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Never heard of Sonycycle, but you have one heckuva job on your hands building that into a bike for your girl! Good luck!

Just looking at it on it's face it looks like the typical '70-'80's Bike boom bike which means it's the lowest end of the range. Additionally, you're going to put more time and energy into restoration than the bike is worth.. If it were me I'd keep hunting for a better candidate.

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There were hundreds of popup companies that came and went rather quickly during the boom of the 70's. Plus, many department stores sold their own brand for a short time. Your bike was likely not made by a company called Sonycycle, but rather it was made by a now long gone Asian company and sold at a hardware store or department store.

70s, Japanese, department store bike.

I think that the guy's shed was leaking...

There is a lot of work that needs to be done here (and a lot of $ that needs to be put into this to make it rideable) which you may or may not want to do (because it is a heavy bike, and there are better alternatives)

but here is the order of things:

- try to get the seat post and the stem out of there. If you cannot, junk the bike. It will not worth your time/money.

if they are out:

- strip to to bare frame (junk everything with rust on it; well that's pretty much everything else) and clean it well inside and out.
- get parts to build it up
- build it up

that's a huge uphill and it's up to you whether you want to take it...

Congratulations kicking cigarettes! I would echo the comments here about finding a new bike but ultimately that is your own decision. Still, welcome to the forums and good luck.

It's a hobby, and maybe even a bit of an experiment. From other postings you can get information on Oxylic Acid (wood bleach) for removing rust the simple and easy way. You can use the forum's search feature to locate them and other information. You can get tires for $5.99 each (27" HP 90 PSI blackwalls) and tubes for $2.99 each & cables for about a $1 each from Niagara Cycle Works. There are numerous "how to" bike repair websites and videos online to help answer questions you may have. You will probably pick up more from messing with this bike than from a "bike repair" adult ed. course. If it gets to be a nightmare, though, be prepared to just say "sc*** it!" and walk. Either way, look for a decent quality bike in "as new" condition for your girlfriend to ride. If she has a bad experience with riding a clunker she may lose interest in cycling.

Maybe think of it as a "starter frame" Build it up with some decent components and if she really takes to biking, you can find her a nice frame and transfer the parts over to that later. Being Japanese, it's going to have mostly universal components.
I'd also get rid of the cottered cranks pretty early on.
Two big questions, is it her size and does she like the color? Those are really the most important things.

I haven't had a smoke in 10 years. It feels good, not being dependant on an addiction that was pretty much designed to get some other guy rich by killing me young. Congratulations.

Congrats on quitting, I havent had one since 3:47am on new years day...

Congrats on stopping smoking - cycling will surely help you stay quit (you will be loath to do anything that takes away your wind!) Oxalic acid, Wal-Mart cable set and brake pads, donor bike. +1 do it as a learning experience.

I second that this is a 70's "Boom Bike"-

I just picked up one exactly the same as this, but in better shape, rather than restore, I decided to customize into a basic commuter bike for the girlfriend, I haven't done any time trials with it, but I think it will, at the very least, keep up with me and my '36 3 speed.

Not strange at all. Typical relabeled bike from the boom. Its not a real brand. Contract manufacturers pumped them out by the millions, and then if you wanted to brand a bike for your gas station, tire store, lawn mower shop or whatever, you told them the name you wanted, and they plastered it on it. So if you wanted to create a brand: "Thrifty Bill's Bikes", no problem. Brand did not really exist, so its now gone.

While I rehab bikes as a hobby as well, I try to pick ones up that will be worth something when I am done, so I can get out in one piece financially (or hopefully ahead). I am retired, so I really do not need hobbies that cost me money.