Iowa Colony Ride

Now able to do some riding through the coastal farmlands in Brazoria County Texas.  Took my 71 Royal Scot.  Was a nice day, a little breezy, but a good day for a ride!

Finished Triumph

Finished up my 71 Triumph.  Torn down and cleaned and greased everything.  New white wall tires, Kool Stop brake pads, shift pulley, fulcrum and bell.  Rides great.  Just need a generator light set.

Triumph

While waiting for new parts to come in, I went ahead and started to tear down the Triumph.  Went over all chrome parts with a wire brush in my Dremel tool, bleached and cleaned the white brake and shift cable housings, dripped oil into the brake and shift cable housing and lubed up.  De-greased and washed up the frame.  The bike was missing the rear reflector, but I had a extra laying around from a parts bike.  Tires and tubes should be here on Tuesday.  Shift fulcrum and pulley tomorrow.  The plastic fulcrum was very brittle and broke into many small pieces.  This is why I like to get the steel fulcrum and pulley and replace them.  Plastic parts after 40+ years just can not be trusted. Aslo got a black brass bell coming.

Tear Down

Replacement Reflector

Gents Triumph

Picked up a 71 Triumph this evening. In pretty decent shape.  Missing the rear reflector on the fender and a rear brake pad (how did that get lost???).  Will be minimal clean up, no heavy deposits.  Will also re-lube everything.  Will get some salmon Kool Stop pads for it.  Later on, the usual stuff: bell, lights, saddle bag, new steel fulcrum and pulley.  Tires are in ok shape, but thinking on some white walls instead of gum walls this time.  Has a Minnesota sticker on it.

Raleigh Sports - Done

Well, I sanded the rack, painted it and placed on the bike, so she is officially complete.  Owner coming tomorrow to pick her up.  Was a fun project, going to miss her!  For those interested, all photos from the rebuild can be seen here:

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/w1xq/sets/72157631814707281/

Finishing Up (Sports)

Got in the shift cable anchorage, installed (made sure I did not strong arm this one) and adjusted shifting.  Shifted perfect the first go around.  My daughter road it around the block and I tightened everything up again.  Was a fun project.  The owner is picking up this weekend.

Made a flag holder for the Royal Scot, used a wooden spool, dowel plug and a o-ring.  Adds a little style, in my opinion!

Well, now I have time to mess around with my 65 Foremost.

Cheers!

Sports Update

Well, got in the shifter parts for the Sports, starting trying to finish it up.  Got it shifting good.  Went through and re-tightened bolts and screws.  When I got to the shifter, I broke the bolt on the cable anchorage!  Ah, should of left it alone!  Will have to order a new  anchorage tomorrow from Harris Cyclery.  Anyway, coming along pretty well!

Shifter Parts

Shifter

Getting there!

Light Set for Royal Scot

Received my generator light set for my Royal Scot.  It is a vintage reproduction set I got off eBay.  Installation was pretty straight forward.  Got the bottle generator lined up against the sidewall ok.  Hooked up the wires and worked very well.  Had fun riding around the neighborhood!!!  I forgot how much drag the bottle generator puts on the wheel, but I am not in a hurry to get anywhere!

Front light and Generator

Rear Light

Bottle Generator

Sports Update

Chrome pitted on rim of rear wheel

Switching out rim

Rear wheel and chain guard

Well, been making some progress toward finishing the Raleigh Sports.  Installed new brake pads, cables, straightened chain guard mounting brackets.  The rear wheel had some major pitting of the chrome.  I had a spare rim so I swapped out the hub and put in spare rim.  Trued wheel, now looks much better.  Have parts coming from Jon (jon@gentlemancyclist.com), steel fulcrum and pulley.  Very nice parts (I have them on the Royal Scot) and makes shifting a little smoother.

Raleigh Sports

I had a nice young lady contact me about a 3 speed she had.  She always wanted one, so on Mothers Day, she purchased a 1971 Raleigh Sports off eBay from someone in Michigan.  She realized the bike needed several new parts and she did a very good job securing what was needed.  She just needed it brought back to life.  So, over the weekend, her and her husband brought me a bike and boxes of parts.  This is what I got:

So I worked on it most of the day Saturday and a little today.  So now this is what it looks like:

This is after going through 2 cans of WD 40, a dozen Dremel wire wheel brushed, several bronze and copper pads, a can of citrus de-greaser, re-packed bearings, new cables and brake pads, chrome polish and the other things I forgot about! Still have a way to go, but am having fun!

Cheers!

Brass Bell

Got my Crane brass bell today, really neat, and looks great too.  Now for those lights!!!!

Odometer

I have had this NOS AMF odometer laying around for awhile on the bench.  I got it off eBay a year ago, think I paid 5 bucks for it, still in its package.  Thought it would be easy to install, pretty simple, right?  I was mistaken!  The clicker striker piece on the spoke would either hit the fork or be too far away to strike the counter wheel, or the counter would strike a spoke.  There are like three adjustments needed to make the thing work.  Got frustrated with it a few nights ago and left it on the bench.  I thought about it some more, and reviewed the very minimal installation instructions.  I figured out that the mounting bracket for the odometer body was shown on the instructions installed backwards, which made everything really close.  I flipped the bracket, used the spacers and got it to work!  I put it on the Royal Scot.  The thing is mostly plastic, so will see how it holds up.

Foremost

Found a Foremost 3 speed on Craigslist.  The guy had it on his farm in north Texas, and has been in his family for awhile. He thought it was from the late 70's/early 80's.  When I check it out, the SA AW hub is stamped 9-65!  The guy was even shocked that it was that old.  It has the twist shifter instead of the trigger shifter.  The previous owner touched up the mudguards and chain guard, and did a good job matching up the color, but how hard is it to match up black! 

Doing a little research, this is a JC Penney brand sold in the stores.  This model was made by Raleigh, as is evident by the sprocket, stem and mudguard shape.  Looks just like a Sport.  Here are a few "before" pics.

Royal Scot Finishing Up

Finished cleaning up the parts on the Scot and put things back together.  Soaked original cables in oil and cleaned up the cable housings.  Cleaned up the clips and adjusted things.  Shifts nice and rides great!  Now just want to add some vintage style lights and a saddlebag.

Managed to take it around the local park trails for around 8 miles. 

Royal Scot-Pieces/Parts

Got some parts in today, so put some time into the Royal Scot this evening.  Had to get the tires from Niagara Cycles as Bike Tires Direct were out of gumwalls.  Get the steel shifter pulley and fulcrum from Jon at Gentleman Cyclist.  Glad I replaced the fulcrum because is just feel to pieces when I loosened the fulcrum clip.  Next in line is a brass bell, canvas saddle bag and vintage light set.

Hercules

Well, found the handle grips I wanted, received yesterday.  All that I need is a fulcrum clip and it will officially be done.  Found some NOS fender clips on eBay, a box of 6 for 6 bucks, so I have some spares.  Put one on the Hercules, now the mudguard stays put!  Holds the shape better too.  Went by a English Pub (kinda) in town, they had a English style phone booth in front, so got some pics.  Have new tires on the way for the Royal Scot.