Not very buahcrafty but some English pride I guess. (Some pics)

[mikey.elefant]

Mods please move/delete if in wrong place.

Found old Dawes galaxy bike in trash a few weeks back.

After some love and lots of work.

It is now a single speed commuter, changed axle's and lots of bearings but it rides beautifully.

Tried to keep as many as original parts as I could since they are from the 70's and thing were made then to last.


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[GGTBod]

Lovely work, this is one of my passions, i have a penchant for the Rayleigh Grifter as my main restoration targets, i have 4 i keep as my prize collection but have restored and sold many over the years which although lovely once i was done with them did not manage to claim one of the 4 space i have for Grifters, i only use original NOS parts (new old stock) or parts from Grifters in the grave

My Grifters and a few others

 

[JonathanD]

Aaaaw, the Raleigh Grifter. What memories...

 

[Tengu]

I have a Dawes wildcat mountain bike

 

[GGTBod]

Thats a beauty of a mark 2 you got there, looks like an 81 model, mine all have dates of birth, 2 of them rolled out of the nottingham factory 123 bikes apart

this is the younger of the two, now fully restored and waiting a nice sunny day to take some new pics

this is the pride of my fleet just after i finished the restoration last summer, i say restoration but all it needed was a good service and a bit of love, all original parts even the gearing cables, soon to be priceless as there are not many left in this condition

 

[Macaroon]

I think that's a great restoration, mikey.elefant, it's good to see stuff brought back to life and you've got yourself a very nice looking bike there!

 

[JonathanD]

Yeah, mine was a MK2. My mate had the MK1 and I was always jealous because it had metallic red paint and the short scrambler like rear mud guard.

 

[GGTBod]

The silver mk2 in my albums is an exact replica of the one i had as a kid what started the whole obsession, the mark1 was good but Rayleigh changed it for good reason and the mk2 design stayed almost identical even the super grifters above are mk2 with flashier trims.

Mikey have you done anything to restore the original look of the paint and decals? Best thing i've found to use is some wd40 or similar stuff on a rag, first application removes ground in dirty and once your cloths are not coming away grimey the next application protects the finish against future corrosion setting in, makes the paint finish look as good as it can without a respray

 

[mikey.elefant]

I don't have any experience with restoring bikes so thanks for that advice and please keep em coming.

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[GGTBod]

glad to share good info always, if you have anything bugging you ask away if i can help i will, looks like you've done nicely for never having done it before, very addictive and rewarding hobby.

One thing i can see is you have some nice bits of chrome on that machine like the stem and lugs, Brasso or another silver cleaner will have that looking like it just rolled out the factory, takes a bit of elbow grease for best results but worth it, again it is a case of multiple uses and the first few just remove years of natural tarnishing, each use you think that can't get any shinier and then try again and before long it is a mirror finish

 

[dwardo]

Now that's some classy transportation.

 

[mikey.elefant]

I have a new seat coming since this one is not mine.

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[GGTBod]

When i ride my old bikes i remove the original seats and posts and put a modern post and seat on for preservation sakes, sadly a good condition seat for my grifters is easy £100 if you are lucky enough to find one being sold and you happen to be the only person who wants to buy it.

 

[ged]

Found old Dawes galaxy bike in trash a few weeks back. ....

The things people throw away!

You done a cracking job there Mikey! The wife has one and she did much the same as you except for the gears - she put a granny ring on it, but then it's in the Pyrenees.