Hello,

I've just joined, and for one purpose: to chronicle and find tips on my summer bike restoration projects. I'm back at my parents' house after my freshman year in college at the University of Minnesota. This might be the last time in a while I have access to a garage, so I'd really like to finish this stuff by the time I'm back at school in the fall.

So... here's what I've got. Two bikes, as you may notice. I got these both from an old lady who was moving out of her house to live in an assisted living development. She didn't really know or remember anything about them so it's all a mystery to me, really. they haven't been used in over 10 years, but I'm not sure how much wear and tear they had before that.



The blue 10-speed in the background is a Monarch "Star" (made in Japan). It has Suntour shifters and a Weinmann brake system. I've got a lot to do with this guy.




Here's the plan:

1. Take it apart, clean it.



2. Replace the tires (25"), and any/all nuts and bolts that are rusty or unusable.

3. Fix the brakes, and make sure the shifting system works cleanly.

4. I'd like to re-paint it. This isn't absolutely necessary, as the current paint is fairly intact, but I'd like to make this into a sort of art bike. I'd match the grips with the paint job, and add a new seat as well.




The crazy yellow 3-wheel is the one I'm really excited about. From what I've gathered from the bike itself, it's from Montgomery Ward, and part of the "Open Road" series they had. To be frank, I don't really care. I would like to make this bike work well, and if the authenticity of the restoration is questionable, so be it. I just think it would be rockin' to have an adult-sized tricycle.



Problems to solve here:

1. Clean the cog gear system. It's going to be a chore just to take it apart, and 30 years of grime don't make for a quick clean. We'll see how that goes. Also I need to figure out whether or not this baby is a 3-speed, as it claims to be, and how that works and whatnot. I would not, at all, mind making this a one-speed and scrapping the shifter system.





2. Find new tires. Shouldn't be too hard. 22".

3. Fix the speedometer. It sounds absurd for a bike like this, or really any bike, to have a speedometer, and that's basically the reason I want to keep it. The display reads "Capri" and says it has 739.5 miles.



4. There's light rust and general gunk all over the place. I'll need to clean all that. I don't want to re-paint, but I might want to at least touch up the spots that have chips and rust pockets.


So... I know that's a lot to spit out there, but there is a lot I need to do for these guys. I'll be checking this site often during the process and posting more as I progress. ANY tips or suggestions or comments or anything would be way appreciated. Thanks everyone.

-J Shocks

Nice Seat on the trike

Noooo, keep the trike a 3 speed
Singlespeed trikes make me sad

That looks like a Sturmey-Archer hub in your "transmission" shot. They're pretty bulletproof.

Think twice about repainting. It is a huge time sink, and neither bike appears to need it, really. Better, at your age, to spend some quality time with the opposite sex.

ISTR Monarch was one of the house brands for a dept. store like Montgomery Wards or similar??
I wouldn't put a lot of money into that one. It has the 3 arm "cottered" cranks from the late 60's or so.

The trike looks like a Shimano 3 speed. Something like 333 or SCS. I think they are the same, but people read them differently because of the "font" used. They are not known for being very strong.

https://sheldonbrown.com/shimano333.html

I agree with Mr Wahl. Reset the speedo on the yellow trike back to 0km, and ride it down to Tierra del Fuego. Take your girlfriend along. Write a book about the journey and maybe you'll get rich. Maybe not. Anyway, the idea's now in the public domain, so if you do it and don't pay me, I'll sue your ass.
BTW I love that yellow trike!
Jeff

I could be wrong but it looks like the Monarch's frame is dead? the left seat say looks bent pretty badly...

No...you are not wrong...I passed over that without even noticing.

Definitely! I love how the speedometer red-lines, er...white-lines at 30 MPH.
You just might have to add flames to the chain guard.

stan

.

Good thing the speedo goes all the way to 60.............................

Well, that takes care of that problem

I guess you better get wrenching on the trike!

The trike looks like it would clean up quite quickly. Lose the saddle/diving platform on that sucker. Check on eBay before you toss it though.

My vote is to keep the Trike a three speed if you can. Why? Trikes are the ultimate heavy grocery vehicle and although the second gear which is usually 1:1 drive is okay for most things when you have a couple 12packs of your favorite beverage and a couple sacks of groceries getting a heavily laden trike up to speed in direct drive is a real gulte/hamstring burner. As a three speed you can downshift to one and then work up the gears like a car so that you can "spin" your way back up to speed.

As for the speedometer on it, yeah have to agree that particular speedometer on a bicycle/trike is absurd in light of the fact that the new digital ones are more accurate, less bulky and lighter weight. The thing about the speedometer in question is that it is period correct and is part of the trike's history. I've found that having a cycle computer on my trike quite useful. It gives me a rough idea on how fast I'm going and how far I have gone. It also gives me a rough idea of when to plan maintenance for the trike.

Give me the trike!

Thanks for the responses so far.

First, let me say- this is not the only thing I'm doing this summer, and I'm spending plenty of time with the opposite sex. Jeepers, folks. But thanks for the advice about not repainting. If I did do it, it would be the absolute last thing I did, so we'll see if I have time. I'm kinda an artsy fartsy type, so the idea of painting it just appealed to me. But as the paint is basically in perfect condition, I'll think long and hard before starting that.

Jeffiah- I might just steal your idea, once the trike is finished. I'll give you some royalties if the book does well. Where's Tierra del Fuego, by the way?

The speedometer is way cool, but definitely broken. I haven't really looked into it much, so I don't know what's wrong or how to fix it. Sirrius Rider- thanks for the notes on the speedometers. I might just have to invest in one of them new-fangled digital ones if it looks to hard for my tastes.

I'm keeping the seat on the trike. It's way comfy.

I agree with all who said keep it a 3-speed. The problem I see so far is that... well, the shifter doesn't work! And I don't know enough about that transmission thing to really know what's going wrong (Bill Kapaun, you seem to know what's up with those- any thoughts?). The little switch is stuck all the way up on the control- I think you can see it on the picture I posted. The metal switch is supposed to be down where the numbers are. I can still pedal it around fine, but the switch won't budge. Hmm :/

Tomorrow's task: I'll be trying to take apart the trike, and investigating and cleaning the transmission hub. Wish me luck, I'll post when I'm done working for the day.

Thanks again all. This is to be a great summer

-J Shocks

So I just joined this forum as I just go my first used bike, and I'm pretty sure its very similar to the 10 speed you have. I couldn't exactly tell from the picture, but if it is the same as the one I just picked up, the crank on this bike has a bolt with a nut on one end and a smooth circular head. My question is I've looked around online quite a bit the past couple days, and can't seem to be able to find out how to remove it, as it doesn't seem to be similar to all the other's out there. Hopefully you or someone can point me in the right direction because I really need to get it fixed so I can start riding!

Also, good luck on your projects this summer!

drew2219, Read this & report back in 30 days:

https://sheldonbrown.com/cotters.html

thanks so much that's exactly what I needed! Hopefully I can get it fixed this weekend now!

Okay so I've really let this posting business go, mostly because progress is really slow. I underestimated how much time I needed to dig out all my tools and crap every day. And cleaning is not as fun as I had dreamed. So I will probably be posting weekly, if not bi-weekly, for the rest of the summer.

That said, I've done some stuff. I cleaned all the grease off, which took seriously a week. Maybe I'm just bad at it, but those parts seemed to have an endless supply. I bought new tires, which I haven't put on yet, and I got a good look at the 3-speed hub and transmission thingamajig.

After it looked pretty good, I put it all together and took it for a ride. The shifting is still not working, unfortunately. I was thinking earlier that this was a problem that would simply be solved by cleaning, but obviously not. It's doing that thing that bikes do when they suck where when you pedal hard, it can't handle it and it makes a clink noise as your pedals give. Hopefully you all know what I mean. Lots of pressure, usually on a hill, then CLINK! and your pedals have turned a 90 degrees forward with no movement. I discovered that my hub us a Shimano 333, just as Bill Kapaun suspected. And judging by what I read on that Sheldon Brown guy's web page, it's not unlikely that the hub has plain crapped out on me. So I really don't know what to do about that. I guess I'm gonna have to look for a new trike hub. Bummer.

I'll post again when I've come up with something genius, or when I start working on the other bike.

-J

You should pimp that out with gold spokes and Dugast silk tubulars

Shockley-

There are many ways the shifter system can get loused up that are simple to repair and that do not involve the internals of the hub being hosed.

I'm a volunteer bike mechanic at a community garage, and I've seen a lot of ancient shimano three-speed hubs that work just fine.

Replacement shifters, cables, and shifting linkages (down by the hub) are reasonably priced and readily available on them intarwebs.

Just an example: https://johnsvintagebikes.com/jvb_cat...s_catalog.html (see shimano three-sped vintage replacement parts heading).

Replacements parts are still manufactured, so your local bikeshop could probably get them cheaper.

You'll be a happy camper if you can get that thing going! Do give it a shot.

Shockley,

It sounds to me like your three speed hub is out of adjustment. Check Sheldons' site for adjustment instructions.

The gear ratios on that hub are-
1- 3/4
2- 1 (direct)
3- 4/3

IF you can get 2nd gear, but none of the others, the gears are probably busted internally.
But don't give up yet.
Adjust the shifting so that you are in direct drive or 2nd gear.
"Tweak" the linkage so that it's "centered" in that gear. IOW, turn the adjuster one way until it starts to skip under LIGHT pressure. Turn the opposite direction until it skips again. SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE.

IF you can get the hub to work without skipping in either 1st or 3rd, it's probably NOT broken, and can be adjusted.

IF you can only get it "solid" in 2nd, you can (probably) set it up to be a single speed.
The way I did it on the broken 333 I had was I took a nail to use as an "indicator rod" (the internal shift rod) I placed a small nut over the head and then screwed the cap thing with the lever on it.
I had to play around a bit to get the right length nail.
I figured 1 speed was better than none.

i like the fact that the speedometer is also a rev counter, which is neat, but doesn't really make sense with only one needle and three speeds.

i guess it is calibrated to read revs in 2nd gear, ie at 1:1.

nonetheless, if you can get it to work, it'll be an absolute must to keep it there. any idea how rare something like that must be (I don't either, but I'm guessing the answer is something like VERY)?

speedo problems: usually in this vintage it's a spring cable driven by a swaged or welded gear at one end (in the gearbox i would guess in this setup, but can be the hub centre). the cable is flexible but rigid enough to be driven without too much wind-up. the end (behind the speedometer) terminates in a section where the spring has been compressed from a tube into a square or triangular profile, and this inch or so of shaped wire fits into a socket in the back of the speedo by a screwed on collar. as the wire turns, it turns the indicator against soem kind of spring resistance: the faster the cable turns, the more the lever you see from the front moves.

if the speedo doesn't work, usually it's 1) the cable has broken or frozen in its hosing. 2) the cable has dropped out of the socket behind the speedo unit on the bars, or 3) the gear on the end at the hub/gearbox has either dropped off, is out of alignment, or has had its little teeth worn off by corrosion or grinding. 3 can happen if 1 happens first. if 3 has happened, you're usually SOOL unless you can weld or machine a new one one.

checking and fixing: detach the cable from the rear of the speedo unit by unscrewing the collar. use pliers (wrapped in cloth to avoid stripping the collar grooves). lube first with WD40 or similar to allow easier unscrewing.

insert a small wooden stick or rod or even a screwdriver that will fit into the rear socket, and spin. bboth ways! to see iffthe needle turns. if it does, you're in luck.

twist the cable and see if it spins freely: frozen cables won't budge, broken gears at the other end will allow you to spin too easily, and loose gears at the other end turn with a ratchet.. don't overdo the spn test.

pick up the rear of the bike, and look at the cable as you spin the back wheel (if it's hub mounted) or the cranks (if it's gear box mounted): does the cable turn? if it does, then you're also in luck and the gear at the end of the cable will probably be OK.

wash the cable by filling the housing well with light oil and spinning the hell out of it for a while. (best if disassembled, but not totally necesary) then drain by gravity and replace oil, drain again and finally lube the cable in its housing well with a heavy oil or a specialist cable lube used in brake and gear cables in those motorsickel things. try not to disassemble the speedo unit if you can, they're a finicky fix at best and usually need a few sacrifices to get good at (ie, don't try to overhaul the best one first, but practice on one from your dad's car first til you get it right.)