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1972 Raleigh Sports...and so another addition...

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HARPO

Cruisin' on my Bluebird
Once again, I look at ebay for the heck of it...within 50 miles of my house. This pops up as a new listing just 25 miles from me. I saw the bike and immediately knew I wanted the Brooks saddle...tire pump...saddle bag...and head light...all for a Buy It Now price of $50! Figured I'd then sell the rest of the bike off on Craigslist. Well, turns out the bike itself is in better shape than I could have hoped for. It's beautiful! It will stay with me for a while and join the rest of the English fleet.

The attached photos are as found (final ones will come later), and once I began to use a polishing compound on it, I was amazed at how deep the black gloss was. The gold pinstriping is there, and really adds that nice touch to it. The most work I'll need to do is on the rims. he rear AW hub is dated 12 72, so right around Christmas it was made. Well, Christmas in August 2018 for me, lol!

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Very nice! I have a light like that. It doesn't work. I almost wondered if it was a miner's light.
 
That bike is in very nice shape!
It happens to me all too often. I'll buy this bike for parts, next thing you know , I have another bike in my collection.
 
Hmmm...the light wasn't what I was hoping for in terms of working. It's made in England, and I'm sure was purchased for the bike when it was new, but another lesson in DON'T leave batteries in. Oh well, I'll use it as a decoration light on my mens Sports or DL-1.
Also, the pump will not unscrew to let the little hose out. Just keeps spinning round and round. I'll delve into that soon enough.

I started to get more into the polishing of the paint last night. WOW! It's as smooth as glass with such a depth to the shine I can't believe it. Overall...best $50 I've spent on a bike in a looong time!

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Definitely worth the price. I think the hose for the pump just pulls free from that end and then screws onto the other end. Hopefully the plunger inside of it is in decent condition. That's what I usually find has gone bad.
 
Definitely worth the price. I think the hose for the pump just pulls free from that end and then screws onto the other end. Hopefully the plunger inside of it is in decent condition. That's what I usually find has gone bad.

Yes, I have a few of these pumps. The problem with this one is that the cap just keeps turning round and round...in either direction! Oh well, I'll figure something out.
 
I second what 3-speeder said - just pull the hose out, it doesn't unscrew. Beautiful bike. I have one almost identical, and mine is a 72 as well.
 
I have a few Rudge and Raleigh bikes (see some of my other Posts) also, and this 1960 Sports in what I consider a fairly rare color. First time I had seen one "in the flesh" so to speak.

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I second what 3-speeder said - just pull the hose out, it doesn't unscrew. Beautiful bike. I have one almost identical, and mine is a 72 as well.

Lol. I have a few of these, and opened them a long time ago, forgetting that they just pull out and don't unscrew to get the hose out. :rolleyes:
 
I have a 1972 Raleigh sports women's bike but it's a trike and was bought originally as a trike 3 speed I'm trying to find out how much it's worth
 
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