Recently found a men's Raleigh DL1. Have been searching for a while. The frame is in very good shape, but the rod brakes and handlebars a bit rough. Fortunately I have another Tourist, a ladies, with great bars and and braking elements, which I would like to swap to the men's bike.

But I'm puzzled about the removal of the handlebar unit. Should it come out the same way that other more typical bar/stem systems come out (whacking the loosened nut on top and pulling out) or do I need to know anything else?

It should. You will have to loosen the 'binder' (I don't know their proper name) nuts on the linkage in front of the head tube, but you probably know that. If the frame size are very different, those bits of the linkage in front of the head tube might be of different lengths, I don't know.

if i remember correctly, it works as follows: first you gotta loosen the pinch-bolt assembly that attaches the front brake rod to the handlebar links; for the rear, do the same thing. whack quill bolt, don't smash thumb.

make sure you tape and label EVERYTHING; the first time i took one apart, it took forever to figure out where the bolts went.

after everything's off and clearly labeled, measure them up against your donor pair, and hope the rods are the same. if they're riveted together at the ends, you could drill them out, and then find a new set of stainless rivets to put in with four nylon washers per bolt; that should make the links move easier. hell, if nothing matches up, i would just try putting nylon washers and sleeves on your original pair; mcmaster carr has a ton of that stuff.

take pictures with good lighting for posterity, and post them!

I am curious about the reason that you want to swap bars. Can you explain the problem with the original bars?

+1 - from the one photo they look pretty good...

Ok, I was a bit impatient - bars came out fine once I tugged a bit. So, the reason I wanted to swap out the bars is that they were considerably rustier than the other pair, as were the braking hardware. BTW, that braking hardware is beautiful stuff. Great shapes.

So, yes, I'm photographing, and will update. Thank you very much - really great to get feedback so quickly, and again, a little embarrassed that I wasn't more patient, but I thought this bar assembly might be somehow different - not having ever taken apart a Tourist before.

On a side note, is a '91 Merlin titanium road bike considered Classic & Vintage by you guys? Not that it matters much. Just curious.