1968 Raleigh Superbe

I just recently acquired another vintage Raleigh free of charge during my spring semester -  a "you can have'er if you can fix'er" kind of deal.  There are a number of cool, old bikes around Ann Arbor and I'm not sure how many of the owners are aware of just how valuable they are.  This one had been left outside for years with its front fork turned completely backwards, twisting the fender a bit.  This bike came with a front fork lock but the key is long gone.  The brake cables were seized up as expected, nothing a little WD-40 couldn't fix.  It turned out all this bike needed was a new front wheel so I threw on a random 26 x 1-3/8" wheel from a decomposing '70s Iverson bike.  Thankfully, the axle was thin enough to fit into the special Raleigh fork.  It was a bit narrow so I had to press the fork blades together a little.  After oiling up the moving parts and straightening the front fender, I discovered that this bike was already in perfect running condition.  The 3-speed Sturmey-Archer AW hub worked flawlessly and the shifter was already at the correct tension.  

 My two trusty Raleighs at the University of Michigan: 1968 Superbe and 1958 Sports

First Set of New Cars for This Blog

Whenever I talk about getting a new car, it's probably going to be about a Hot wheels car.  I had 487 cars of ~1:64 scale size last time I counted and I bought four more last weekend.  When I was at the store buying a gallon of milk, a huge stand of Matchbox cars caught my attention.  I prefer Hot wheels because they have skinnier, faster axles and they usually look better; however, I bought three Matchbox and one Hot wheels car this time.

Independence Day Parade

The Fourth of July parade in Northville is usually not very long or flamboyant because our town is not very big.  That's not to say it's too boring to watch, though.  I like to go to see the classic cars pass by and sniff the un-catalyzed exhaust even though they're the same every year.  As a car guy, I've been deprived of car shows.  Also, I participated in the parade throughout high school in the marching band and currently, my younger sister is still in the band so that's the main reason why my family still goes.  The following photos contain some of the highlights, at least in my eyes.

'04 Mustang GT 40th anniversary.  I rarely see '94-04 GTs now - it's likely they've all either been trashed or kept in garages and seldom driven.  A few appeared today. The V6 cars are everywhere, though.  Next, the '87-91 Ford F-350 Pierce conversion fire truck, my favorite one in the Northville stable.  7.3 Powerstroke diesel, 5-speed manual transmission.  .  

Defining Moments of the Week before July 4th

I have now officially fallen off a bike a total of three times in my life.  They all happened within the the last year, the last two times being on my Raleigh Sports.  The most recent time was exactly one week ago when I was on the Raleigh on the way to the library and I turned too sharply on a thin layer of gravel scattered over cement.  I wiped out and the fall wasn't particularly forceful and I hopped back on the bike immediately.  One nice thing about step-through frames is that you can more "gracefully" roll clear when you fall instead of getting pinned under it.  I did that but somehow, I landed on my right wrist wrong and sprained it.  All the way to the library and back (10 miles total), the pain got worse.  I then vaccuumed the entire house using only my left hand. I did have some scrapes but 'twas "but a flesh wound."  My right hand started out being nearly useless for the better part of three days but it's been recovering and I'd even say that it's almost done recovering.  I carefully rode my bike last night for the first time since then.

Uh Oh! (First of Many)

For a larger part of the last few months, my car had been having some slight starting issues.  If let to sit for more than two hours, it took a time to crank and the starter motor sounded weak.  The electronics would also reset themselves.  If parked for less than two hours, everything would be fine.  The battery is still strong so that was not the problem.  I'm not too familiar with the electronics on cars so I was dumbfounded.  Starter, fuel pump, bad connections, or what? These problems continued until last Thursday.


This guy helped me so much.  Thank you, "Bushougoma."

Old Music Equipment / I Am Not a Hipster

The subjects of this post and posts to come may give rise to such suspicions, but I assure you, I am not tailoring my interests to avoid or identify with any group.  I guess I'm just a scavenger of sorts who also likes to preserve historical artifacts.

Gwendolyn

Here she is, the single biggest reason for why I started this blog. 

Scale figure of the bike at 3/8" = 1'0" for an architecture project.  Real size was less than 1 inch tall.  Teacher said she used to have a Raleigh Sports as well, "but not a '58 (laughs)."  Hmm...