Hproduguidon

Royal roadster 1975 tout chromé

Unca_Sam

Like a Rolls Royce from the 50's...

Hproduguidon

the voilà after a few hours of cleaning

barnfind

I don't know about venmo, never even heard of that one. I deal strictly in cash myself.

I had the first sale of the entire year this morning, some guy showed up who had been emailing me for two months, he bought every last Huffy in the back barn, all 31 of them at $50 each. I was pulling them out and listing them at $100 each, a dozen or so sold early last year but the rest weren't as nice. I don't fix up Huffy bikes and they don't have any parts I can use so they had to go.

I don't list very regularly, just when I come across something I can't use or don't want. Most of what I do list isn't bikes, but other junk found in peoples garages and barns.
Things that are a hard sell here, regardless of whether its high or low end is bicycles, any sort of art, sculptures, paintings etc., lawn mowers, garden tractors, and stereo electronics. Things that sell fast are furniture, kitchen things, used carpet, auto parts, and boats, outboards, and gimmick type lawn care items like odd ball weed trimmers, cheap chainsaws, etc.

What has amazed me over the years with CL and FB is how many buyers will drive long distances not to buy something. You get the email saying they want it and will you take a deposit on it, I'll be there on the weekend, I'm X miles away. I never take a deposit but so long as they sound legit I'll set it aside for a few days at best.
More often than not lately I get people who have driven 200+ miles to look at something only to show up without any money, or tell me they're just looking. Most are older folks but not always. I had a couple drive from Ohio, (to NJ), to buy a very clean Schwinn Tandem I had found. I had it listed cheap at $400 cash, firm just to get it out of my way. They drove here and kept calling me through the day telling me they're still coming, then showed up an hour after dark after getting lost several times. They showed up driving a tiny car with no hatch and no bike rack. They looked at the bike, even rode it, then came back and asked me how much to ship it to their house. I told her I don't do shipping, and the cost of shipping something that size would likely exceed what its worth. I told them the best bet would be to take it apart and take it with you.
They then said they didn't bring any money. They just figured they'd take the ride and check it out, if they liked it they'd pay me by check and have me ship it to them.
I again told them I don't do shipping, I don't have the time and most of the bikes I deal with have fenders and won't fit on a modern bike box without being nearly completely disassembled. The woman spoke up and she said she didn't want the bike taken apart, "Can't you ship it Whole?" I again said I don't ship anything, especially tandems. If she wanted it shipped, that was up to them to buy it, and take to a shipper. Keep in mind I was selling it cheap, most of those I see are listed for more than double. They finally left empty handed, they emailed me a few times over the next few months asking if I changed my mind about shipping it, so I finally gave them a price of $1200 to ship it, I never heard from them again. I got tired of all the idiots and raised the price to $1500 obo. The bike finally sold locally back around Christmas to someone who was visiting family up this way in their RV, they took it back to FL with them in one piece. I got $800 for it. It was here for over three years in all. Way too long to store and keep tripping over a tandem. Two weeks after I took the CL ad down, I got an email from the people from OH asking if I still had the bike, and that they'd like to come pick it up if I'd let it go for $400.

cudak888 

I always wondered where those all-chrome, post-1973 DL-1s were meant to be marketed to. My 1979 Rudge is virtually identically spec'ed to this (minus the taillight) - B73, front mudflap, adjustable rod stays as opposed to the US-spec wire stays, 21" frame, narrow bars, and DBU unit.

Would I be correct in guessing it has a fork lock as well?



It's been 10+ years and I still haven't heard any stories pop up out of the woodwork that explains these particular DL-1s.

-Kurt

gster

I thought they were sent as special display bikes to dealers....
I want one!

cudak888 

That's the explanation for the chrome bikes; mostly the chrome Sports from the late 1970's. It does not explain these specific DL-1 editions, which are absolutely distinct from the US-market DL-1's.

Unlike US market bikes, these carry no "Tourist" badging, no Rampar logos, Sir Walter on the seattube and forks, and "RALEIGH - THE ALL STEEL BICYCLE" on the chainguard, which is mirrored by any of the secondary brand versions such as the '79 Rudge, which wears a decal in the same exact format, only bearing the Rudge slogan (RUDGE - BRITAIN'S BEST BICYCLE) from BITD. Let's not forget that Rudge was supposed to be dead after 1972, too.

Even the few US-market 1973+ DL-1s with chaincases exhibit none of these features. Wire stays, wide raised handlebars, Tourist badging, Rampar everywhere instead of Sir Walter, no Dynohub or DBU, and no "The All Steel Bicycle" slogans to be found.



-Kurt

gster

I still want one...

Hproduguidon

cudak888 yes there is a key lock on the fork

but I don't have the key

SarahCH

Every time I come back to this forum I'm always in awe of the beautiful vintage bikes shown off here. I'm going to have to pull my Raleigh 20 out from the garage and show her off this weekend! I still have the 10 post limit though

browngw 

My DL1 sold new in Hamilton ON Canada in 1979. I had a 1977 for a while but sold it. It had no no chainguard and likely had been sold that way as chaincase delete was an option I understand. Can any fellow Canadians confirm that?

2fat2fly

I happened on a parts bike today that looks like its going to give me some proper Dunlop rims for the Dunelt I picked up back in January.
They came along with two other bikes, one being a mid to late 60's Raleigh Sports, in a 22" frame, and a 1961 ladies sports that's all torn apart.
The rims that came off the Sports are pretty close to being correct for the Dunelt, the hub is dated 1962, the rims are worlds better than what I had. They have some
brake wear on the sides but not nearly as bad as what I had. The rear rim has a small dent on the inside face, but its dead true and not rusty.
The tires are even usable if I don't swap over the original Dunlop tires from the existing rims. I should be able to make that bike 100% now.
Plus, I now have a Raleigh Sports as well to play with, although its a mix of random parts. The fenders are black, likely off the ladies bike, the forks are green, and the frame is brown, and its got a brooks padded saddle that likely came off a later Sprite. Its probably a candidate for a full repaint to make everything match.

Here's the wheels after a quick wash:



I was able to ride the Sports with these rims, it actually rode just fine.
How many would just lube the wheel bearings and oil the hub and call it good on the rear wheel?
Or should I break open the hub and go completely through it? Its shifts fine as is, but I have no history on it at all.

I'm also not thrilled with the 'Safety-Lite' tires on these rims, they're in okay shape for now but I strongly prefer a more conventional British looking tread.
These have their share of sidewall cracks but nothing that will be of any concern anytime soon. And even these would look better than a modern too narrow set of Kenda tires in my opinion.

2fat2fly

Is there anything else, especially on FB and CL. There's no way I'd do an in person deal and accept any form of Paypal.
Its Here's the bike, take it or leave it, show me cash or leave me alone.

Maybe I've gotten a bit cynical lately but I have zero tolerance for all the games people play these days. I've had emails with all sort of crazy offers, they want to trade you a non working microwave and two burned up toasters for a ready to ride bike, and 'They're willing to let it all go out of the goodness of their heart'. I listed a wood stove over the winter, it came from the clean out i did of several trailers and some old guy's house. The thing was in perfect working order, I was asking $100 cash for it. I got offers to trade for four bald tires, kittens, horse manure, and a pet snake. I guess if you don't specify NO TRADES - CASH ONLY, your opening yourself to all sorts of crazy these days.

I listed several complete bikes, the last was a Columbia three speed, the AW hub said 1967. The bike was decent, everything worked and the tires held air. I put $75 on it. It was perfectly ridable, I was using it while we did that clean out to run back and forth to the road during the clean out and was using it around here for a bit. I got no replies at all, other than one offer to trade for a non working Nintendo. It finally sold the other day for $50 to the first person who was smart enough to make an offer and actually drive here with cash. A rare occasion lately.

I made the mistake once of listing something for free here. We had a yardsale and had a ton of old clothes we didn't want to pack up. I posted on CL under the free section and in 10 minutes I had 25 cars here and dozens of women fighting over old clothes. Worse yet, the next day I had two different woman trying to return the 'free' clothes saying they didn't fit.
I'll never do another yard sale and never list anything as Free again here. All day during the yardsale I had to keep stopping people from trying to walk into the house and garage, despite the fact I had it roped off. I had guys showing up asking if I had any tools for sale, and "What's in the garage, can I take a look?". I had to move my car off the street and back behind the house because people kept trying the door handle to see if it was locked. I sold a lot of things but mostly just junk, no one would spend more than $2 at a time.

After that clean out, I've got a ton of things I don't need and will never use, but from what I've seen none of it is worth anything. I listed one of the complete Raleigh Sports in as found condition and never got an email at $150, the bike isn't gone through but its completely ridable as it sits yet the best offer I got was $20 or trade for junk.

Its been my experience that FB is a total waste of time, I get zero response there both as a seller and buyer. CL is a case of 'seller beware'.
I had a guy show up to look at a Raleigh Sprite I listed, the bike was 100% original, from around 1977. Some guy showed up and started measuring the bike and told me I had it mis-listed. The frame was a 23.5" frame, he starts on the bit about it only being 23 3/16", and then starts telling me that the handlebars are wrong for the bike, and he's got a tape measure out to show me that the bars are 1/2" too wide for it to be a 'real' Sprite. At that point I basically threw the guy out.
3/4 of all the people who say they're coming to look at something don't show, out of those who do, about 2% have cash and intend to buy something.

I had a guy drive 400 miles in an old V8 pickup truck to look at a bike I listed, he gets here late on a Saturday, after getting lost a half dozen time trying to find me, then tells me he's just looking, but if he likes it, he'll think about coming back up this way to buy it. I was relieved when it sold the next day to someone else.

I think part of the problem is that people are getting stupider with every generation. Who in their right mind drives 400 miles to just take a look at something? He likely spent more than the bike was worth in gas to just come and take a look.
I don't know what's worse, those who come to just take a look or those who show up driving a mini cooper to by a 14ft aluminum row boat. The guy and his woman flip the boat over on top of the car, tie it all down then can't figure out how to get in the car. after some creative crawling they're back in the car, then they realize they can't see out of the windshield. The boat prevented any of the doors from being opened and blocked all forward and rearward view,. One suggestion I heard was that if he taped the cell phone to the front of the boat, he could use his girlfriends phone to see where he was going. And they were serious. I told the idiot if he tried that I'd be the one who called the police. They messed around for two hours finally getting the boat mounted on top of the car so they could see out of the windshield, but none of the other windows. They left from central PA to Maine at 9pm. I never heard from them after that so I'm assuming they made it wherever they were going. The boat was bigger than the car. They had it tied down with electrical tape and one motorcycle tie down at the rear.

SirMike1983 

I'd never do another yard sale after the last one I helped my wife's parents with. We did a basement and garage clean out, and this produced a number of items, some new and some old. Nothing was great, but it wasn't pure crap either. People expect nothing to cost more than $2.00, they wander the yard and driveway freely despite trying to limit people to just the sidewalk, and every customer thinks himself a sharp Arab trader when it comes to bargaining.

When I finally moved houses about 2&1/2 years ago, my wife opted to use a private Facebook group for "free items" that was mainly her circle of friends and their friends in the area. It worked out much better. I'd leave the item in a designated place outside, and the person who volunteered to take it from the group showed up and took it. We only had one flake who didn't show out of maybe 25. I attribute this to the group being private rather than open to just anyone from the public, and being basically an extended circle of friends amounting to a few hundred people.

-------

I also have a "different" DL-1. I believe it was originally in West Germany or Austria originally. It had West German tires and tubes on it, if I recall. The chain case was replaced with a Birmingham-style chain guard, but that matched reasonably well. My guess would be a serviceman based in West Germany had it and brought it back. My father-in-law was stationed in West Germany back in the early 1960s, and he recalled some of his army buddies having bicycles because they couldn't afford or were not allowed to have cars.

cudak888 

Can we get back to talking about bikes and moan about sales and flipping in the Valuations forum where this belongs?

It's bad enough that all 3-speed convos have become lumped into this monolithic thread that's impossible to search through easily; worse when it's full of these text walls of local market analyses - 3-speed content or otherwise.

Well, that confirms the last part of what I suspected - the chrome bikes and the Rudge are almost identical in specification.

So that's your 1979 DL-1, as purchased, with chaincase, correct? I find it interesting that it's obviously a US-spec model with Rampar logos everywhere, but the chainrugard is isn't US-spec, as if it was added after the fact.

Does it have any "Made in England / Assembled in Canada" stickers similar to the US bikes mentioned earlier? It might explain part of the combination of a US frame with the international-spec transfers on the chainguard.

What year is it? The tubing sticker and vertical "RALEIGH" lettering look early-1960s.

-Kurt

dweenk 

You should be able to read a key number on the face of the lock. Give that to a locksmith and have a key made.
Or go here:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/RALEIGH-BIC...-/173560159537

browngw 

[QUOTE=cudak888;22016022]Can we get back to talking about bikes and moan about sales and flipping in the Valuations forum where this belongs?

So that's your 1979 DL-1, as purchased, with chaincase, correct? I find it interesting that it's obviously a US-spec model with Rampar logos everywhere, but the chainrugard is isn't US-spec, as if it was added after the fact.

Does it have any "Made in England / Assembled in Canada" stickers similar to the US bikes mentioned earlier? It might explain part of the combination of a US frame with the international-spec transfers on the chainguard.

-Kurt[/QUOTE
This bike was sold in the city of Hamilton ON Canada and little used but stored in leaky sheds and outdoors for years. I bought it from my brother-in law who bought at a Hamilton bar on night in the 90s. It still had the Raleigh branded Coaster tires on it. It was obvious that no one had cared enough about it to modify it. Because the shop was still in business, I called and the owners daughter remembered them selling a very few of these models. The Serial# is N for Nottingham and definitely made in England. Canada had Raleigh Production in Canada from 1973 but most dealers got bikes from both sources depending on their order mix. DL1 were never produced in Canada to my knowledge.
I don't quite understand what you mean by Rampar. That term was never used in Canadian marketing. I assume you mean the stylized R?. Canadian Sports production used that as well. I will check what info I have on the 1977 model I sold as well. I know you have a great knowledge of the Raleigh in America, and I have referred to it often but it often does not jive with Canadian specs.
The only modification I made to "Sir Wayes A. Tonne" was to move the shift cable to the top tube, it did run along the downtube.

cudak888 

Those stylized "R"s are, indeed, the logo of Rampar (Raleigh America Parts). It stands to reason it was built in Nottingham as generic North American stock and outfitted accordingly. I'm just surprised it wears that export-style decal on the chainguard instead of "Tourist," and that it's placed on the bottom where the Tourist lettering would otherwise be.

If you have anything on the '77, that would be nice to have. Without a guard, there's not much one can draw from though - and I think it's established that Canadian Raleighs did carry the Rampar logo.

-Kurt

browngw 

The 1979 and 1977 Canadian sold models. The non-chain case 1977 was sold at the Canadian Vintage Bicycle Show in 2018. The decals on the 77 were actually better than SWAT.

browngw 

This was a 1979 made in Canada (R serial#) Sports I recently had to scrap. The stem was so seized in the fork so hard that I could not remove it. Unfortunately I sawed it off and the hole down the center was too small for a blade so I took the parts and scrapped the rest. In retrospect I wish I had sawed away the fork and kept the stem. I like those SR stems.

clubman 

That's kinda strange with the bashguard bolted on to a Heron crank, which pushed the chain guard way up. Those Canadian made Sports soon got alloy cranks and brake levers and then poof, they were gone.

Salubrious

Get a can of Kroil www.kanolabs,com

I've pulled seized stems and seatposts that LBSs thought were unremovable using Kroil.

paulb_in_bkln

Does anyone know a US source for SA shift wires (inner cables)?

thumpism

I know we're here for the 3-speeds but that makes all of us odd ducks right out of the gate, so if someone wants to regale the group with a tale or two of CL flakes or yard sale horror, I'll keep reading.

gster

Most bike shops still stock those (they did...)
$8.00-$12.00.
I usually buy 2 or 3 if they have them in stock.