Originally Posted by
GWGorham
Hey everyone,
I just picked up a 1974 Special Road Racer. Serial number is K9J00442. Mine is one of the blue ones. Question, is there a general rule about repainting (to original scheme) a vintage bike?
Sadly this one is in mildly rough shape.. need a replacement rear wheel (it has a mavic), need a head badge, replacement saddle and so on. But it will be totally worthwhile to me i think.
Once I can post pictures on here I will (I apparently have less than 10 posts).
Yours was built in October '74 (a month later than mine) as a 1975 model year bike.
My S-10S has a K9I serial prefix (for Sept '74 build date) is on its fourth wheelset since new. I built a top-shelf set in 1977 that lasted me ~30k+ miles, then a cheap replacement set when I taco'd the rear wheel while on tour, and now mine rides on a set from Velomine, with sealed bearing (freewheel) hubs and Sun M13-II rims. Back a few years ago, the wheelset from Velomine was ~$120 for both. Well worth it, especially considering the original Ukai wheels were straight-wall (not hooked) and there is some difficulty in keeping tires on the beads at high inflation pressures... The Sun rims are hooked, so inflating to 100+psi is not a problem! BTW, I used 27x1-1/8 tires on mine almost since new!
My S-10S is definitely showing its age - lots of scratches, chips and nicks in the paint over the past 45 years/55k miles. But I tend to view those as 'character marks'
Besides, trying to match that candy-blue paint would be tough to duplicate! That, and the dark gold lug lining paint accent. Replacement decals for the S-10S are available, but the long reflective V-shaped fork applique unique to the '75 model year is not reproduced to my knowledge. I used automotive pinstripe tape of black/white to set off the demarcation between the blue paint from the chrome on the fork and rear stays - that just makes it 'pop' a bit more...
Saddle? Thankfully, mine still wears its original Fujita Belt (Brooks B-17 clone) leather saddle. It is getting rather 'checked' so a few years ago, I sourced a replacement on eBay, should I need it.