advise needed on 80s diamond back, presumed race

[dirtydozen]

First and foremost, is it a diamond back? Its stickered up as one but neither frame or forks are stamped.
If it is has anyone any idea what model
It was originally my brothers bike who used to race in the 80s. It was given to me when i was around 14 i think and as i was hoping for something more modern my dad sprayed the rear triangle to 'jazz' it up a bit.
Had totally forgot about it tbh but came across it last night whilst up in the loft. Even had the forks with it which was a total shocker.
I would like to try and get it back to original as best possible. As you can see from the pics its a shiny frame lol ie wasnt originally sprayed(ignore the bit my dad did)
Is it possible to get the same finish it had when new and if so how do i go about it? It does have quite a bit of rust so is gonna need a good rub down, is this done in the same way as if i was simply respraying it a colour?
Whats people opinion on whether its actually worth doing?
And lastly can anyone point me in the right direction to get some stickers made

thanks for reading

 
 







 





 

 

 

[Mattdub]

Cool DB , lovin' the gold decals ( pm'ed you who can help ref these ) . There's a few DB specialists on here , I would've thought there would be a serial somewhere ( quite often rear dropouts or BB or similar ) so get that found and posted  .  #

Have a gander in the Tech & Resto area ref re-chroming  , and enjoy

[stevochb]

Nice db, have a look in the tech and resto for the coke and foil thread for rust removal and also Bobafett has a thread about citric acid for removal of rust.

Good luck with the resto

[dirtydozen]

i had a pretty good look last night and couldnt find anything on the frame
Has anyone ever seen a DB this style? I know for definate it will be from the early 80s and he was a spoilt bugger so my dad woulnt of bought a cheap frame and stickered it up. He was very good apparently

[stevied]

its deffo a diamond back, the serial number should be on the inside of one of the rear dropouts, sparkys the man to talk to or go onto the osdb site for a wealth of info, they will tell you exactly what it is 
http://www.os-db.net/

[dirtydozen]

cheers for that mate much appreciated.
I never doubted for a moment that it wasnt a DB just couldnt understand why the serial numbers werent visible. Will check the drop out again and look harder. My bloody dad probably went over board with regards to layers of paint

[sparky]

The decals are a mixture of Viper (downtube and seatpost) and Silver streak (headstock). The decals were originally silver prismatic foil, the gold effect is caused by the chemical effect over time, aka sun bleach.

Serial will either be on inside of left rear dropout starting 1, or 2 or 3 (Silver Streak or Medium Pro and thickness of rear dropout will determine which one by Koizumi) or underside of bottom bracket starting F (Viper by Akisu-Formosa/Taiwan)

Forks look Robinson to me and I'd deffo say worth a restore but if it's Koizumi frame you might have a long wait for forks.

[dirtydozen]

thanks for that you just lit a lightbulb in my head.
I will have to ask him when he gets back of hols to be sure but kinda think he may have sprayed the fork too.
which funnily enough runs into another find in the loft, an early 80s robinson mini we i have always thought was missing the forks. What size will a mini fork be
here is the robinson, its in a lot better condtion than the DB. Still BB cups too.








With regards to the stickers going gold due to sunlight exposure it must of been carying it on for years up in loft, mad stuff. Its prob been up there 14years

[dirtydozen]

right found it on rear drop out, its tiny. The number is 1L0338 with what looks like a football at the end
not measured the drop out but its small

[dirtydozen]

just been having a quick look through the DBs on bmxmuseum and the best match is this one. Looks like all the models have the same frame design but this ones stickers match perfect
http://bmxmuseum.com/bikes/diamondback/39509

[dirtydozen]

dont if anyone is still reading this still but never mind.  100% agree with the forks being robinson which give me a big ol smile coz would complete the frame i have....BUT.......
Been having a good ol think and i definatly remember us having a robinson pro also, jogged my memory going through the pics on bmx museum as i can clearly picture it, had the connecting bit near the steerer like the DB but it had a big R. 

SO.......

Diamond back frame, im thinking very early MX
Forks are from an early robinson pro
And got a sweet little robinson mini too

[stevied]

the football on the db frame number is a baseball, which means its a koizumi made frame (this is good) and from the number that means its an '81 model
good find mate, are there any parts in that magic loft for it, or are they just frames, get em built up 

[dirtydozen]

not that im aware of but im sure the forks must be up there somewhere. The robinson forks were with the frame but im certain my dad sprayed the forks that i used on the bike to match the rear triangle.

Bit of bad news on the frame unfortunatly, had a go with the coke and foil technique which bloody amazed me if im honest. Problem is that there are quite a few areas where the rust has gone just a little too far and taken away the crome.

So whats the best route to take now with regards to getting it all shiny again and whats the damage gonna be.

With regards to forks, is there any other ones i could use that wouldnt spoil it too much? Then at least it can be built whilst i hold out for proper ones

[sparky]

Diamond back frame, im thinking very early MX

The frame designs might look the same but there are many variations

1L0338 equates to a 1981 manufactured frame, L=Month (December), 0338 is the build number, the baseball type mark is Koizumi's stamp (Japan) which is taken from a chinese character (smallness of the chinese character (Japanese Kanji)

It's either a Silver Streak - Tri-Moly or a Medium Pro - full Cr-Mo (both share the same geometry) and though can be told apart by weight, the other significant difference are the rear dropouts thicknesses, the SS will be approx 3mm, the Medium Pro 2mm

Btw, the MX was only around 1977 to 1978.

[dirtydozen]

with em all bloody looking so similar i went for the MX on bmxmuseum as it had the exact same sticker set to mine. But just been reading it again and he does actually state that he hadnt used the correct sticker set
sorry bout that

[Mattdub]

not that im aware of but im sure the forks must be up there somewhere. The robinson forks were with the frame but im certain my dad sprayed the forks that i used on the bike to match the rear triangle.

Bit of bad news on the frame unfortunatly, had a go with the coke and foil technique which bloody amazed me if im honest. Problem is that there are quite a few areas where the rust has gone just a little too far and taken away the crome.

So whats the best route to take now with regards to getting it all shiny again and whats the damage gonna be.

With regards to forks, is there any other ones i could use that wouldnt spoil it too much? Then at least it can be built whilst i hold out for proper ones

There's a fair bit of info ref chromers in Tech & Resto and Tech & Resto stickies , different peeps have different preferences be it cost or how local a chromer is to where they live ( personally I prefer to take my parts in and speak to chromers face to face to discuss not smoothing welds/over polishing etc etc )  . Hockley ( thread in Tech/Resto ) are quite new to the forum & the work looks pretty good in recent pics in the thread , some idea there of costs also I think .

 

[sparky]

with em all bloody looking so similar i went for the MX on bmxmuseum as it had the exact same sticker set to mine. But just been reading it again and he does actually state that he hadnt used the correct sticker set
sorry bout that

That was a common trait for a lot of manufacturers (even worse today from what I've seen ) and difficult for people who are looking at something thy're unfamiliar with. It's more difficult if the original decals are somewhat a mixmatch (yours look original from what I can see) or have been replaced at some point.

[dirtydozen]

Im pretty certain they will be the original ones.
dont want to take em off coz they are in pretty good condition considering their age(apart from the golding) but looks like its gonna defo need re-chroming so they will have to go.
I have noticed a few of the DBs of this age on bmxmuseum are coloured, have these been restored like this by owners choice or were some available coloured.

[sparky]

I have noticed a few of the DBs of this age on bmxmuseum are coloured, have these been restored like this by owners choice or were some available coloured.

Are you refering to the decals or the frame?

[In2 bmx]

They look like Robinson forks  . I have some very nice DB forks . Good chrome and rare so I believe . Shall I send a photo .

[MartyC]

They look like Robinson forks  . I have some very nice DB forks . Good chrome and rare so I believe . Shall I send a photo .

+1 Forks in the first pic are Robinson, the wide arc of the bend at the top of the legs and the shape of the dropouts are the giveaway, but In2BMX will be able to qualify that better as he has an amazing collection of Robinsons 

Cool finds by the way, always nice to find stuff at home from bitd 

[dirtydozen]

I have noticed a few of the DBs of this age on bmxmuseum are coloured, have these been restored like this by owners choice or were some available coloured.

Are you refering to the decals or the frame?

yeah was meaning the frame mate

[dirtydozen]

They look like Robinson forks  . I have some very nice DB forks . Good chrome and rare so I believe . Shall I send a photo .

Yeah pics and more details please

[dirtydozen]

They look like Robinson forks  . I have some very nice DB forks . Good chrome and rare so I believe . Shall I send a photo .

+1 Forks in the first pic are Robinson, the wide arc of the bend at the top of the legs and the shape of the dropouts are the giveaway, but In2BMX will be able to qualify that better as he has an amazing collection of Robinsons 

Cool finds by the way, always nice to find stuff at home from bitd 

Yeah they defo robinson, unsure of year but they will be off the pro my brother hadd

[In2 bmx]

A mini robbo  have you got the forks for that? . They are deffo robbo forks in the first photo.     I have some DB forks I found on a robbo.    .with a double dropout . I was gonna ask one of the DB dudes what they are and off  then put them up for sale .  I'll send photos in this thread when im home .  my phones gonna die .