MisterK

Neighbour was putting out some items for free in the alley and I saw this in the pile. The frame is a lil "worn", but hey look its a sekine...or was it? Neat headbadge but def not a sekine. Anyone familiar? Dunno bout the fork but I found a nice white/chrome one off a real sekine I may use instead. Cool old parts.

Captain Blight

Nope that's a Sekine. They had a couple different headbadges over the years.

*edit* well, maybe not. But it looks like fun regardless.

old's'cool

I have a 1976 Empire Professional that is a replacement for the one I bought new, then let go of, back in the day. I always wondered if Empire was related to Sekine in any way (both being Japanese based brands with a Canadian element). Your Empire looks to be several years earlier than mine, and a tad more "entry level". My Professional has aluminum alloy everywhere a bike should have it, but nothing worth writing home about, except for the Shimano 600 side-pull calipers and corresponding levers, both of which are actually quite nice.
Due to significant paint damage and surface rust on the frame, I am restoring the frame. Fortunately, it appears to have extremely low miles, as the original tires (that I remember from my new Empire) were still fitted, with very little wear (but terribly cracked rubber, so of course I scrapped them). So all of the components are in excellent condition; all I'm replacing are the freewheel (for gearing reasons) and the headset (due to rust/pitting). And the pedals were missing, so I got a set of KKT Top Runs, which are my best guess of what it had originally. Here are some before photos:

MisterK

That's kinda neat. Def helps date the bike abit and yes yours looks a lot nicer. I wonder is the frame had been painted and if I have chrome hidden somewhere. I'm not sure if my frame has any alloys I think she's all steel tho its def lighter than old steel bikes I've owned so I could be wrong.
I just wanna fix it n ride it.no fixie or ss. Ill get fancy when stuff breaks

Novakane 

Definitely not a Sekine... They've scavenged that rear wheel from one. Likely since both are Canadian bikes, they broke the original wheel and it was what was available.
I don't believe those derailleurs would have come from the Sekine though, so they *might* be original to the frame.
The date code on the derailleurs might give you a hint as to the age. The stem post date code might be a good cross-reference.
Its interesting to see turkey levers but downtube shifters on the same bike, they usually appeared on low end bikes with stem shifters AFAIK.

Novakane 

Another thought, to the best of my knowledge the Sekine plant in Canada made exclusively Sekine bikes.

old's'cool

Yep, my Empire has a prominent "Made in Japan" decal at the base of the seat tube. But I've seen some similarities with Sekine frames, which I believe were imported from Japan, along with most or all of the components, for assembly in Canada. I'm speaking about Sekine's Canadian venture here, which has been documented elsewhere, e.g. The Canadian Sekine.
By the way, I should have included this above, a photo of the headbadge which indicates the Canadian "branding" of the Empire:
[image function not working for me right now, so here is the link: Empire Headbadge]

randyjawa 

I have stumbled across several old Empire bicycles and a Professional frame is presently sitting in my scrap pile, slightly tweaked, and the fork set is a bit worse.

The OP's bike appears to be the bottom of the Empire line-up (can't recall the model name at the moment) and features no chrome on the frame or fork. I do not have a picture of the entry level model, but here is the next one up in the line up - the Empire Century...

old's'cool

The RD, a Lark GS, I presume?

sykerocker 

I'd say the Shimano Thunder Bird/Eagle combination are original to that bike by looking at the crank. While nicely functional, early Japanese cottered cranks had nothing of the nice design of a French cottered crank. Just the same, the crank will last forever, those derailleurs will rarely, if ever, miss a shift; and even if you lay the bike down on the right side at speed the derailleurs will function as if nothing had ever happened. That combination is my preferred setup for a fix and flip college student city bike.

MisterK

Figured I'd dig up this thread for an update instead of start a new one.
This bike is definatly becoming more of a sekine lol. Found a new front fork off a sekine. She's white and chrome. I'd kinda like to strip the white but from what I read it never really turns out very nice so ill probably keep it that way and maybe find a penguin decal for when the bike is done lol.
I also came across some nice vintange chrome pedals, they say osama on them and they're really quite nice.
I also pulled the really light diacompe brakes off my donor sekine, and in comparison to my current caliper brakes its like comparing feathers to stones, but sadly they're not long enough for my 26" sekine wheels which I found kinda odd tbh.
All I need now is bmx or mtb style pulls and a flat bar and the ggeneral apperance phase is done. Then comes the actual repair and mechnaical.
This bike is not a flip, I plan on keeping it and loving it as my own.
Ill definatly have to post some update pics when I get the pieces all together latertonite soo excited

MisterK

Replaced fork. Took off pedals. New pedals need to be cleaned and repacked. Seemed like ever nut is on soo tight or seized up. My spacers are chrome now too tho
I I'm pretty sure this has been painted aswell now. I think the orange on the old fork confirms this...soo sad, I'd bet there's no way to strip the spray pait layer and see if there is original under.....ha figured I'd try lol.

MisterK

Dropped the penguin off for the cotterpins at my lbs. I could attempt them myself but I don't like my odds of breaking something swinging a hammer. Should have taken my front wheel with me so I could repack the front hub...but that can wait I suppose.
I picked upsome goodies tho to tie me over. Behold my new bar(yeti) and pulls. The pulls are altus c10, they should work with caliper, theyre kinda nice so I'm hoping so.

MisterK

Got the crank arms straightened and new cotterpins and got my front end rebuilt!
Bit of a classic hybrid conversion. Check out the yeti bar caps!
Time to set up the rest and I can ride her....front hub needs a rebuild but its not tooo bad for now.
Check out the pics I'm soo happy with my progress

MisterK

"Maiden" voyage today. Got cables all run for brakes and everything set up...well, functioning.
Was definatly proof it needs some fine tuning. Mainly the old rear breake. The front works fine so its not dire. The altus c10 pulls worked perfectly.
She's really zippy. Agile. Fun. Didn't check all the nuts and rear axle nut slipped. Heard rubbing. Good job me , no wrench. Finally find wrench, go home and ride otther bike to get ice cream haha. Overall: I'm happy with what I have and am ready for the fine tuning and asthetics

T-Mar

Well, it does appear to have an integrated head tube and lugs like Sekine. I can't see the other frame details well enough in the picture but there's the possibility that manufacture was contracted to Sekine. The serial number would tell us if this Empire came from the Sekine factory. If not, I still may be able to identify the manufacturer from the serial number and/or determine the year.

old's'cool

FWIW, here is my 1976 Empire Professional serial number:
[TABLE="width: 64"]
[TR]
[TD="width: 64"]76L94064[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Bianchigirll 

Looks like a pretty servicable city/pub bike.

MisterK

Ill have to try to get some better pics. Usually I just post directly from my blackberry.
I do have a serial number tho: S6 1A772 yes there is a space unless maybe there is a hidden number under the spraypaint but looks like that shooooould be all the numbers

T-Mar

Neither of the serial number's are Sekine's formats. Old's Cool Empire would appear to be a 1977 model manufactured in late 1976. That's corroborated by the fact that it equipped with the Titlist II rear derailleur, which made its debut for the 1977 model year. The OP's bicycle is from a different manufacturer. It has an Eagle rear derailleur, as opposed to an Eagle II, so it should be pre-1977. I don't recall seeing this particular serial number format before. It may be 1976 but I'm not sure and some of the other characteristics look older. For instance, the crankest looks older and I would have expected to see stem shifters versus down tybe, though it shouldn't be too much older per the safety levers.

old's'cool

Thanks for the info, T-Mar. I assumed 1976 for my Empire since it is the same in every detail that I can remember as the Empire I bought new in spring 1976, except of course the frame size which is why I let the first one go (i.e. because I outgrew the frame). I definitely remember the RD was a Titlist, but I don't recall II or not. I don't remember the general appearance of the RD being any different. I'll see if Velobase can shed some light.

edit:

Here is a pic of my Titlist RD (sorry it's upside down - my cellphone doesn't like me:


And here's one from Velobase:


Does the different font differentiate a Titlist from a Titlist II?

MisterK

Took her out again today. Rode nice, had to tighten and realign a few things along the way, but that's to be expected (hey I actually brought a wrench this time).
Added the fender and rack. Def need a new seat and post. A longer stem would be ideal.
Was nice to get her out again

oldroads

I have a quick Sekine story.
One morning a few weeks ago I got an email from a woman looking for a magenta Sekine, like she had in high school. She said she'd drive the 800 miles to my shop to pick it up if I ever found one. I told her I'd keep her email in case we ever found one.

That afternoon I picked up a dozen bikes from one of my pickers and you can guess what was in that load.

Weird!

MisterK

so i stripped the fork, hoping the chrome went all the way up the fork....well it did, but the chrome wasnt the same finish underneath.
Enter a new fork, the donor an old Apollo. this thing was a giant tho. So off to the bike shop i went to get her threaded and chopped.
20$ and ill be pickn her back up this weekend. nice full chrome fork for me.
lots of other new fun bits: longer stem, new seat post, new flat pedals (so much nicer on my feet), and shes gettn stripped and painted VW Emerald Green
future thoughts include 27" wheels, velo orange fenders and new brakes.....
newest picture i have....tho currently shes all in peices

T-Mar

That's usually the case. The biggest cost in chrome plating is the polishing of the metal to achieve a good, reflective surface. Consequently, most manufacturers only polish the metal in the region where the chrome is exposed. It's the reson why we routinely caution owners about stripping the paint from frames that appear to fully chromed.