Posted 14 years ago
matt2003
(1 item)
I found this bike while on military duty in Oklahoma. The owner had it propped against an old structure out in the weather. He was going to throw it away. It has "Rudge Whitworth Nottingham England established 1869" decals on the fenders and seat post. I was surprised to see a handle bar lock on it, but even better, the key was still in it unbroken. The key had "Wilmot Union Breeden made in England " stamped on it with the letter number "NGN 1". It has a generator built into the rear wheel. A friend told me he bet the headlight would work if I moved the pedals... the headlight still worked. it has a chainguard that fully encases the chain and a removeable slit at the pedal, I suppose that is removed to lubricate the chain. It has a number under the seat shaft "29084 CL. I'm not sure if this is a serial number. if anyone knows more about this, that would be GREAT! It also has a weathered "Brooks" leather seat. I thought about having it restored. Not sure of the age, but it is a bike like i have never seen before.
The very first thing you need to do is to protect it from more damage, clean it with a very mild solution of dish soap and water, make sure it gets completely dry then wipe it down with a soft cloth and WD-40, use saddle soap on the seat, after that you can get into the 'restore' or 'not restore' delima.............very nice..Tires and tubes shoould be easy to find..
Thank you sir. i will take your clean up advice.
This bike looks very original, I would really suggest to keep it as original as possible. My experience (with a Rudge from 1955) is that rust may be converted and stabilized very well using a product called Fertan (easily obtainable in The Netherlands). I subsequently applied two layers of clear coat to keep the bike original and well protected. Works perfectly in our wet country! I am a bit puzzled by the rusty rims, as many Rudge bikes were supplied with stainless steel ones (as mine does). The Dynohub is really marvelous; amazing what they produced in Nottingham more than 50 years ago!
By the way, the oil in the chainguard needs to be added from the filler plug at the back end of the chainguard. The slit is present to allow the round cover to be removed and the chainwheel to be taken off. The number you mention is indeed the serial number; mine is 64776 CC. Note that it is very easy to pinpoint the production date of your bike, provided that the Sturmey Archer hub is original (as will be the case for your bike). The production month and the last two digits of the production year are stamped in the hub.
beautiful bike.....very much resembles a raleigh which also used the chain gaurd enclosure with the slit and the plug near the rear....great find!