Cute Boy Horse

The men who put on army uniforms and marched off to war are a completely different group of people to those who sat back in leather chairs and daydreamed about how much money the war was making them. Seems odd to invoke the memory of heroes to defend the shameless loan sharks who cashed in on the whole affair.

There's certainly nothing heroic about millionaire industrialists holding free Europe upside down by the feet and shaking us until our wallet fell out in exchange for some guns and trucks. God knows half of them had interests in the other side anyway, coca-cola, Ford, IBM and GM to name a few. GM actually demanded compensation for their nazi factories after the allies blew them up. Beggars belief.

clubman 

We can stop now, this is all out of line and we can't even consider locking this thread. Let's drop the politics or the moderator will make it so. No room for it on Remembrance day.

Here, I was offered this for 75 bux cdn today. It doesn't have a Brooks. Is it worth it?
Discuss...75 Superbe in very good nick, missing dimple and key.

clubman 

We can stop now, this is out of line and we can't even consider locking this thread. Let's drop the politics or the moderator will make it so. No room for it on Remembrance day.

Here, I was offered this for 75 bux cdn today. It doesn't have a Brooks. Is it worth it?
Discuss...75 Superbe in very good nick, missing dimple and key.

dweenk 

I would buy that for $75 US or CDN in a heartbeat. The dyno hub is worth at least that much. Now if the fork was locked, and the key was missing; that would give me pause.

BigChief 

Sounds like a good deal to me. Too bad about the saddle. In 76 they came with a B66. That would have been a home run at $75. I love the B66 on light roadsters.
There's a couple other features I like about the 70s Raleighs. They replaced the rear fender hanger with a neater looking under the fender style like the front has. ESGE kickstands were standard and even though they have the more modern font, the graphics are nicely understated. They don't jump out at you.

gster

I agree. Let's not take the bait.
I'm not seeing the photo for some reason but $75.00 sounds reasonable as both a fix up or parts source.
Just have a look at the cost + shipping for a pair of axle lock washers.
When I first started working on these bikes I didn't know how proprietary all these parts were and would discard rusty nuts, indicators, cable housings etc.
Ten years ago I had access to several NOS parts bins from various bike shops/community bike shops etc.
Not so today.
Having a personal parts source is essential.

clubman 

Sorry you can't see it, I tried another path. Google photos is hit and miss. Are you on an Apple product? Lots of fun and games between the big guys.

You're entirely right about the parts. I just haven't got the time and energy to part out bikes. Gonna finish the bikes I have and call it a day.

gster

No, a PC.
I'll try a restart.

thumpism

It may not be leather, but are you certain it doesn't say "Brooks" on the back? They also produced non-leather types at a much lower price point.

BigChief 

Pretty sure the saddle and center stand are aftermarket. Here's the 1975 catalog page:

SirMike1983 

That Trygg type center stand is a common upgrade for bikes of that period. I had one for a number of years on my Sports. Eventually the shell cracked and I replaced it with an ESGE Type A stand. The center stand is good if you need a bike that parks straight up - parking next to a sign post, or a bike rack end, etc.

I took the Raleigh export DL-1 for a ride today. It was quite cold.

arty dave

Sir Mike - It's green! Wow, nice green, it looked black in your workshop photos. How did it ride with the new spindle?

I swapped over the drum shoes so the better working set (with more braking compound) is now cleaned, de-glazed, and in the front drum. The combo is much more confidence inspiring, but I still have to be aware of steeper hills, children riding towards me on my side of the bike path with no intention of moving, and dogs. A lot like riding with modern brakes, but with more anticipation. It was nice to stretch my legs on the open path - there weren't a lot of people out as it was very overcast and rained on my way home. 18 kms round trip. These grips are nice - a lot better on my hands than DARE grips I used to have on a sports that made my hands feel weird.

IMG20171112170723 by arty dave armour, on Flickr

The shoe sets are a bit different to each other, and the set I initially thought was OK is actually quite worn compared to the rear. Different compounds too - one has bits of what looks like brass in it. *Please still let me know if modern drum shoes will fit on a vintage hub* and I'll start saving

IMG20171112143907 by arty dave armour, on Flickr

gster

I would think that's worth $50-$75.
Looks too good to part out.
I would do a makeover and gift it to a niece/neighbour etc.

gster

They look like they should have good stopping power.
My experience is with this old Flying Pigeon.....
Drums front and back with minimal stopping power.
p1050369.jpg

p1050370.jpg
Obviously a Raleigh knock-off and a lot heavier....
In the 50's these were the Model T of China.

BigChief 

Just a thought. I've found that my rod brakes need at least 2 1/2" of travel between the lever and handlebar grip to work well. The beat up roadster I fixed last year was well below that and would actually bottom out on the grip at full pressure. On a tip I got here, I bent the levers out another half inch or so and it made a big difference in braking power. I had the same issue with my scorcher when I added dual pivot calipers. The original Raleigh levers have barely enough travel. The rear brake was almost bottomed out at full pressure even with closely set pads. Again, thanks to a tip I got here, I eliminated a bit of wasted travel by cutting out 18" of cable housing by mounting cable stops on the top tube. That little bit of efficiency put the lever high enough off the grip at full brake that it made a big difference in braking power. So maybe a little added lever travel would help you get the most out of your drum brakes.
edit:
I think SirMikes bike is black. Looks like he has a green Birmingham style chainguard. Although, color on computers can be misleading.

gster

Available from Europe....
Not cheap
https://www.dutchbikebits.com/sturme...hub-brake-pads
305144-500x500.jpg

gster

A-scene-inside-a-Raleigh--002.jpg

browngw 

Took SWAT (Sir Wayes A. Tonne) for its last ride this season. Road maintenance crews have started the dreaded salting already. Down to the warm dry basement till spring.

gster

You could deliver the mail while you're out.

SquidPuppet

browngw 

Those great bags were acquired on sale at MEC in the spring. Great for groceries and stuff, but I might be able to pick up a mail contract as well.

gster

I've got a pair of old leather saddlebags on the back of this 71 Hercules.
Yes, great for "groceries" (beer).
p1180251 (1).jpg

arty dave

Now that you mention it BC, I vaguely remember that too, thanks I'll do that.

When I was painting the DL-1 frame the black always looked a murky-grey green kinda black, it took me a while to realise it was just the reflection of the grey green garage colour. I like Raleigh greens. I was tempted to paint the DL-1 green.

Gster yeah the 90mm replacements are US$40 and then postage on top I couldn't find them much cheaper anywhere else...and I assume they would fit the '65 hub shell, but it would be nice to know for sure. I might shoot them an email asking for some dimensions.

SirMike1983 

It does look black in my garage - the lighting in there is pretty primitive. But it's actually a very dark green color (I think I've seen this called "Superbe Green"). The chainguard is a slightly lighter shade of green and has a star stamp pressed into the corner of it. Someone must have dumped the original chain case (the bolt is even still in the boss) in favor of this chain guard. I actually prefer this style of guard over the chain case because it's much easier to work on the bike. This one even came with a 44 tooth front chainring mated to the long, old-style DL-1 crank arms to go easier in the chain case. But I'll be sticking with this guard for now.

The spindle is running well. It's a little longer than the original, but I've got everything together and running. I took a ride of about an hour's length before dark this evening.

agmetal

I'm curious, did you ever find out more about this bike? Specifically, any idea what the BB threading is? I have my eye on one locally with a weird project in mind