MaruuchiRider

So, I'm a new member, and have a bicycle I know nothing about. All I know is it's "asian" and it's old, and the front name badge is a guarantee badge with the name Maruuchi on it. It's in the shop right now getting a once over, so I don't have any pictures of it right now. Below is a picture of a very very similar bike. Sightly different fenders on mine, and no rack on the back. My dad bought it from a flea market before I was born (back in the early early 80s), and thought he could fix it up. Turns out the tires readily available, so he changed out the rims. Looks rough, but was still ridable. Tires were nothing but bits of dust held together by hopes and dreams, which is why it's in the shop. Another odd thing, that my dad couldn't remember if he did or not, is that it has 2 sprockets up front, but only the one in the back, with no way to change the gears. He thought maybe you had to loosen up the back wheel to slide it foward to give the chain enough slack to fit over the larger gear. Though he may not have been able to find a chain to fit, or after he changed out the rims, he found that the original front sprocket had a different tooth setup than his replacement rim, and had to change those, so I can't say that's original. It has rod brakes like the one in the link below, same rear stand, and even the same piece of medal on the neck tube that probably held a reflector or something. I know it's probably not worth much, and I know this isn't the forum for that. Right now I'm not worried about it's price, as it's likely worth more sentimentally than the $70 I've invested in it to have the shop go over it. Google has led to nothing. The bike shop owner who'd been doing this for 50 years didn't know much except that the design and quality of the bike was great for it's time. I'm hoping maybe you guys, who know much more collectively than this one bike shop owner, may be able to tell me more about it from this little bit of info I've provided.

https://cdn.mos.bikeradar.com/images/...mmq-670-70.jpg

MaruuchiRider

By the way, I believe the bike in the picture is a WWII era Japanese infantry bicycle. I don't think mine is military, but possibly made by the same company as that one. Handlebar and brake setup is practically identical to mine. I'm sure a lot of old bikes like this looked very similar though.

Bill Kapaun

Typically, the rod brake bikes used a 635mm BSD tire-

https://sheldonbrown.com/harris/tires/635.html

RobbieTunes

I'll finish reading that post in a couple of days and try to get back to this thread.

MaruuchiRider

Awesome, that's a great head start. I'll eventually need to find some old rims, as the ones my dad changed out don't really fit the bike. The front center pull brake pads don't actually reach the rim, as the rim is too short. He just used it with it rubbing on the tire instead of the rim and called it good

non-fixie 

96, actually. Yours is # 97.

Welcome to the forum! I'd love to see pictures of the real thing, once it's back from the shop.

MaruuchiRider

Thanks for the welcome I'll have to find a different bike from a different company so I can make a different name to join up and make the 100th post Though I'll feel a little weird if my bike turns out to be something different, and my name no longer matches the bike lol. I'm really looking forward to getting it back from the shop. It's been hanging from it's wheels under my mom's carport for at least 30 years. I've never ridden it. Was in such "bad" shape when my parents got divorced, my dad just left it. Really only needed tubes and tires to get it rolling, until I thought I could take off the wheels to get new tires for it myself and gave up after removing one of the nuts and losing it. So it's been hanging up with 1 nut missing for about 20 years now lol.

3alarmer 

You certain it's not Maruishi ? Just askin'.

Chrome Molly

Or....?

3alarmer 

Good point....................if Windsor could make Italian bikes in Mexico, anything is possible.

Shp4man

Does it have this symbol on it anywhere?

rhm

There is a forum member selling a pair of wheels that size. Take a look at this thread:
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...-Pigeon-Wheels

MaruuchiRider

Thanks rhm, I posted on it. Hopefully those will be the size I need, and that he still has them by next payday

Italuminium

Welcome! Very interesting bike you got there, we don't see to many of these old military bikes around here. Thanks for sharing.

MaruuchiRider

During my research, I saw that name (google kept trying to correct me to Maruishi), but I'm almost positive it's Maruuchi. Probably an asian knock-off, like my LouIR Vuitton wallet I got for $3. Not sure they did that kind of stuff back in the whenever this bike was made though, so kinda odd. I'll get a picture of the head badge after I get it back tonight, and hopefully that'll help out.

Shp4man, I honestly can't remmeber off-hand. I want to say no, but I could be wrong. Luckily it still has the head badge and the one on the down tube under the seat tube (sorry, haven't been around long enough to know all the proper bike terms). I know pictures are worth a thousand words, especially when you don't have any words to describe it. All I do know is, most of the language on the badges is in an asian language except for "Guarantee" and what me and the bike shop made out to be "Maruuchi"

MaruuchiRider

Thanks Italuminium. I'm not sure yet if mine is actually military, or just a civilian bike made by a company who made military bikes, or a bike that's not military related at all lol. It looks so very similar to the one in that picture except for the back rack, that it makes me believe that's what it is. Pictures to come tonight/this weekend after I get it back. Getting excited about it though, haven't ever ridden it though it's been in my family since before I was born.

Shp4man

If the "Chrysanthemum" symbol is on the bike, it means about the same thing as "Property of US Government" does on our military equipment. It's a symbol of the Emperor of Japan who "owned" all the Japanese military equipment of WWII.
I have seen it on postwar '60's Japanese bikes, though.

Italuminium

Good to know! My focus (or rather sidecatch of my real research) is Dutch bikes in the late colonial era, but any Japanese info is good to have as well.

MaruuchiRider

Ok, so I got the bike back from the shop. Got all the spokes in place and tires on it, chain is lubed, and the back brake "works better", though to me it's still a little tight when using it on the center stand. Anyway, I promised pics, and though these are horrible phone quality pics, they're the best I could do considering the weather we had here in central OK tonight. So here goes:



The head badge is not really legible in the picture, but it does indeed say "Guaranteed" on the top line, and below that "Maruuchi Bicycles" Very odd....

non-fixie 

Nice! It looks surprisingly elegant.

randomgear

The crankset might not be original.
To change gears requires a lot of work: you would need to loosen the nuts on the rear wheel and at the drum brake, pull the wheel forward grab the chain and loop it over the other chainring, retension the chain tighten the nuts, and finally re-adjust the drum brake. You will also have to adjust the reaction arm on the drum brake and maybe play with a tugnut on the drive side.
Still, it looks like a fun project!

MaruuchiRider

I agree with you on the crank set not being original. Seems to me it would almost be easier to carry around a second slightly longer chain, as that would probably be easier to change out than moving the back wheel and adjusting the drum.

MaruuchiRider

Well ok, so we don't know what it is, it likely isn't military, and probably not worth anything. From the research I've done, it looks like Maruuchi may have been an asian (still don't know if chinese or japanese) motorized bicycle manufacturer. The only 2 hits I've seen on Maruuchi through google were motorized bikes. So there goes that. I got my new-to-me seat in today, and have been thinking of color schemes. Since it does look like the old WW2 Japanese bicycles, I may restore it to something like that. With nothing to see what it looked like originally, I'm doing my own thing. I'm thinking flat camo green (lighter green, not the darker green) on the frame, with black pin striping similar to what it has on it now. I'll do flat black rims and handlebars, and might even do the same flat camo green on the spokes. I think the rear wheel stand would look good in flat black to off set the rest. Just an idea so far. Who knows, I may not be able to tear it down in order to do the paint job. Oh, and the spokes are in terrible need of adjustment. Not so bad I can't ride it, but you can definitely feel the wobble. Will likely have to soak them in WD-40 before I even try to start adjusting them though, and I'll need you guys to help me learn how to do that.

MaruuchiRider

Reviving my old thread, because I still have this bike and am still curious about it's history .

In the 10 years since my original post, it seems there has been a tiny bit more information come up about this brand. I found a link to a VERY brief description of the company, and apparently they were only around for 5 years or so. It would almost appear that my bike is the only remaining non-motorized bicycle from this company in existence on the planet? I mean, that's pretty cool lol. If nothing else, it's probably the last one in this country. Since the company was only around for 5 years, it makes me wonder if they actually did any exporting to the US where this bicycle lives. That makes me think more and more that perhaps this is a bicycle that somebody personally brought back from Japan to the US.

Also in the 10 years since this original post, I have taken the bike back to another shop (as those tires 10 years ago eventually rotted too lol) and I was able to get a correct fitting wheel for the front brakes. So now it's fully operational! The front wheel looks terrible as it's all new and shiny with logo stickers, but, to me it just adds more character to this possibly one of a kind bicycle. I'll try to add pictures of it as it is now. I was also able to break loose the seat stem, and rotate it around 180 degrees so that the seat would fit me better, as this bike is definitely not made for someone my size. That seat that was on it was pretty far gone as well, and I replaced it with one I found on eBay that is kinda sorta period correct. I don't like the color, but, it works. Anyway, that's my update, pictures to come!

Other JDM Machines (oldjapanesebikes.com)

bikemig 

Reviving your own 10 year old thread. You get bonus points for this once you post some pics!