Only dead fish swim with the stream

www.spikehopkins.co.uk

Surf Flyer

Surf Flyer.

A kid in the UK in 1977 into skateboarding probably had one of these, it’s a Surf Flyer. Mass produced and the most readily available skateboard available in the UK at that time. Pretty much a copy of the Warwick Bullet from the 60’s and were made by an enterprising chap from Solihull named Derek Morris.

Mr Morris either had great foresight or was just lucky with his timing as these were everywhere when the craze hit hard. Made with blue, green and red graphics, some had a rear brake of sorts. They had rubber wheels, loose noisey bearings and primitive pressed steel trucks. The deck was just a piece of Birch plywood but it was tough. It wouldn’t break if your dad jumped on it. That was one of recommended parental checks of the time prior to purchase. To top it all off they were slow, didn’t turn and were generally derided but loved all at the same time. Despite all that they gave many kids their first taste of the world of skateboarding. It was for some the first step into a bigger world.

There was even a picture of “Mad” Mark Baker doing a frontside air in the pool at Brighton Barn skatepark on one. God knows how but he deserved that nickname. I got this example from EBay about 10 years ago for the princely sum of £15. The rubber wheels are still shiny and never rolled on and the deck still has the gummed on Morris Vulcan paper sticker. It’s a bit dusty from storage but apart from that it’s perfect. I never had one of these back in the day, my first board was a blue fibreglass Skuda. I do have one now though.

Reborn

As an update I have made my own updated version here.

 

 

2 Replies to “Surf Flyer”

  • I have a red one, l bought it to relive the happy days/memories of the late 70, s back then l rode one of these until it dropped to bits, these day l ride long boards, cruisers and penny;s, how l did not kill myself in the summer of 78 l do not know, nearly lost my fingers too one day as l borrowed my dads Stanley knife to refashion the block bushes on the board, the bloody thing still would not carve

    • I took a few rides on Flyers belonging to other people back then and that was enough to make me return to my Skuda. Still, they gave many an introduction to skateboarding so I still have a soft spot for them.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *