No problem, one of the main things I wanted you to see is they have the owners manual unless they are availible elswhere online.
Hold the phone! Owner's Manual? Missed that! I'll have to check that again, but I'll also order some new cables and cable covers if they have them, surely those are still good.
Oh, and I worked today from about 9:00 AM - 11:30 PM (UofL v. New Mexico!). 9:00-10:30 I was pickin, and I had great success! Nothing to do with the Titan, though. But I got back and pulled the parts from soaking over night. The chaingaurd is naked, as I figured it would be with all of that rust. But not all is lost! My friend suggested going over it with steel wool and clear coating it for a "brushed look". I like that idea! The rear deraileur is being taken apart for a complete rebuild, the front deraileur got tossed in my scrap pile. I also dipped my Huffy Silver Jet tail light bucket. Sadly, I'm afraid there may be very little metal left to go off of in the morning. Well, after church anyway. I can't smell like rust in church! :eek:
Anyway, I got a lot of stuff done. I also was cleaning out the garage and well, kinda showed off the bikes too. I couldn't resist, there were people around. I'm notorious for that!
Anyway, I digress. Back to the Titan. I'm informed that the bike is simply a junk bike from the 90s, GT, Titan, "Ugo-Hapan" Chinese or what ever it is. Well, I have confirmed it is a Titan, first and foremost, exact year unknown, but the proof is in the ads and on the way.
Secondly, this bike is historic and by that, let me explain. Its kind of the last of its kind in a way. For those who are old enough, Western Auto was in every small town in America in seemed. My dad had fond memeories of living in E-Town (local for "Elizabethtown") Kentucky and in there going with his dad into the Western Auto store. The faded old painted ad from the store still remains on a building in the E-Town Sqaure, we pass it whenever we are visiting family. Everybody remembers the store and most remember it fondly. It was even a part of America's pop culture, as a Western Auto store can be seen in the
Back To The Future movies as Marty is chased around by Biff in 1955 and as he tries to get back to the future when the lightning hits the clock tower. In the second movie, it was Western Auto that repaired Biff's car from the manure crash and in the end of this movie and the beginning of the third, the store is seen again. Then, in the early 1990s, NASCAR fans had their share of exposure to the store on the hood of Darrell Waltrip's Chevrolet Lumina race car.
For us bicycle collectors, riders, and enthusaists, the term "Western Auto" or "Western Flyer" bring some other memories to mind, such iconic bikes like the X-53, Golden Flyer, Cosmic Flyer, Buzz Bike, Wildcat, and Ram Rod just to name a few. In 2003 the remains of the battered Western Auto chain closed their doors as a company after the buyout from Advance Auto Parts.
A lower end Titan? Maybe. But it does mark the end of an era. Its like finding a 1961 Desoto. Valuable? No, not much. Historic? Yes, in it's own sort of way.
