[Larry87]

1996 Hei Hei King Kahuna. Just polished up the frame for a new build, thinking a Magura durin fork and Marta SL brakes this time.

 

[Larry87]

couple more photos - check out the disc mount I had put on....

 

[rekibtm]

keep us posted on it's progress

 

[caspar]

Nice .....

Who did the disk mount ?
Have a 97 KK myself and would like to have diskmounts put on it.
Cheers

 

[Larry87]

Toby's Cycle Works here in Vancouver, BC. I've have some buddies that did the same at Dekerf too. Took the frame home and bolted on my disc brakes and off I went, no shims, perfect work.

 

[top_ring]

Nice. I noticed you've got 6/4 Ti stays on that baby. It's all in the serial #. Was 96 the only year for this frame build with 6/4? I have a 97 KK - no 6/4 on mine. Actually, are you certain it's a 96? The seat tube is not extended as much past the top tube, indicating that it may be a 95.

If I'm not mistaken the only 6/4 on the regular built KK's were the head tube, BB and drop outs. You lucky son of a gun.

How does the back end respond with 6/4 on the trails?

Don't you just love titanium for welding extra bits on. No paint stripping.

 

[Larry87]

I've had this bike since new, and yes - 6/4 titanium - seamless drawn 6/4 titanium for the seat and chain stays. The bike is a 20 inch so may be deceiving on how much the seat tube extends. I actually had it painted at one point, chartreuse green off the head tube to match the Marzocchi Atom bomb fork..... The frame has been built up and torn down about 6 times now. I'm a bigger guy so having the stiffer rear end made for better shifting - or no ghost shifting due to flex. Never sell your ti bike, buff and polish in December for another build...

 

[Brewtality]

Nice. I noticed you've got 6/4 Ti stays on that baby. It's all in the serial #. Was 96 the only year for this frame build with 6/4? .

How can you tell the stays are 6/4? I don't see a serial number in any of the pics.
What kind of difference would they give to the bike? And what material would be used instead of 6/4?

 

[top_ring]

How can you tell the stays are 6/4? I don't see a serial number in any of the pics.
What kind of difference would they give to the bike? And what material would be used instead of 6/4?

Second pic, under the (Made in USA) 64 appears at the end of the serial #. This tells you that the stays are 6/4 Ti. The KK's that don't have 6/4 are using 3/2.5 Ti, which is what the other tubes are. 6/4 is a harder mix of metals creating a firmer ride.

Hey - Larry87. Is that tube set ovalized? It's hard to tell by the pix. I also noticed there is no gusseting at the head tube on yours. When did Kona start adding the gussets? How about a rigid Ti fork for your build? Mucho dinero!

 

[Larry87]

It was 1997 that Kona changed the Hei Hei King Kahuna to an ovalized downtube. As for the Kona P2 Titanium fork, I had tried one but it wasn't suspension specific and was too short. Made for a very light bike! Any suggestions on where I can find a Suspension specific Ti fork (that era we all ran 80mm forks) Not sure on when the gussets showed up - I think in early 2000 they made a titanium bike that was more freeride instead of XC.


As for rsquared28 question - the Hei Hei used standard 3-2.5 mix (3% Aluminum and 2.5% Vanadium / Titanium blend). This makes the titanium much stronger that pure titanium and 6-4 does this a bit more more. Having riden both back in the day, I went with the King.

 

[top_ring]

Any suggestions on where I can find a Suspension specific Ti fork

Check blacksheepbikes.com. James is an artist when it comes to welding Ti. Custom built unicrowns to your own specs. I had one made for mine two years ago. Cheaper then a Kona P2 Ti on ebay.