Decals are often tough to find, especially on bicycles that aren't quite so prominent in production numbers. I am interested in acquiring Raleigh Portage decals but have not had much luck with many of the decal makers frequently mentioned on the site. I have tried Velocals, H Lloyd Cycles, World Cycle Decals and Cyclomondo all with no luck. Can anyone point me in another direction for reproduction Raleigh Portage decals similar to this vintage?

Have you sent an Email to velocals? JR, can make them. Or Nick at H Lloyd can do the same. Those may not be in their catalogs, but I'm sure either one can make them. You just have to take really good up close pictures.

For example, these are some of the pictures I sent Nick when he made my Carlton Decals.









From those and many more he was able to make this set

JR has made custom decals for me at a very reasonable cost. It was a while ago and I don't know if he's still doing it. The best way to find out is to ask him.

I asked about 6 months back, when I was in the middle of an unfinished Schwinn single speed project, and was told they no longer do it. But then a couple of months later, RobbieTunes posted his custom Centurion decals. Maybe they do for only a handful of people. I don't know.,,,,BD

Thanks for the follow up everyone. As mentioned above, I have tried Velocals, H Lloyd Cycles, World Cycle Decals and Cyclomondo all with no luck.

With Velocals, a gal named Christine told me they did not have any plans to make Portage decals now or in the future. She was very cut and dry.

H Lloyd (Nick) told me the Portage was an "export" model Raleigh and one that he had never seen before. "Raleigh issued squillions of decals and it would be totally impossible to cover the lot."

So, yes, I have tried those avenues although I do feel like JR has promise if I can get by Christine.

Anyone else have suggestions?

JR made a custom set for my Vittorio Strada MAX (possibly a one-off) within the past year...

I think if you can talk to him, and provide clear photos with measurements that he could and would do it.

-Mark in St. Louis

Good luck!

I guess the most important thing... what is your reasoning behind an accurate restoration? Are you selling it? Museum piece? Did you REALLY like the look of the decals THAT much?

If none of the above are true... get a bit artistic. Pick what you like, instead of going for original... you may end up with something even better.

I turned a 1981 Raleigh Grand Prix frame, which are a dime a dozen and wouldn't get a second look... into a head turner.

Well, exciting news.
After posting this thread, I received an upbeat email, out of the blue, from Christine at Velocals. A few weeks back, I had asked if they could use the Velocals Raleigh Grand Prix decal set as a base and create the Portage top tube decal to go with it. Turns out she/they are now open to this idea as long as I provide some basic sizes and lengths for the Portage lettering. This is very good as I was running out of leads!

If/when this deal comes through, I'll update this thread.

Thanks again for the suggestions, everyone.