Andrew Gorman
Riding a '38 Autocycle Deluxe
The trash is the best place to find a bike, unless you dig it out of the woods...
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Found this Western Flyer in the trash.
- Thread starter Pucapeli
- Start date
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nortonguy
Finally riding a big boys bike
I would not clean the bike up too much. The decals are from a plastic model car kit that probably the original owner of the bike put on it. Just clean the bike up gently, do whatever mechanical maintenance is required with new tires and some cleaning, lubing and adjusting, and ride it as is. All of those decals and patina are the bikes history. Anyone can strip a bike to bare metal and try to make it look polished and shiny, but in any mature genre of collecting, patinas are always preserved. For instance stripped and refinished furniture, and antique coins are worth far, far less than those wearing the oxidation and patina of the many years of their existence. It is your bike now though so do what you will.
You're talking to a big fan of the UK Antique Roadshow and Antique Road trip! I definitely know enough to leave things alone and preserve their history and I'm a big fan of your philosophy.
I think it's super cool that some kid back in the day took his model kit extras and tricked out his ride.
My only clean up plans are to get the dust, spider webs, and crinkly rust off of it. I'm not even taking a steel wool pad to it to do that! I love a rat rod patina.
I do however want to get an LED situation going on for its headlight because the battery tray is cashed and the switch rotted out a long time ago.
A couple of nights ago I pumped up the tires just to see if the tubes would hold air and lo and behold, they are still full of air!
I found a nice set of age and style appropriate handlebars with red glitter Western Flyer grips and as soon as I get them installed I will be off riding.
cyclingday
I'm the Wiz, and nobody beats me!
Great garbage rescue! Those are the best!
Check out a Lindbergh model catalog from the 60s and the box art will probably show a race car model with number 32. Might have been the number for a famous driver that the original owner idolized.
Daaaaaaaaaaaayum! I might have just started a new collecting habit...
Kato
I live for the CABE
That bike is just screaming for a soft / gentle WD40 / 0000 steel wool clean up............be careful around the decals - that OG paint will pop !!!!
In my opinion those are part of the history / story of the bike and owner of that era.
I hope you turn this Post into one where you show the progress as you work on it.
In my opinion those are part of the history / story of the bike and owner of that era.
I hope you turn this Post into one where you show the progress as you work on it.
I will certainly try!
How cool would that be strapped to the rack.
Pretty freaking cool. I found a website with the timeline for that particular d-type Jaguar kit. It has had several iterations including one that is the same year as this bike! The one in the picture is from 1969, but there was a model that came out in 1962 with the same sticker set. https://www.scalemates.com/kits/lindberg-675m-400-electric-racers--1149751How cool would that be strapped to the rack.
I found one of these '69 models unopened for sale and it's something like $120, with the motor!
