Author Topic: Cruiser restoration (Read 1651 times)

mudman · « **on:** January 02, 2009, 07:53 PM »

This is my 1979 26" cruiser that I bought in Bournemouth way back when the earth was flat, say '82 or '83. I never managed to race it but rode it all the time; Pinner, Hayes & Hounslow on dirt, Harrow & Rom skateparks for concrete thrills.

I stopped using it when the forks got tweaked and the headtube made a bid for freedom. Jeff Bonwick tried to weld it up but burnt a hole through the headtube instead.

The bike sat behind a shed until 2000 when it was allowed back inside. I started to think about restoration when I saw a pair of red Comp 3s on ebay and, after buying them, I slowly assembled the rest of the bits.

This year I finally decided to go for broke and had the frame repaired at the headtube ready for powder coating. However, when I stripped the frame with Nitromors, I found that the seat post tube had become perforated, as I had never removed the seat post, and steel/alloy corrosion had occured. Once a new seat tube had been welded in it was off to the powder coaters.

The bike was yellow/red before so I went the same route and tried to reuse as many original parts as possible so they are:

Frame
Rims
Freewheel
Crank & BB
Stem
Brake caliper & blocks
Seat & post

Everything else is NOS bar the bars. The wheels were laced onto NOS gold Suzy hubs as the originals were faded but nothing else was "upgraded" ,hence the one-piece crank.

The end result is superb and almost exactly as I used to ride it. Although the parts picture shows a gold snowflake chainring, the bike used to have red sugino 4 spoke as in the complete pictures. This was bent 90 degrees on a railway sleeper and couldn't be used but a NOS replacement saved the day.

There have been 2 changes since these photos. The bars have been replaced with SS Johnny Chopper bars, that are of a Kos cruiser design, and a Shimano pre-bent lever to replace the wholly inappropriate Tech 2.

All it needs now are stickers, and that will be the hard part.

bmxbob · « **Reply #1 on:** January 02, 2009, 08:00 PM »

Sweet as , mate

Bigplinky · « **Reply #2 on:** January 02, 2009, 08:00 PM »

Awesome story and congratulations on a great looking restoration

crazycraig · « **Reply #3 on:** January 02, 2009, 08:06 PM »

Awsome restore

Gashead · « **Reply #4 on:** January 02, 2009, 08:09 PM »

Stunning mate

Jonnyboy bmx · « **Reply #5 on:** January 02, 2009, 08:23 PM »

That's a great looking bike & a great story to go with it .........Top job

daz bmx it! · « **Reply #6 on:** January 02, 2009, 08:58 PM »

Sweet as a Nut!

munners · « **Reply #7 on:** January 02, 2009, 09:09 PM »

:4_17_5:Top job mate.

magna13 · « **Reply #8 on:** January 02, 2009, 10:45 PM »

Dennis Dain · « **Reply #9 on:** January 02, 2009, 11:09 PM »

I love 26" cruisers! Mine are Schwinns from the 30s and 50s. One of mine was even yellow at one point.

That one is sweet! Great job on the repair and a great job overall.

Is the frame made in the the UK?

kdubbmx · « **Reply #10 on:** January 03, 2009, 12:52 AM »

I remember you riding this bike around 82/83, it stood out big time, seem to remember you pushing a big big gear on it too!!

Brandy Truffle · « **Reply #11 on:** January 03, 2009, 04:10 AM »

Stories/Photos/End Results like this are the reason I got back into my bikes.

Awesome, bet you are well chuffed with that. I would be.

priv · « **Reply #12 on:** January 03, 2009, 06:30 AM »

great story and build,we haven't had a lot of stories behind builds for a while{i don't think}

MartyC · « **Reply #13 on:** January 03, 2009, 10:34 AM »

Mudman

That's come back to life really well, I remember the bike but can't put a name or a face to you. I used to ride a lot with Geoff Bonwick and the Ruislip crowd, was one of the first Hawks members too. I used to ride with Lee Shurey, David Landy, Warren King and a few others as well as all the Hayes mob.

Marty

sawzall · « **Reply #14 on:** January 03, 2009, 01:55 PM »

sweet looking resto

dan-dare · « **Reply #15 on:** January 03, 2009, 02:54 PM »

Brilliant!

mudman · « **Reply #16 on:** January 03, 2009, 06:30 PM »

Dennis, the frame is from the US and, after trawling through the net, would appear to be an S&S Products Newport. This is one I found on BMX museum and is identical: http://bmxmuseum.com/bikes/sands/12812

Marty,
It was Geoff that burnt the hole in the headtube and relegated the frame to scrap. I wonder if he has improved his welding skills, I wouldn't like to have a go in one of his Ferraris if he hasn't... Like you I was an early Hawks member and rode 20" most of the time, the cruiser was a sabbatical. I must have met you as our two riding groups, me with Paul Roberts, Ian Ruby, Craig Morris et al, would have met up a lot at Hayes. Good times.

Your responses have all been so positive, thanks, it makes the effort worthwhile. I will try to get it to a show and shine if I can this year.

26" cruisers were so rare that I wasn't sure if many people would be interested but I guess that BMX is BMX whatever size rims you ride.

Dennis Dain · « **Reply #17 on:** January 03, 2009, 07:42 PM »

26ers are very respected over here. I think a lot of collectors and just the rest of us 'old school' riders have at least 1 26" bike.
Here are a couple of shots of my 2nd cruiser that I built up this last year. The concept was to make it look like my 07 Redline 24" cruiser. I am very pleased with the result.

MartyC · « **Reply #18 on:** January 04, 2009, 02:28 AM »

Quote from: mudman on January 03, 2009, 06:30 PM

Marty,
It was Geoff that burnt the hole in the headtube and relegated the frame to scrap. I wonder if he has improved his welding skills, I wouldn't like to have a go in one of his Ferraris if he hasn't... Like you I was an early Hawks member and rode 20" most of the time, the cruiser was a sabbatical. I must have met you as our two riding groups, me with Paul Roberts, Ian Ruby, Craig Morris et al, would have met up a lot at Hayes. Good times.

Ha Ha, I rode with all of those guys bitd and was always tearing it up at Hayden Hall, Pinner. There was a mark about 8ft up on the tree by the left of the main jump (approached from the cricket pitch) that I left once when I hit it

. Geoff now specialises in importing Mazda MX5 parts, I guess his welding must have improved when he went onto building that baja bug he had

.

Mattdub · « **Reply #19 on:** January 05, 2009, 10:20 AM »

Very cool resto

woody allen bars · « **Reply #20 on:** January 13, 2009, 12:55 PM »

Excellent

Can't beat restoring a bike you had from back in the day, especially something as rare and unusual.

The end result is really clean too, props to you for taking your time to get it right.

~ Craig

James Nada · « **Reply #21 on:** January 13, 2009, 07:34 PM »

A lovely resto.

Author Topic: Cruiser restoration (Read 1651 times)

mudman

bmxbob

Jonnyboy bmx

daz bmx it!

munners

magna13

Dennis Dain

kdubbmx

dan-dare

mudman

Dennis Dain

woody allen bars