58 Western Flyer X53

[56 Vette]

Making a little progress on the X53. Got the frame and fork derusted the best I could, and polished what paint remained. It didn't come back as well as I had hoped, but it has its own look that is growing on me more and more. All the hardware and front springer parts took a 24 hour bath in Evaporust and came out pretty well. Also got all the bearings and races cleaned and relubed and crank and pedals put back on, along with the fork reassembled and installed. Still along way to go, but glad to see it finally going back together. The front fender needs more tlc but I couldn't help putting it on for a quick pic. Joe

 

[indiana dave]

That's looking good. Personally, I'd rather have a well preserved, cleaned up original paint bike than an over-restored museum piece.
My bikes get ridden, and are stored in my garage, where they may get bumped into, or knocked over.
I don't want to have to worry about every little scratch.
My bikes are all basically like this. Disassembled, cleaned, polished, regreased, and any unusable parts (usually just tires and tubes) replaced.

There are plenty of brand new bikes with the "classic look" and the average person doesn't know the difference.
They see an old bike that actually looks old, and they take notice.

 

[56 Vette]

Well I got quite a bit farther on the Western Flyer the last few days. I'm sure a lot of you guys are the same way, when you can see the end result is close and you keep going just to see it finally done and ride it! Tore into the seat and found the bar that holds the springs was broke, so I took it to work and on lunch breaks I blasted the chassis, and rewelded the broken bar, and put all the hardware in an Evaporust bath at home. I painted the pan and chassis, and got it all back together, it turned out pretty good. Also tackled the tank and chainguard to see what if any paint was left on them. Not much was left, but still traces of gold and red on tank, and gold only left on the chainguard. Gonna leave them like this for now, maybe try a patina restore if I can find candy gold and red, but nothing too soon. Then I moved on to the front fender brace, Tinker gave me a new brace, but the original still had traces of red, so I went ahead and straightened it the best I could and polished up the fender and installed it and the light for good. Then on to the rear fender, rack braces, the spear and reflector holder. The reflector was broken and epoxied back in years ago, I decided to leave it instead of putting it the new one Tinker gave me with the bike. Here are a few pics. Joe

 

[56 Vette]

Now it's on the stand and the only thing left is my favorite part, the wheels! NOT!! Lol. Got the hub's apart, cleaned all the internals, derusted and polished the hoops, spokes, hub shells and reassembled everything with a set of NOS Lightening Darts. Put the chain back on after soaking for a week, and believe it or not, this thing rides like silk! It's heavy as a Sherman tank, but really pedals well, and coasts and brakes nicely, and the springer is pretty cool too! Overall really happy how it turned out, big thanks to Tinker for letting me be the guy who got work on it! Have a great weekend all! Joe

 

[mfhemi1969]

Now it's on the stand and the only thing left is my favorite part, the wheels! NOT!! Lol. Got the hub's apart, cleaned all the internals, derusted and polished the hoops, spokes, hub shells and reassembled everything with a set of NOS Lightening Darts. Put the chain back on after soaking for a week, and believe it or not, this thing rides like silk! It's heavy as a Sherman tank, but really pedals well, and coasts and brakes nicely, and the springer is pretty cool too! Overall really happy how it turned out, big thanks to Tinker for letting me be the guy who got work on it! Have a great weekend all! JoeView attachment 669976 View attachment 669979 View attachment 669980 View attachment 669981 View attachment 669982 View attachment 669983

Very nice job! Well worth your time on this one. Enjoy

 

[FULLYLOADED]

Lookin great man! Heres mine..Restored.58'

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[bicycle larry]

Lookin great man! Heres mine..Restored.58'View attachment 670767

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nice to see these bikes done up , super nice job fullyloaded I like it from bicycle larry

 

[FULLYLOADED]

Making a little progress on the X53. Got the frame and fork derusted the best I could, and polished what paint remained. It didn't come back as well as I had hoped, but it has its own look that is growing on me more and more. All the hardware and front springer parts took a 24 hour bath in Evaporust and came out pretty well. Also got all the bearings and races cleaned and relubed and crank and pedals put back on, along with the fork reassembled and installed. Still along way to go, but glad to see it finally going back together. The front fender needs more tlc but I couldn't help putting it on for a quick pic. JoeView attachment 668282 View attachment 668283 View attachment 668284 View attachment 668285

KEWL!

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[FULLYLOADED]

nice to see these bikes done up , super nice job fullyloaded I like it from bicycle larry

Thanks Larry!

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