thatonejohn
Finally riding a big boys bike
Well, the time has come, I've decided to part with my 1938 Mead Ranger Champion.
So, this bike has been discussed in this thread Auction-score-of-the-year, and not much has happened with it besides winning another contest and taking it for a ride on father's day.
Things that I've done to it since I've owned it:
-Essentially a very good detailing, cleaned up the paint carefully to avoid messing up the fragile white pinstripes, and shined the chrome up. Did not clean the fender braces.
-Waxed the painted parts with a good liquid car wax.
-Replaced the blackwalls with a set of pre-nylon Goodyear Whitewalls.
-Straightened luggage rack, not 100% perfect, but it would take a keen eye to notice.
-Regreased all the bearings, cleaned the chain.
-Hooked up a battery tray (forget if it is C or D size batteries) to power lights and horn.
-Replaced the original delta lenses with reproduction lenses, one had a hole in it. Still have both original lenses, one intact, one cracked.
-Replaced the incorrect grips with coke bottle reproductions from Thompson.
-Cleaned the original horsehide pogo seat with lexol pH-balanced leather cleaner.
-Pogo seat currently has a replacement bolt in it, as the threads on the original bolt were stripped, still have it, could be salvageable.
-Relubed the spring mechanism in the pogo seat stem.
-Installed a greyhound/whippet fender ornament (some debate as to what the original design was, so I went with one that had an appropriate thread length for a fender application, aka not a radiator cap/motometer application)
So, the condition as it sits, is as an excellent, functional original, with no part swapping/upgrading. Original key and wiring diagram are included. Fenders do have some denting (which annoys some people), but as an original bike, I didn't want to mess with fixing them. The ND DD rear hub could use a little work, as I haven't gotten around to fixing the issue with the low gear disengaging. The gear lever is still unfixed, as I have yet to see another one that doesn't say New Departure on it. Speedometer is slightly broken, the needle doesn't return to 0, it broke on the first longer ride I took it on. The speedometer fiber gear is currently pulled away from the front wheel, and is in good shape. The wiring is all original, and it all works, but there are some bare sections of wire where they pass through holes, so it is pretty easy to create a short. And, the button for the speedometer light will pop off if pressure is applied from a certain direction. Only part that I know is missing, is the bar that holds the battery into the tray.
Looking to get $13,000 as all of the big $$ parts are in excellent shape and are original to this bike. Price will drop after a while if there is no interest close to that amount. As an added bonus, I'd be willing to deliver/meet just about anywhere in the contiguous 48. I don't really have much for good pictures of it, so I will be taking some better pictures in the near future and posting them here.
PM me with any questions, and no, I will not part it out.
So, this bike has been discussed in this thread Auction-score-of-the-year, and not much has happened with it besides winning another contest and taking it for a ride on father's day.
Things that I've done to it since I've owned it:
-Essentially a very good detailing, cleaned up the paint carefully to avoid messing up the fragile white pinstripes, and shined the chrome up. Did not clean the fender braces.
-Waxed the painted parts with a good liquid car wax.
-Replaced the blackwalls with a set of pre-nylon Goodyear Whitewalls.
-Straightened luggage rack, not 100% perfect, but it would take a keen eye to notice.
-Regreased all the bearings, cleaned the chain.
-Hooked up a battery tray (forget if it is C or D size batteries) to power lights and horn.
-Replaced the original delta lenses with reproduction lenses, one had a hole in it. Still have both original lenses, one intact, one cracked.
-Replaced the incorrect grips with coke bottle reproductions from Thompson.
-Cleaned the original horsehide pogo seat with lexol pH-balanced leather cleaner.
-Pogo seat currently has a replacement bolt in it, as the threads on the original bolt were stripped, still have it, could be salvageable.
-Relubed the spring mechanism in the pogo seat stem.
-Installed a greyhound/whippet fender ornament (some debate as to what the original design was, so I went with one that had an appropriate thread length for a fender application, aka not a radiator cap/motometer application)
So, the condition as it sits, is as an excellent, functional original, with no part swapping/upgrading. Original key and wiring diagram are included. Fenders do have some denting (which annoys some people), but as an original bike, I didn't want to mess with fixing them. The ND DD rear hub could use a little work, as I haven't gotten around to fixing the issue with the low gear disengaging. The gear lever is still unfixed, as I have yet to see another one that doesn't say New Departure on it. Speedometer is slightly broken, the needle doesn't return to 0, it broke on the first longer ride I took it on. The speedometer fiber gear is currently pulled away from the front wheel, and is in good shape. The wiring is all original, and it all works, but there are some bare sections of wire where they pass through holes, so it is pretty easy to create a short. And, the button for the speedometer light will pop off if pressure is applied from a certain direction. Only part that I know is missing, is the bar that holds the battery into the tray.
Looking to get $13,000 as all of the big $$ parts are in excellent shape and are original to this bike. Price will drop after a while if there is no interest close to that amount. As an added bonus, I'd be willing to deliver/meet just about anywhere in the contiguous 48. I don't really have much for good pictures of it, so I will be taking some better pictures in the near future and posting them here.
PM me with any questions, and no, I will not part it out.
