred Red Rockers.


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## RickD. (Apr 7, 2004)

FairfaxPat said:


> The funny thing about the Greatful Dead bike and the Red Rocker is they were ordinary Hoo Koo E Koos with different graphics. The Greatful Dead bike is wrapped in plastic graphics designed by Prairie Prince, former TUBES drummer. The Red Rocker was painted COMPLETELY red and sold only at Sammy Hagars bike shop in Sausalito-now called Mike's Bikes at Gate 6 road in Sausalito. I was chatting with Gary Fisher about these two bikes a couple of days ago and he said they sold less than a thousand of the G.D. bikes and around 3-4 hundred Red Rockers.


When we sold the GD bikes new, our rep told us the stickers used a six stage silkscreening process, as opposed to a four stage process for the normal stickers. He said that contributed in part to the increase in price over a regular HKEK as well.


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## Eastcoaster (Feb 13, 2004)

*The G.D. models were nice and all but...*

Heck, I still wish that I'd never sold my plain, gray Hoo-Koo-E-Koo.....
I miss that bike. My first "real" mountainbike. :-(
Hindsight's always 20/20....


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## biss-ness (Aug 13, 2004)

*Decals*

Does anyone have a set of the decals for the Dead-Fisher bike? I have the down tube GD bones and looking for the rest of the set . Thanks


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## truth-rider (Oct 18, 2009)

*Gary Fisher Grateful Dead bike & accessories*

I also picked u a Grateful Dead HKEK back in the day. These bikes were part of the 1995 line-up and were out before Garcia's death. Personally, I though they were a cool looking bike and the shop I bought it at gave me a good deal on it since I was buying a Fisher Cronus at the same time. My bike is still in the original box and has never been assembled.

It was in the 1995 catalog and dealers also advertised it with a poster from Fisher that showed the bone art but it was different than what was on the bike. Fisher actually made a few accessories that went along with the Dead bike but they weren't stocked in too many shops here in northern NJ. They made really cool tee shirts with the coghead logo on the front bone art on the back that mirrored the bike's down turn and a subtle "Gary Fisher" on the sleeve. They also made two sizes of the water bottles for these bikes with the coghead logo. I have all of the accessories as well. I't's been a while since I've even looked at the bike (a.k.a. box). I can take pix and post them if anybody wants.

I also have a Fisher Klunker in the box too that a shop gave me a decent deal on so I had to take it. I was a Fisher guy way back when but have since switched over to Ellsworths. I still do ride my Cronus because it hanldes grear and I love the feel of riding a steel bike.


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## mechagouki (Nov 30, 2007)

truth-rider said:


> I also picked u a Grateful Dead HKEK back in the day. These bikes were part of the 1995 line-up and were out before Garcia's death. Personally, I though they were a cool looking bike and the shop I bought it at gave me a good deal on it since I was buying a Fisher Cronus at the same time. My bike is still in the original box and has never been assembled.


Dude! see if you can carefully peel off the decals and then stick them on a nice old chrome plated bike from the mid 1980s - that would be RAD!


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## sandmangts (Feb 16, 2004)

mechagouki said:


> Dude! see if you can carefully peel off the decals and then stick them on a nice old chrome plated bike from the mid 1980s - that would be RAD!


 I was waiting for that.


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## Everest30 (Feb 14, 2010)

I still have one and use it !!!!

Only slight damaged to the decals where the previous owner allowed the bars to rub the top tube.


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## Repack Rider (Oct 22, 2005)

Coulda sold a lot of them in the parking lot before the show.


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## IF52 (Jan 10, 2004)

Repack Rider said:


> Coulda sold a lot of them in the parking lot before the show.


How many cheese sandwiches would they have cost?


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## jeff (Jan 13, 2004)

IF52 said:


> How many cheese sandwiches would they have cost?


Two cheese sandwiches, one Godzilla burrito, a sixer of China Cola, one cracked glass pipe, a very used tie-dye, a beat Mad Hatters hat, a touch of Humboldt love, a dozen doses and a ride to the next shows.


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## mechagouki (Nov 30, 2007)

jeff said:


> Two cheese sandwiches, one Godzilla burrito, a sixer of China Cola, one cracked glass pipe, a very used tie-dye, a beat Mad Hatters hat, a touch of Humboldt love, a dozen doses and a ride to the next shows.




I saw the 'Dead in Buffalo in 1993, that was a crazy, crazy day.


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## rockhound (Dec 19, 2005)

My Hoo Koo E Koo was originally dark blue with purple "Gary Fisher" decals.

Was that the same year as the First Flight bike or not?


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## sfpt (Jul 24, 2007)

I picked up a Red Rocker on Craigslist last week. Looks to be stock other than the tractor seat the woman I bought it from had on it - I replaced that with something less absurd I had laying around.


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## bushpig (Nov 26, 2005)

Sammy.


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## rudymexico (Aug 14, 2010)

First time I see a red Rocker.
Can't ride 55


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## crconsulting (Apr 11, 2004)

sfpt said:


> I picked up a Red Rocker


I red it all in black and white......


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## Vlad (Feb 7, 2004)

The Grateful Dead bike is hard to forgive.


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## 92gli (Sep 28, 2006)

Vlad said:


> The Grateful Dead bike is hard to forgive.


Not really. Gary knew them and was deeply involved in the san fran music scene in the late 60's.


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## Repack Rider (Oct 22, 2005)

92gli said:


> Not really. Gary knew them and was deeply involved in the san fran music scene in the late 60's.


In 1971 I was a rock band roadie going out with a Deadhead girl who said she knew a guy just like me, a hippie rocker bike fanatic who hung out with The Dead, and if we ever met, we would be friends instantly. One day I was riding my bike and I spotted what could only have been her friend riding with another guy, so I introduced myself.

Fifteen minutes later we were in the third floor conference room at the Grateful Dead HQ on Lincoln Avenue, smoking fatties and checking out cover art for the album Gary's friend Marmaduke had just recorded with Jerry Garcia, called "New Riders of the Purple Sage."

Then we all went for a bike ride, and Gary's friend was right. For the next 12 years we were joined at the hip(pie).

In 1992 I rode with Gary and Bob Weir to the top of Mount Tamalpais in the middle of the night, and taped the ensuing conversation for an article I sold to Dirt Rag.


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## wv_bob (Sep 12, 2005)

Vlad said:


> The Grateful Dead bike is hard to forgive.


There's a wheelset on e-bay, listed as built by Wavy Gravy, that would really set it off though.


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## bikesgonewild (Aug 19, 2011)

...non sequitur...i was the one who designed the toeclips pictured on that grateful dead bike back when i worked for gary 'what's his name'...


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## jacman (Jan 20, 2011)

Re: OP

Coolest. Bike. EVAR.


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## First Flight (Jan 25, 2004)

Bike that inspired the production model:


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## adroit 96' (Sep 16, 2011)

yeah I remember a guy comming into a shop I frequented, he had ordered a G.D. bike and was complaining because the graphics were decals and not painted! I started laughing and asked him if he really thought the graphics would be paint at that price point lol


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## DeeEight (Jan 13, 2004)

Just had one dropped off to me this afternoon, fortunetly it belonged to a product/brands rep and he finished the frame with PROPER parts... not the crap Gary Fisher spec'ed them with. White Ind LMDS shifters/derailleurs & 10th anniversary syncros build kit among other highlights.


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## rismtb (Dec 11, 2012)

I may be opening a can of worms here but it is related to the Grateful Dead era. Not to sure why everyone has gotten the "peace sign" wrong after all these years. That being upside down.The true peace sign the "V" was meant to point up which corresponds to the hand jester. Only a few orig hippies at the beginning of the peace/free love movement understand how misrepresented it has been over the years.
The reported origin of the symbol has been clearly documented in letters, interviews, and the original sketches of the symbol, which are now displayed in the Peace Museum in Bradford, U.K. However, there have been a variety of claims that the symbol has Communist, occult or anti-Christian meanings and derivations. The controversy is fully understood when one examines the historical use of the same signal. The downward V has been linked to the mystic character for "Aum," a sacred word to the Hindu. Saying "Aum" over and over supposedly awakens the power of Brahma at the base of the spine. Germanic tribes that used it claimed the sign, or "rune," to have eerie, mystical properties. It is said that it was used by sorcerers in pagan ceremonies. The Saracens in A.D. 711 used this symbol to alternately represent a broken cross, a raven's claw, or a witch's foot, all presumably satanic symbols. Under the reign of Roman Emperor Nero, infamous for his brutal persecution of Christians and Jews, this symbol was prominently used to represent a broken cross or broken Jew. Nero crucified the Apostle Peter upside down, and the horrific event resembled the downward-pointing fork. It was thereafter called the Neronic cross. With the Third Reich steeped in the occult, Hitler's 3rd Panzer Division used this same symbol from 1941 to 1945. The symbol in Germany is called a todesrune or death rune. It often appeared on death notices. It is also found on some of the tombstones of the notorious SS soldiers. For Bertrand Russell, a supporter of communism, the symbol meant not only communism but also peace without God. Anton LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan, used the downward-pointing fork as the background for his altar. The Book of Signs, written by Rudolph Koch, indicates that the downward-pointing fork means "the death of man," and, with the circle around it meaning "total," the entire symbol means "the total death of all people."

Holtom never professed to have any knowledge of any historical use of this symbol. However, it is certain that Bertrand Russell was well aware of the satanic and anti-Christian roots of the symbol. He chose it accordingly. It is possible that Holtom learned of the symbol's dubious past at some point, prompting his desire to convert the symbol to an upward-pointing V. The underlying meaning of the circle with the downward pointing fork, "the total death of man," certainly is contrary to what the peace movement wanted in its anti-nuclear stance.

Read more: What is the origin of the peace sign?


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