One of my fondest memories as a 5 or 6 year old child was riding my Green Machine around the block. My older brother and I shared the Green Machine and a Big Wheel. After riding a Green Machine, it was pure torture being relegated to the Big Wheel.
Back in the day, I was a shy kid. At age 5, I was still learning to speak English and adapting to American culture after immigrating from Vietnam. However, once on my Green Machine, I was transformed into the coolest kid in the neighborhood, at least in my mind.
My hood consisted of a square block around Bridge and Third Street in sleepy New Cumberland, PA. Nonetheless, I patrolled that block like no other on my Green Machine. I pretended to be a police officer or a fireman from the TV shows of my youth, namely S.W.A.T. and Emergency! I spent endless hours power sliding around the block and enjoyed every minute on that green tricycle.
I loved my Green Machine because it was the coolest toy in my hood and it was also my first mode of transportation that allowed me to explore the world. The world at the time was a square block, but grew bigger over time with my first BMX bike, a 10 speed in junior high, a mountain bike during college and road bikes in my 30s. You can attribute my love for cycling and desire to explore the world to that Green Machine.
Much to my surprise the Green Machine was re-introduced by Huffy in 2003 and updated again this year. The 2006 Huffy Green Machine “is designed and engineered for today’s kids. The new version of this old favorite is high tech, durable and cool.”
That’s one bad-ass tricycle! The new version has a steel frame, 20” rubber front tire and a hand brake. Check out the product details and an interactive tour at Huffybikes.com. If memory serves me right, my Green Machine was retired due to holes in the front plastic wheel. The only way to stop the original Green Machine was using your feet or stopping the pedal motion and sliding on your front wheel. Kids these days are spoiled with all this great technology.
The best feature of the 2006 Green Machine is its maximum weight capacity of 180 lbs. Today’s kids are either extremely large or Huffy knows parents may want to re-live their Green Machine experience every once in awhile. I certainly hope it’s the latter. I wonder if one could put clipless pedals on the new Green Machine?!?
I can’t remember whether my parents or my American grandparents (the lovely folks who sponsored my family when we arrived in the States) gave the Green Machine to my brother and me. Whoever it was, I want to thank you again for the best toy of my childhood!
And to you, my Green Machine, I’m not sure what became of you. For all the joy and happiness you brought to my life, I thank you. I will always remember the awesome spin-outs you allowed me to perform. In the end, I hope you were recycled into another cool toy and provided more joy to another shy kid ready to explore the world.
Posted by: Chuck
Posted in Toys, Kids and Family
Tags christmas, cool, favorite, gift, greenmachine, kids, toy, tricycle
I only had a big wheel and always wondered how much fun my childhood would have been had I owned one of these. No doubt, I was also a victim of the front-wheel hole, which was eventually ground into a huge divot.
We should create an adult sized version, motorized of course. This would be the sweetest ride, but of course the ride would be pretty bumpy. I’d put up with it, just to do powerslides in my local parking lots all day and night!
I had a Green Machine when i was a kid and man let me tell you it was the BEST toy I had ever owned!! There was someting about having one that set you appart from other kids.. and how many times you got asked” Can I try your Green machine” and the answer was always NO! No only was it a mode of transportation but I remember you could just sit on it outside and pretend you where a Backhoe opperator with the two long levers on the front!! Thanks old Green machine I miss you and will never forget you buddy!
My child has a green machine and im worried about getting holes in the back wheels… wil duck tape work to prevent them?
hi my friend has one
I don’t know about duck tape… that would wear pretty fast on pavement/concrete. What I was thinking of doing was cutting up some old bike tires and gorilla gluing them to the plastic wheels. I think that would hold up nicely.
I’d like to know if the green machine is stilll in marcket
Regards
Manny, I’m not sure what you are asking. Is it still available? Yes, you can still purchase it. Here’s a retailer listing from the Huffy website. And merchant listings on Sprenzy.
I had a big wheel when i was a kid, the powerslides were incredible!!! My front tire was the one that got the holes, by the time they got bad enough I couldnt ride it I was too big to get another, saddest day of my life no question.
I had a green machine when I was kid and it was the BEST! The Big Wheel kids were envious. I had a gravel, downhill driveway-it was the best for powerslides! The front wheel wore down so there were no traction grooves left at all-I screwed an old v-belt down to the front wheel for traction. It worked great until the front wheel finally split in two. :(
The Machine is long gone, but I recently found the box it came in-it was in perfect condition. The retail price on it…$24.87. I think I got about an hour’s worth of use for every penny spent on it.
Nice Blog-THE GREEN MACHINE RULES!
enjoying the pass, what a blast ! if you were one of the lucky ones to have a green machine then you were apart of history.they don”t make such a wonderful device like that anymore,it wasnt a toy it was a far out adventure ,to cruise around the streets and give the thumbs up at all the passing kids on there 2wheel bikes,they were the outcast,and now we owend the sidewalks of america! imagine if they made and adult size version,with the coast of gas today i would sell my car and ride one to work.good times-thanks for all the wonderful memories………..
Sliding on the front wheel to stop was one way, and ok, but it by no means compared to power spins to stop the Green Machine.
I had a nice long hill with a right-hand curve on my street. The only bad thing about that was that eventually my Green Machine leaned to the right.
I still consider it one of the best gifts I ever received.
my shit was d bomb!!!
my s h i t was d bomb!!!!!!
My adult sized Green Machine- http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2006/02/diygreenmachine.html
cut/paste
i couldnt fnd a photo of a green machine for forever. i am 40 yrs old. and when i was a little girl i was the bomb on my green machine. everyone else had inchworms or big wheels or skateboards. well, i had an awesome thin blue skate board too, but anyway, i was the only kid on the block, no the whole neighborhood wit a BRAND NEW green machine. and a GIRL! thanks green machine for all the memories.wish they still made you exactly like you used to look.
I miss my green machine, even though I managed to break my arm riding it down a hill when I was 8 or 9.
The absolute greatest toy I ever had. I loved my green machine. It rode great down the curvy westen new England hills where I grew up. It was probably not the safest toy but it was a hell of a lot of fun! I bought one for my son for his birthday
The Green Machine was pretty cool. Two kids down the street had one. The best part was the way it could spin out. Most kids has a Big Wheel, which was much slower and less fun. I had a Cheetah, which was a very fast but short-lived toy. You can check out the Cheetah at “http://cheetahridingtoy.blogspot.com”. It’s great the Green Machine is still around.
the green machine was pretty cool.i will buy it can you contact me
e-mail:sales2006@vip.sina.com
hotmail:ykhgm@msn.com thanks
What would a old green machine be worth? Also does anyone know were you could find a old green machine? I found my old green machine the other day in bad shape but still fixable…
I loved my green machine. Spent thousands of hours on it. Mom had to buy a new front wheel because I wore it out (twice). It was the coolest machine on the block…way better than the big wheels. My best friend liked mine so much, his parents bought him a “Blue Max” which was a blue green machine pretender!
Thanks for bringing back these memories. I googled green machine because my daughter is getting to be green machine sized. The huffy model will do the trick.
We haven’t had any of the original green machines sold here in New Zealand for years. What’s the reason for that?
Didn’t Australia make these Green Machines? If so, how come other countries have them and not us?
I was just reminiscing with my wife about Big Wheels and then I remembered being the lucky kid to get a Green Machine. My wife is from Italy and has no idea of what fun I had. While explaining it so many memories of sliding, going down hills, and believing I was the coolest kid around came back to me
I googled’ it to show it to my wife. Wow how the memories started flowing. Thanks for making this page. I’ve had a smile on my face for about an hour now thinking about it. By the way I am 42yrs old and will never forget those days!!!
Thanks agin!!
green machine best bike ever.
that bike was awsome. it is way better anything else.
again best thing ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!@awsome.com
We had the Green Machine in Australia as well. I remember the ads for it on TV. I never had one, but there was one guy in my class who always had the latest toy, and the Green Machine was one of them. Interesting that Huffy brought it back in 2006.
This was hands down the best toy I’ve ever had in my life!…I’m 35yrs old and when I was a kid in Toronto no other kid in my neighbourhood had one….I would definitely buy the original if anyone had one available….it’s funny what you remember the most when you’re young…I wish I had a picture of it…..thanks for bringing back great memories my Green Machine Brothers!
oh man these were sweet. my bro had a blue max and id love to get one for his 35th birthday … oh the memories… emergency rooms, the BIG HILLS the rushing traffic…. my parents worst nightmare but the funnest hot rod around for an 8 year old. hook me up and I’ll send you some Pop-Rocks …thanks
I miss my Green Machine Sooooo much D:
If I could relive a point in my life, it would be screaming down the street, kicking that right peddle foward, and cranking the levers so I spun around at least twice. I actually wore the back wheels out. The front wheel did have a flat spot though :D
I miss my metal Tron ripcord bike too. /me weeps
Here is an adult sized Green Machine that will do 70mph down the right mountain pass…the model in the photo isn’t green, but if you ask nicely I’m sure they’ll paint one that colour for you.
cheers,
Thanks for the memories. I loved my Green Machine, but along with the good memories comes the bad one–Some nut or washer or something came off of mine, rendering it undriveable. I think it was some linkage on the steering or something like that. My dad never got around to fixing it for me and thus, my Green Machine glory days were over.
