Sunday, May 17, 2009

Magenta SEKINE

This SEKINE had been hanging around the shop too long. It was filthy and had no saddle. The 27 x 1 1/4 tires looked old and had begun to harden and crack. It also had white (also filthy) adhesive cloth handlebar tape. The surface rust was not too bad. The rear wheel had a wobble and a broken spoke. The shift cables had rusted badly. And the rear derailleur and free-wheel and chain and crank and front derailleur were all coated in a thick coat of oil and dirt mixture. The dirty white cable housings were cracked badly. And one of the inner-tubes was deformed and patched and the other was like new. And you know the broken spoke was on the drive side! So I had to remove the free-wheel "for which I did not have the correct removal tool". So off to Cycle-Therapy in Waterford again. (Thanks James). The up-side of removing the freewheel was it made it easy for me to clean-up the stenciled pie-plate. I used a full can (12oz) of White-Lightning Clean Streak on the drive stuff and derailleurs. The wheels trued up pretty good. Getting all the adhesive residue off the SAKE "Road-Champion" handlebars was a real treat. First I used Mother"s Mag and Aluminum Polish. Then I got the remaining traces of adhesive off using Goo Gone. Also did the stem and brakes with Mothers as well.(and all the remaining Aluminum Alloy). I love Gum-walls (tires) but I have found that the younger generation does not share my love for them. So lately I have been going with "some" black-walls. Although I have not yet embraced the idea. Anyway, it took me a while to figure out how I wanted this Magenta masterpiece to look when finished. At first I was lost thinking "Who`s gonna want a Magenta colored road bike"? (notice how I avoid even calling it pink) lol. Well, to hell with that. Instead of trying to make a magenta bike look manly. I will embrace it`s "Magentaness" (new word) and maybe a tall woman or some guy "in-touch with his feminine side" will buy it. So I went with the White Saddle and Handlebar cork Tape. And even some almost magenta cable covers I removed for my Lotus when I was manning it up. (mann-ing: to make man like) another new word. Anyway I still hate the color, but I have to admit it does look good in it`s Barbieness. (Barbie-ness : something Barbie would like) another new word. Note: A trick I picked up from Cameron at oldtenspeedgallery.com If you can`t find the right word, invent one! Thanks for that lesson Cameron. Anyway the grass needs cutting (as you can see in the pic) and I have a folding bike I would like to work on today. So I will just say Please RIDE SAFELY and Remember to Always... RESCUE, RESTORE & RECYCLE. Cheers,Hugh



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