[iewheels]

Trying to find some info on this bike. It's a 5 speed 20". That's about all I've got.
Thanks

[photosbymark]

Never seen one but I know its old. That type of shifter was banned a very long time ago. Seems boys were crashing and hitting that shifter in a very bad spot. When I was a kid, one of the other neighborhood kids crashed an old 5 speed Schwinn with a shifter like that. After that he didn't particularly like that shifter anymore.

[wild]

It would make a nice pit bike at the drags

[iewheels]

Guess I'm little older than you mark. I'll be 50 in a couple weeks. I had sting rays with the shifter on the bar. 3 and 5 speeds. Never seen or heard of the Vista though. I've had it for 15 years or so, been hanging in my garage.

[worthlees]

Nice bet of bike history there. Now to fill in the blanks. There are answers some where.

[bikebum1975]

Those bikes in general with the shifters like that are pretty rare today. that shifter alone will fetch you a pretty good dollar to a collector. Far as the Vista never heard of it before still cool bike worth a restore for sure at least to me it would be.

[photosbymark]

I'm 52 and the Sting Ray was the bike back in the day. I meant I never saw a Vista. I actually got to watch a neighborhood kid crash a Sting Ray, and got a great laugh seeing him get up and got a first hand look at why that shifter got banned. That kid grew up before he lived down that crash. Don't know if he has kids now though.

[bikebum1975]

@Mark still bikes with those old shifters are cool. Me personally with in the next year or two I'm looking to set up a modern cruiser like those with an engine on it wanna put a suicide shifter like that on mine yeah I'm nuts

[iewheels]

Here's a 68 stingray fast back i picked up the other day. This one i know what it is, and its value. The vista has everyone confused!!

[spmarz]

Had a BMX bike when I was a kid in the 70's-early 80's that was a Vista...model name GTX 99. And a friend of mine down the street had a kid sized drop bar Vista 10 speed.