cheesy

I know it was a PITA to get the starter out and back into my 48 DeSoto to replace a leaking oil filter elbow in the block. After I was done, I decide to check my very antique Flat Rate Manual and it listed Starter Removal at 0.8 hr and the same for replacement. So it's always been a pain.

Interesting bike. The frame doesn't look American made because it's lugged and brazed. Except for the French built Ross Lions of the 60s and the super expensive hand built Ross Signature series of the 80s, Ross built frames were lugless and welded. It looks like it may be a Raleigh frame, which isn't unusual because they made bikes for just about everybody. The 3 speed hub looks like a Shimano 3.3.3 which could have been spec'd by Ross or it's a replacement.

Last ones and I'll stop. Green 1968 Raleigh Superbe. What makes it a Superbe instead of your basic Raleigh Sports is the front Dynohub generator, lights, and a locking front fork. This was my Rehab bike. After getting hit from behind on another bike and getting banged up pretty bad, one of my riding buddies took me to a bike swap meet to get me out of the house. While moving around on crutches, I found this beat up Superbe for fifteen bucks. I worked on it while standing with crutches. I had it ready to ride before I was. The day I could swing a leg over it and ride to the end of my driveway meant I was recovering. I've covered thousands of miles on this one. I replaced the extra heavy Raleigh steel rims with Sun aluminum rims and that made it a completely new bike. Also tossed the 18t rear cog for a 22t which civilized it even more. The seat bag was made from a beat up Boy Scout Yucca pack and the brass thing behind the seat is the tank for a kerosene stove. The black thing is known by many of my cohorts as The Mighty Dunelt or The Tetanus Express. It's a 1964-ish Dunelt Sports, same thing as a Raleigh Sports but has a Dunelt badge on it. I found it in a dumpster without wheels. It was the test mule while I was working on a 2 speed fixed gear hub conversion. I added a brake after the first hub design failed at the end of my driveway. I lived on top of a hill at that time, too. Once I got the design down and working, this was my main commuter bike for nearly eight years. At 50, I raced several Alley Cats on it and had my ass handed to me every time by kids in their teens and early twenties but I had a ball doing it.

'nother one. Even though it's been over 10 years since my butt hit the saddle on this one, I keep it for sentimental reasons. In 1991, I participated in the 100th anniversary of the Paris-Brest-Paris Randonee in France. Not a race, per se, but more like a multi-day Time Trial for touring bikes. 1200km/745mi with a 90 hr time limit. Participate in the Prologue, throw in some wrong turns and missed turns, and that 1200km becomes 1500km. Two things that have stuck with me after that experience are that I have never been so tired in my life and I never expected to be in a small French town at 3am, pounding on a screwdriver with a rock to tighten a lock ring. The bike is a 1990 Miyata 600 GT frame and fork that I hung my own parts on. Hubs are Sturmey Archer drum brakes laced to Araya rims. The drive train is all SunTour. The saddle came off the Robin Hood, so it's over 50 years old. Quick story about the drum brake hubs. I was riding with some friends in Nanterre, a few days before the ride. I was flying down at least a 12% grade at about 50 mph. The traffic light turned red a couple hundred yards ahead and I grabbed two handfuls of brake and slid my butt over the rear wheel so not to skid. I came to a shuddering stop at the light. One of my buddies sniffed and said that it smelled like someone burned their clutch. I said it was probably me and squirted my water bottle on the front hub. The water sizzled. The number plate is from Durban, South Africa. I found it in the dirt while working there.

Let's see...Retire for real this time. 50 years of full time work is more than enough. Wrap up the two motorcycle projects in the garage. Finish the slot car track in the basement. Bicycle more. Be the old left wing hippie at the old farts table at the local breakfast place just to stir stuff up. One long 1st class airplane trip with the missus to use up my hundreds of thousands of frequent flyer miles and hotel points. Then never set foot in an airport again. That's a start.

Myself and a couple of buddies rode the Elroy-Sparta trail end to end several years ago. Late fall and the temp dropped fast on the ride back. The older guy was struggling because of the cold for the last few miles, so we rode on either side of him and kind of guided him along to my van. Down here in Illannoy, I'm not too far from the Fox River/McHenry County Prairie Trail, that runs from Oswego, IL to the WI state line at Genoa City, the Great Western Trail runs between St. Charles and Sycamore, and the Illinois Prairie Path runs between Chicago and western Kane county. The first bike I ever spent more than $400 on. More like $4000. Also, the only bike I had built for me. Rivendell Bleriot. Smooth riding if somewhat on the porky side with generator/drum brake in the front and a seven speed gearhub/drum brake in the rear. Set up that way, it's a great all weather bike.

The light blue fender in the photo is the one I mentioned. The beat to hell green one is on a 55 Schwinn Spitfire. The reddish one is on my Monark, and the blue one with the Earth Day flag is my wife's Hawthorne she had in high school.

I had a Bianchi in the 80's. Light, fast, and as stiff as a sewer pipe. Rode it as a daylight bike in 24 hour time trials with 19mm tires pumped to 120psi. I got this bike new in 1970. A Robin Hood Lenton Sports. Basically, a Raleigh Sports 3 Speed frame made into a 10 speed at the factory. Currently, a 9 speed using a Sturmey Archer AM 3 speed hub and a Cyclo triple cog. The chain gets moved over by a low end Campy Victory. Handle bar, stem, and seat post are original.

Seriously, I can quit any time. And this ain't all of them.

I learned to drive in a 62 Falcon Ranchero. I may have been hard on the clutch but never did that.

I have quite a few bikes but I'll just start with this one. It's a 1973 Raleigh Super Course frame built by Carlton of Worksop. A buddy gave me the frame after I got hit from behind while on another bike. Totaled the bike and damn near totaled me. Anyway, built up with Super Champ Blue Label rims, Nervar crank with a Viscount chain wheel, and a Sturmey Archer FW 4 speed rear hub modified to a 3 Speed fixed gear hub by moi. This pic shows shows it after it slid down the bike rack and dragged the rear tire on the road before I could stop. Ruined both the tire and the rim. To say I was pissed would be an understatement. It's all better now. I split my riding this past year on this one and my 99 Trek 820 AL mountain bike.

Here's the 1948 Schwinn catalog. https://bikehistory.org/catalogs/1948.html Man, they had a lot of bikes. Yours looks like a DB97-EX with the optional Springer front fork. The frame and fenders unit in my garage attic is a B307 Hollywood with a Firestone headbadge. Schwinn made bikes for other companies. You can see the different style headlight. I wasn't aware that Schwinn ran both 1/2" and 1" (Skiplink or skiptooth) back in those days. The back pages show some Whizzer powered bikes.

Skip link is the type of chain. Probably more commonly known as Skip Tooth, owing to every other tooth missing on the chain wheel and rear cog. Your headlight is very different than what is on my Schwinn. I'm thinking yours might be older than 1947.

Nice bike. Like the springer fork. Skip link, too. Last day of work today. I'll head up in the attic tomorrow and get some pics. Did you date the Schwinn by serial number?

Good score. I have what's left of my wife's late Aunts' 1946 Firestone, aka, Schwinn. I may have that rear fender in my garage attic and I'm willing to bet that I have the same part of the headlight you're not missing, too. I have a 1947 Monark Rocket with a 1952 ish Bendix 2 speed manually shifted hub that I still ride a bit. It has the original paint that looks like hell, but it followed me home for five bucks, so the appearance is of little concern.

Been back almost a week now. I needed to get back to work to recover after that last marathon day of driving. One thing that happened that I forgot to mention. My oldest is a consummate bargain hunter. Her side hustle is prowling thrift shops for bargains, then flipping them online for a tidy profit. Well, her dad also collects bicycles* and she scored a 1970 Raleigh Super Course mixte frame bike for a whopping fifty cents. It was near the upper atmosphere of the Raleigh range that year. I figured that I was supposed to overhaul it for her to use. Nope. I was supposed to take it home. So, I ended up buy a hundred dollar bike rack to haul a fifty cent bicycle a thousand miles back to Illannoy. Geez. * I learned a long time ago that it's easier to hide another bicycle in the collection than it is to hide another car or motorcycle.

Yes, it's actually in Ellsworth, not Belfast, as I mentioned earlier. It's getting new cedar shakes. We went on Monday. I scored an Optimus 77 camp stove outfit and a barely used Craftsman 1/2" torque wrench. We did drive past the other barn but it was pouring and didn't stop. Heading back to Illannoy tomorrow.

I gave a bit over a years' notice. I don't think my boss believed me because he's one of those sick puppies that wants 'I wish I spent more time at the office." on his tombstone. When I got the paperwork started with HR, he knew I wasn't kidding. When asked what it would take for me to stay on, I pulled a huge number out of my backside to discourage any thought of them keeping me on. Damn, they agreed to everything. I thought about asking why I couldn't get a raise for five years, yet I could get an upper tax bracket pay increase now, but held my tongue.

Congrats. I was supposed to retire on Halloween but extended it to June 30 of next year. The powers that be at my employer screwed up royally by not planning for my retirement on their end. I'm the senior guy with 25 years field repair experience. I have 13 years over the next guy but his experience is limited to a couple machines, whereas I know the whole range. They offered me stupid money to stay on and train some more guys. I also get a ridiculous bonus on my last day. And I got it in writing. Once the dust settles and I cut the ties, Mrs. C and I are going to use all my frequent flyer miles and hotel points to take a first class trip somewhere, then never set foot in an airport again. After that, we'll see.

Can’t help with the strobe, and even as an avid cyclist, I find the flashy lights annoying. However, there is a flashing brake light module available that I do like. When either brake is activated, brake lights flash four times, flash four times again, then remain on. Dirt cheap, too. https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/strobe-controllers/brake-light-strobe-module/195/845/ You may want to just replace the headlight with an H4 LED.

Concur with PA. Either a stuck valve or crud on the valve seats.

I grew up with a family of red heads living across the street. I left home before the two girls got interesting. They found me on FB and the insults coming at me are the same as they were 50 years ago. I do give back.

Possibly, though I am partial to the Big Chicken Barn in Belfast.

I have been there. Well worth it.

Union, in Knox County. My daughter failed at fostering cats and now has three of them. Wifey and I are allergic to kitties, so we are staying in Rockland, not too far from my favorite restaurant, the Rockland Cafe. We are also bringing both grandsons along so they can hang with their cousins. As we are taking my wife's Renegade, I may be drinking in the evenings after spending the day in the car with both of those boys.