Scoticus

Hello,
Anyone know anything about these bikes.
I have looked around the web and found very little.
Very cool components Shimano high flange hubs, Araya rims with the raised section in the middle.
Nice lugs and stuff.
just a cool old bike.
I'm guessing early-mid seventy's
I had a Tiger Cycle with the same brazed on keepers for the shifter cables on the down tube.
any info would be appreciated.

Miele Man

Is that a crack on the tube in the center of the last image?

Cheers

cb400bill

IIRC, American Flyer was connected to Nishiki.

Scoticus

Not a crack, the cable housing was moved from that location to where it is now.

juvela

+1

Kawamura

West Coast Cycle Supply of Southern California

~1972

may have dimensions such as 71mm shell and .833 steerer & stem

T-Mar

I believe that you are thinking of American Eagle, which was the predecessor to Nishiki. There was a USA based American Flyer private label brand that goes back to the inter-war period but I'm not sure if this is the same brand.

juvela

WCCS advertisement published in a trade magazine, 1971:



Chrysanthemum symbols on an Azuki bicycle:







Chrysanthemum symbol on an American Flyer Jewel Gran-Sport model bicycle:

zukahn1 

That looks to be a Kawamura built bike circa 1972 or so at the time American Flyer was a secondary label used by West Coast Cycle Supply the main west coast importer of Japanese bikes around 1974 they dropped the American Flyer brand. These had nicely done strait guage tange hi-ten steel frames with pretty nice mix of good but low cost Japanese components.

ramzilla

If there's a serial number engraved along the lower side of the seat tube (instead of on the bottom bracket) then, the bike is probably a Kuwahara made item. If it's got chrome socks take off the front wheel. Look closely at the dropout. May have Kuwahara stamped there also. Also look for a 022 or 012 tubing sticker. Kuwahara & Kawamura get confused often. IMHO Kuwahara were the superior of the two.

juvela

WCCS's Nippon partner at this time was Kawamura. Later on they founded an operation which worked with Kuwahara.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nishiki_(bicycle)

T-Mar

Juvela, thank-you for posting this information. I did some more research and found out that the inter-war American Flyer bicycles were reportedly manufactured for Louisville Cycle Supply, a company that eventually distributed for West Coast Cycle Supply. American Flyer was also a brand of Pettee Cycle Supply which often "collaborated" with West Coast Cycle Supply. It looks like the two companies often traveled to Japan togther. I also found reference to American Flyer being built by Murray and Kofu during the late 1960s and early 1970s. So, it looks like a bit of a convoluted story as to who actually owned the brand, though West Coast Cycle Supply was at least a distributor.

juvela

There is as well a current American Flyer marque. Probably no connection to the earlier ones...

American Flyer Bicycle | GREAT LOOKING BIKES, BUILT TO LAST AND PRICED TO MOVE

Expect products issue from China.

Scoticus

here's the number on the seat tube

Scoticus

There are no remaining decals but there is a city of Concord 71-72 license

Scoticus

I removed the front wheel, there were no Markings at all.

ramzilla

Serial number on the side of seat tube = Kuwahara.

I own an American Flyer "Emperor" made by Kuwahara. It's got the serial numbers up the side of seat tube, a 012 tubing sticker and, "Kuwahara" stamped into the round part of the front fork drop out. Judging from the serial number I think mine is about a 1980 model. I converted it to an upright townie style ride with thumb shifters. It's a very nice ride.

I'm guessing that yours is a 1971 model. Be good & have fun with your bike.

juvela

Appears seller was a shop on Mount Diablo Boulevard in Walnut Creek, California.

Is this correct?

Scoticus

correct

Scoticus

Anybody know about these rims? I have not seen them before.

ramzilla

Exact same rims as the ones that came on my American Flyer Emperor. I've also got a couple of old Fujis with these rims too. I'm really not sure what w/o or HP stand for. It could mean high pressure. I always use wire bead clinchers on rims like this. Wire bead will help keep tire from blowing off the rim at around 90 - 100 psi.

juvela

Thank you.

This shop was on the north side of the street in a dark green building.

Do not know if they went out of business or relocated. They have been gone from this location for many years.

Can find no current shop under this name so they must have gone out of business or else renamed in a new location.

In the photo of the complete machine it appears to be wearing a crankset which is a bit later than the bicycle itself but cannot be sure due to photo size. Suspect it may have originally left factory with a cottered steel chainset.

Are you able to post a photo of this item? Thank you.

T-Mar

The subject rims is an Araya Model 16A, which was a very common, Japanese, U-section rim from the 1960s through the 1980s. It was typically found on mid-range bicycles in the 1960s and 1970s but had trickled down to the entry level by the early 1980s. It was popular choice for touring bicycles.

The W/O stands for wired-on, referring to the tyre type with a metal wire (or Kevlar cord in the case of folding tyres) encased in the bead. This distinguishes it from a clincher tyre (aka beaded edge or B/E) which has a bigger bead but does not use a wire. Unfortunately, the the term clincher has been misused over the years and is now erroneously applied to wired-on tyres.

HP stands for high pressure, indicating that the rim incorporates a small hooked-edge for retaining high pressure tyres. The HP version also incorporates small, hollow, box sections in the corners to increase rigidity, with minimum weight increase. They are no older than 1976 and probably not OEM.

T-Mar

There were many manufacturers that stamped the serial number on the lower seat tube, not just Kuwahara. Also, the serial number format is incorrect for Kuwahara, unless it has been stamped incorrectly. Given the apparent era and level, the best indicator, if it is Kuwahara, would be the headset, which should be branded Kuwahara. These headsets were very common on entry level models of other Kuwahara manufactured brands, such as Apollo, Concord, Gear-Z, Hirame, Soma Takara and World of Wheels.

T-Mar

I was thinking the same thing.

Scoticus

here's the close up