Buff's Classic/Vintage/Retro rebuilds

[Jakkals.]

Also starting to feel a bit edgy...even thought they are inside I still fear them getting stolen. 

 

Lovely Peugeot Buff...when you back in slumtown or surrounds, shout and we can go for a ride.

[BuffsVintageBikes]

Sounds good Jakkals, I'll give you a buzz when I'm up there again, my Mother still lives in Gonubie.

 

The crank arms on the Peugeot turned out well. I hit them with various grades of wet/dry paper and finished them off on the polishing wheel with Autosol. I'm considering having the Shimano 105 logo laser etched into the crank arm but want to try it on an old crank first to see what the finish will look like. I'm afraid it might come out white instead of black like on steel or titanium.

 

I'm impressed with this Tange tubing as well, a 30yr old frame with zero rust in the BB shell, you don't see that often.

[BuffsVintageBikes]

The French made CLB brakes were pulled apart and given a good cleanup. This was also the first time I've pulled a set apart and it's quite interesting to see how they were constructed. They're also a lot lighter than I expected, which is impressive if you consider their year of manufacture. Sadly I don't have photo's of the strip down.

For those interested, here's a link to a brief history of CLB brakes... http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/components/clb-griffith-comp.html

 

The Tange "Loose Proof" headset was also pulled apart and cleaned up. It was still as good as new and just needed fresh grease. It's also a very interesting design and had me wondering why it never took off? The ratchet type spline stops it from working loose and also helps against over tightening.

[BuffsVintageBikes]

I thought I'd try something new to add a little French flair to the old Peugeot. It necessitated a trip to the local hobby shop to find some model paint in the colours of the french flag and a steady hand. I'm happy with how it turned out despite the "made in Japan" stamp on the seatpost

 

 

[BuffsVintageBikes]

Weekends mean time to work on bikes... or find old bikes to buy and then work on later

 

This weekend was a little different. Between my bicycle restoration hobby, I'm also trying to find the time to restore a KLX450 dirt bike to race in the Tankwa 3 day Rally later this year. My mechanical knowledge of 4 stroke motorcycle engines is somewhat limited so I've got a friend helping out when he has a spare moment. So Fri night was taken up with me cleaning the motor and Sat was spent pulling all the covers off the motor to respray them and prep the motor for a new piston & rings.

 

But I digress... my Peugeot Mirage is basically done, just some cosmetic updates to come like the yellow bar tape and gum-wall tires which I ordered The bike cleaned up really well and all the bearings were good and only required a good clean and fresh grease. All cables and housing were replaced and it's rolling and shifting beautifully. The only struggle I had was fitting 7/8 speed master link to the 6 speed chain    It required some fine dremel work and a lot of patience but I eventually got it fitting perfectly.

 

I'm really looking forward to taking it on a coffee shop ride soon. Here's  some before/after photos:

 

 

[Hairy]

Weekends mean time to work on bikes... or find old bikes to buy and then work on later

 

This weekend was a little different. Between my bicycle restoration hobby, I'm also trying to find the time to restore a KLX450 dirt bike to race in the Tankwa 3 day Rally later this year. My mechanical knowledge of 4 stroke motorcycle engines is somewhat limited so I've got a friend helping out when he has a spare moment. So Fri night was taken up with me cleaning the motor and Sat was spent pulling all the covers off the motor to respray them and prep the motor for a new piston & rings.

 

But I digress... my Peugeot Mirage is basically done, just some cosmetic updates to come like the yellow bar tape and gum-wall tires which I ordered The bike cleaned up really well and all the bearings were good and only required a good clean and fresh grease. All cables and housing were replaced and it's rolling and shifting beautifully. The only struggle I had was fitting 7/8 speed master link to the 6 speed chain    It required some fine dremel work and a lot of patience but I eventually got it fitting perfectly.

 

I'm really looking forward to taking it on a coffee shop ride soon. Here's  some before/after photos:

Looks good.

 

1. how about a thread on the dirt bike restoration please?

2. how do you get into the hub to clean it up so nicely .... it is always so tight between the spokes to get one's hand in the confined space, or do you employ child labour to do this?

[Hairy]

Looks good.

 

1. how about a thread on the dirt bike restoration please?

2. how do you get into the hub to clean it up so nicely .... it is always so tight between the spokes to get one's hand in the confined space, or do you employ child labour to do this?

you may also enjoy this guys work

 

[BuffsVintageBikes]

Looks good.

 

1. how about a thread on the dirt bike restoration please?

2. how do you get into the hub to clean it up so nicely .... it is always so tight between the spokes to get one's hand in the confined space, or do you employ child labour to do this?

 

LOL... both my kids are girls and neither of them are keen to get their hands dirty   

In this instance I stripped the hubs of their axles and bearings and sprayed them with DWF and left them to stand for a few days. Then I climbed into them with petrol and a tooth brush to get into the hard to reach places. They cleaned up surprisingly quickly, I've had others that are an absolute mission.

 

Thanks for the link, I've followed Cameron for years, he does some amazing work

I'm documenting the rebuild of the KLX450 on the Wilddog's site. You can follow it here if you're keen. Warning, it's just a lot slower than my bicycle builds.

http://www.wilddog.za.net/forum/index.php?topic=226792.0

[Hairy]

LOL... both my kids are girls and neither of them are keen to get their hands dirty 

In this instance I stripped the hubs of their axles and bearings and sprayed them with DWF and left them to stand for a few days. Then I climbed into them with petrol and a tooth brush to get into the hard to reach places. They cleaned up surprisingly quickly, I've had others that are an absolute mission.

 

Thanks for the link, I've followed Cameron for years, he does some amazing work

I'm documenting the rebuild of the KLX450 on the Wilddog's site. You can follow it here if you're keen. Warning, it's just a lot slower than my bicycle builds.

http://www.wilddog.za.net/forum/index.php?topic=226792.0

and following the thread!

[BuffsVintageBikes]

So with the Peugeot so to say done (besides the bar tape), it was time to look for something new.

 

I’ve got two long term ideas in mind, one is to build a fixie from the old DHC frame I picked up who’s components are rusted beyond salvage (and the frame might be close to it as well) and the other is to find a good frame and build it up with a Shimano 600 Arabesque groupset which I have in storage.

 

The DHC requires lots of time & effort because the stem & seatpost are rusted into the frame and I’m really not sure if the frame will be safe after a restore because it’s so badly rusted. I’d still like to have a go at it though, the thought of throwing a frame away bothers me

The “good frame” will cost me a bit of money because I’m looking for something decent, like an Eddy Merckx or Colnago for the Arabesque groupset. Sadly I don’t have too much green stuff lying around at the moment due to the 450 motor rebuild.

 

So that left me with option 3, find something cheap to restore and take up my spare time… and so I came across this red rocket while browsing Gumtree during the WC XC race on Sunday.

It ticket the boxes… cheap & original with nostalgic value. I made a quick offer and after the racing it was off to Boston to collect it.

 

Those of you from the 80’s & 90’s will identify with this bike immediately. Before the BMX craze hit us, Western Flyer’s and Raleigh’s were the number 1 school boy racing bikes in SA. They were cheap, heavy and generally bomb proof but they had 10 or 12 speed drive chains and they made us look like Pro’s… or so we thought.

Judging by the Suntour Hero groupset on this bike, I’d guess it to be an early 80’s model. The frame shows very little damage beside faded paint and some scratches and small rust marks but nothing that can’t be cleaned up. The groupset and wheels need a lot of work. Most of the parts are chromed and rusted, so it’s going to be time consuming work getting it cleaned up as best as possible.

 

It's certainly not a rare or a top end bike but it has nostalgic value for those of us from that era so it's worth saving. Let the fun & games begin

[BuffsVintageBikes]

So last night it was into the garage to get the strip down started and see what nasty surprises await me.

 

It came apart surprisingly well, including the headset, seat post and BB. Zero stuck bits to fight with is always a bargain on these old bikes.

 

Findings:

The chrome work needs lots of attention. In some places it's rusted through to the metal but I'll clean it up as best as possible. These old groupsets where built not to be pulled apart and have rivets where others have bolts. It's going to make the cleaning challenging, especially on the brake calipers.

The seat is cracked where the one rail mounts to the back so it will need replacing.

The tires & tubes are destroyed.

It'll probably need a new headset and maybe BB.

The hubs are so loose I can remove the cones by hand so I'm not expecting their condition to be wonderful.

The rest just needs TLC.

 

 

[Simon Kolin]

I never photographed the full Le Jeune build but here's a few pics of the strip down and polishing of the crank set which was badly corroded.

The brake hoods were also beyond salvage but I was fortunate to find a spare set here on BikeHub.

 

Edited May 21, 2019 by Simon Kolin

[BuffsVintageBikes]

Making some slow progress with the Western Flyer's restoration. So far I've completed the stem, shift levers, front & rear derailleur & brake levers. I made a start on the brake calipers over the weekend but was rudely interrupted by my eldest daughters appendix that decided it wanted to come out... immediately 

 

Here's a few pics of the progress:

 

1. the stripped brake levers before starting the cleanup & polish... commonly referred to as Suicide levers

 

2. The before/during/after Shifters

 

3. Before/After rear derailleur

 

4. The before/during/after Brake calipers. The cheaper model brakes were designed not to be pulled apart but that was hampering the clean up so out came my trusty Dremel to grind off the peened  bolt thread and allow me to strip it completely. That made life a lot easier getting into those hard to reach places.

 

Next up is to finish the other caliper and make a start on the wheel set. That will take a while as it needs a lot of TLC

[Hairy]

Making some slow progress with the Western Flyer's restoration. So far I've completed the stem, shift levers, front & rear derailleur & brake levers. I made a start on the brake calipers over the weekend but was rudely interrupted by my eldest daughters appendix that decided it wanted to come out... immediately 

 

Here's a few pics of the progress:

 

1. the stripped brake levers before starting the cleanup & polish... commonly referred to as Suicide levers

 

2. The before/during/after Shifters

 

3. Before/After rear derailleur

 

4. The before/during/after Brake calipers. The cheaper model brakes were designed not to be pulled apart but that was hampering the clean up so out came my trusty Dremel to grind off the peened  bolt thread and allow me to strip it completely. That made life a lot easier getting into those hard to reach places.

 

Next up is to finish the other caliper and make a start on the wheel set. That will take a while as it needs a lot of TLC

how do you manage so much free time with a family ... been following this thread and your motorbike thread with interest!

[BuffsVintageBikes]

It's a balancing act. I set myself a goal of doing one thing an evening on my restoration projects and normally only disappear into the garage around 8pm in the evening. Some evenings that one thing takes 30mins and others it takes 4hrs. Winter is going to be more difficult because the garage gets seriously chilly.

I guess I'm also fortunate to have 2 girls of 15 & 9 who are very independent so less demanding. When they were younger it was a different story but now I find I have a lot more free time.

Luckily this is only a hobby so there are times where nothing happens for a few weeks. Or times like now where the KLX450 needs another R6000 in parts so it needs to wait for me to generate funds from somewhere

Edited May 27, 2019 by Buff_SA

[BuffsVintageBikes]

Sadly not too much progress to report back on with the Western Flyer as I had one of my girls in hospital most of last week so very little time available for resto work but fortunately she's back home and healthy now.

 

The brake set is done, both levers and calipers and I managed to clean up the crank set. I'm pretty chuffed with how well it came out.

Sat morning I fitted the BB and the headset, collected new gear and brake cables and housings and placed an order for new gumwall tires All that's left to do is tackle the wheel set and start assembly.

 

Before & After of the chrome crank set.

Edited June 3, 2019 by Buff_SA