Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Classic & Vintage
Reload this Page >

Update on the Tsunoda found in my uncle's garage, lots of photos and questions!

Notices
Classic & Vintage This forum is to discuss the many aspects of classic and vintage bicycles, including musclebikes, lightweights, middleweights, hi-wheelers, bone-shakers, safety bikes and much more.

Update on the Tsunoda found in my uncle's garage, lots of photos and questions!

Old 05-12-20, 11:48 PM
  #1  
polymorphself 
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 2,028
Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 830 Post(s)
Liked 1,062 Times in 512 Posts
Update on the Tsunoda found in my uncle's garage, lots of photos and questions!

I made a post few months ago inquiring about two bicycles my aunt found in my uncles attic after his passing. One was an Atala and the other turned out to be a Tsunoda. It was hard to tell too much from the pics, other than the Atala was an entry level Corsa model from the 60's and the Tsunoda was likely an entry-mid level bike probably from the early 70s. Well, they've now made their way to me from the Bronx by way of my aunt. The atala is in extremely bad shape, and is just what you would expect from an entry level model of that decade, so I won't even post pics unless somebody cares to see it.

The Tsunoda, however, is very quirky and interesting to me. My uncle toured Mexico on this thing and then road it up the west coast to San Francisco. While I know late 70s-late 80s Japanese bikes and components pretty well, I'm not at all familiar with the brand, and not familiar with a lot of what is on the bike either. In fact, it's hard for me to even discern where in the lineup this would have fallen due to some inconsistencies. Can't tell what is original or what he may have added later on. It's got Shimano stem shifters, turkey levers, a Shimano rear derailleur, front DR says Thunderbird, alloy Araya wheels, an odd light system that he rigged up, cool fenders, a mirror, a pretty and interesting mechanical bottle cage, cotter-less cranks of a variety that I've never seen before, nice gold pin striping on the lugs, two racks that don't match and the front one is odd looking. He clearly had this bike setup for touring just the way he wanted it, despite it not being an actual touring model, but I'm thinking many people back then weren't as keen to look for such a thing and would tour on what they had if it felt right to them. This bike seems very utilitarian and like he really used it the way he wanted and I appreciate that.

Despite it's potential place in a lineup, the frame is quite pretty (The green will shine under all that dust) and seems to be on the lighter side, I enjoy some of the accessories that are on it and I have a handful of Shimano and Suntour groupsets that I could throw on here and it's a little sentimental, so I would like to overhaul it and build it up as commuter with some upgrades. I have a lot of initial questions followed by a lot of photos.

1. Any leads on nailing down the year and model? Catalogs?
2. What appears to have been original (or not) to the bike? Would it have come with stem shifters? If so, Shimano? These fenders? Etc.
3. Any ID for the fenders, front rack, bottle cage and mirror? What's the plastic thing hanging from the handlebars?
4. What is this crankset?
5. It measures seat tube to bb as 23", but appears smaller than my 23" Miyata 310 when they are side by side, and when I stand over it it does seem a tad smaller. The reach is definitely shorter, which I appreciate as I'm a bit too stretched on my Miyata. No question here, just an observation.

There is also a box with random assorted components, and I'm thinking some of these may have been original to the bike, such as the brake levers as they are Japanese branded. The ones current'y on there are "Cherry". Photos of these extras will be at the end and I through in two videos showing the bottle cage and a cool canister of old Schwinn oil.

Thanks all for any thoughts and considerations on this bike. I'm going to get started with the teardown tomorrow but wanted to have as a good of an idea as possible as to what I'm working with here.











Last edited by polymorphself; 05-13-20 at 08:41 AM.
polymorphself is offline  
Likes For polymorphself:
Old 05-12-20, 11:53 PM
  #2  
polymorphself 
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 2,028
Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 830 Post(s)
Liked 1,062 Times in 512 Posts









polymorphself is offline  
Old 05-12-20, 11:56 PM
  #3  
polymorphself 
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 2,028
Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 830 Post(s)
Liked 1,062 Times in 512 Posts




polymorphself is offline  
Old 05-13-20, 12:06 AM
  #4  
polymorphself 
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 2,028
Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 830 Post(s)
Liked 1,062 Times in 512 Posts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UT8...ature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjEC...ature=youtu.be

Hm, how do I get these videos to embed into the post?

Last edited by polymorphself; 05-13-20 at 09:24 AM.
polymorphself is offline  
Likes For polymorphself:
Old 05-13-20, 02:16 AM
  #5  
Kabuki12
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 3,404
Mentioned: 33 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 863 Post(s)
Liked 2,225 Times in 1,248 Posts
The seat loooks like something he would have picked up while in Mexico. They were stock on Windsor’s in the 70’s . I have a 1972 Windsor Pro with matching jersey and the jersey is labeled with Lambertini. If you want to get rid of that seat I may be interested. I have never heard of this brand , but appears to be mid to late seventies or late. The Japanese bikes were very nice in those days , yours looks to be in nice shape.
Kabuki12 is online now  
Likes For Kabuki12:
Old 05-13-20, 05:55 AM
  #6  
cycleheimer
Senior Member
 
cycleheimer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: New York Metro Area
Posts: 4,249

Bikes: '02 Litespeed, '99 Bianchi Alfana. '91 Fuji Saratoga, '84 Peugeot Canyon Express, '82 Moto GR, '81 Fuji America, '81 Fuji Royale; '78 Bridgestone Diamond Touring, '76 Fuji America, plus many more!

Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 178 Post(s)
Liked 222 Times in 126 Posts
For me, it definitely brings back memories of 1974. Although we would think of it as entry-level now, it is set-up in a very nice way for that time period. A nice "bike boom" time capsule. I also have an accessorized bike from that time period. Mine has some unique features and is like new. I see alot of bikes, but not many "time capsules". Pretty impressive.
cycleheimer is offline  
Likes For cycleheimer:
Old 05-13-20, 07:24 AM
  #7  
Chr0m0ly 
Senior Member
 
Chr0m0ly's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Back in Lincoln Sq, Chicago...🙄
Posts: 1,681

Bikes: '84 Miyata 610 ‘91 Cannondale ST600,'83 Trek 720 ‘84 Trek 520, 620, ‘91 Miyata 1000LT, '79 Trek 514, '78 Trek 706, '73 Raleigh Int. frame.

Mentioned: 13 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 678 Post(s)
Liked 362 Times in 217 Posts
I wonder if the front rack is a rear rack that’s been bent to attach to the steering stem. The red reflector would support that theory.

Those shift levers are awesome, they look like beer taps!
Chr0m0ly is offline  
Likes For Chr0m0ly:
Old 05-13-20, 08:31 AM
  #8  
RobbieTunes
Banned.
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 27,297
Mentioned: 34 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 378 Post(s)
Liked 1,407 Times in 908 Posts
Tsunoda was badass
RobbieTunes is offline  
Likes For RobbieTunes:
Old 05-13-20, 08:33 AM
  #9  
polymorphself 
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 2,028
Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 830 Post(s)
Liked 1,062 Times in 512 Posts
Originally Posted by Chr0m0ly
I wonder if the front rack is a rear rack that’s been bent to attach to the steering stem. The red reflector would support that theory.

Those shift levers are awesome, they look like beer taps!
Huh! Good catch! It’s gotta be. Something definitely seemed off about it to me but I didn’t think of that.
polymorphself is offline  
Old 05-13-20, 08:34 AM
  #10  
polymorphself 
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 2,028
Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 830 Post(s)
Liked 1,062 Times in 512 Posts
Originally Posted by Kabuki12
The seat loooks like something he would have picked up while in Mexico. They were stock on Windsor’s in the 70’s . I have a 1972 Windsor Pro with matching jersey and the jersey is labeled with Lambertini. If you want to get rid of that seat I may be interested.
As things progress with it I’ll let you know!
polymorphself is offline  
Old 05-13-20, 09:21 AM
  #11  
Phil_gretz
Zip tie Karen
 
Phil_gretz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Fair Oaks Ranch, TX
Posts: 7,006

Bikes: '13 Motobecane Fantom29 HT, '16 Motobecane Turino Pro Disc, '18 Velobuild VB-R-022, '21 Tsunami SNM-100

Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1465 Post(s)
Liked 1,542 Times in 806 Posts
That front brake caliper looks like what would later be branded "Cherry", if my memories match reality. I had a set on a Bridgestone/C.Itoh in about 1972...
Phil_gretz is offline  
Likes For Phil_gretz:
Old 05-13-20, 09:24 AM
  #12  
polymorphself 
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 2,028
Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 830 Post(s)
Liked 1,062 Times in 512 Posts
Originally Posted by Phil_gretz
That front brake caliper looks like what would later be branded "Cherry", if my memories match reality. I had a set on a Bridgestone/C.Itoh in about 1972...
Ah, makes sense, as the levers are branded Cherry. So, if original to the bike, this may put it at early 70's or even later 60s, if it weren't being branded as such yet? Would be curious to know if these levers were original, or if the original were the "Arai" levers found in the parts bin.
polymorphself is offline  
Old 05-13-20, 09:36 AM
  #13  
eeuuugh
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 180

Bikes: Aerotek 4000, Trek 950, Huffy Nel Lusso

Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 77 Post(s)
Liked 103 Times in 49 Posts
Crankset looks like a Sugino Maxy or Super-Maxy. I've worked on lots of Japanese ten speeds that came with that crankset. Possibly Takagi copied the design, I can't find a picture of a Takagi crank in that style but those red-dot bolts come up in ebay searches with descriptions saying "fits sugino maxy takagi sr etc."
eeuuugh is offline  
Likes For eeuuugh:
Old 05-13-20, 09:39 AM
  #14  
bikemig 
Senior Member
 
bikemig's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Middle Earth (aka IA)
Posts: 20,505

Bikes: A bunch of old bikes and a few new ones

Mentioned: 178 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 5877 Post(s)
Liked 3,445 Times in 2,066 Posts
That bike is a trip down memory lane. The light holder is for a wonder light:

A Short Dark Ride Down Memory Lane | | Commute Orlando

Wonder Lights???

I'll bet this bike will make a great utility bike and it has terrific memories.
bikemig is offline  
Old 05-13-20, 09:43 AM
  #15  
polymorphself 
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 2,028
Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 830 Post(s)
Liked 1,062 Times in 512 Posts
Originally Posted by bikemig
That bike is a trip down memory lane. The light holder is for a wonder light:

A Short Dark Ride Down Memory Lane | | Commute Orlando

Wonder Lights???

I'll bet this bike will make a great utility bike and it has terrific memories.
Oh wow, those are neat, if not cumbersome. Kinda makes me want to hunt one down. Thank you.

And yep, utility bike is the plan, I'm glad it fits me.

Last edited by polymorphself; 05-13-20 at 09:46 AM.
polymorphself is offline  
Old 05-13-20, 09:44 AM
  #16  
eeuuugh
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 180

Bikes: Aerotek 4000, Trek 950, Huffy Nel Lusso

Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 77 Post(s)
Liked 103 Times in 49 Posts
I don't think the spare parts you have were original the bike. The Suntour derailleur and shifters are a bit of an upgrade over the Shimano stuff that's on the bike. The Shimano branded downtube housing stop also makes me think the bike originally came with Shimano, that's a part that's unlikely to have been replaced. I'd guess most of those spare parts were taken off of a Fuji and maybe saved to upgrade the Tsunoda. Those Shimano stem shifters are pretty cool though.
eeuuugh is offline  
Likes For eeuuugh:
Old 05-13-20, 09:48 AM
  #17  
polymorphself 
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 2,028
Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 830 Post(s)
Liked 1,062 Times in 512 Posts
Originally Posted by eeuuugh
I don't think the spare parts you have were original the bike. The Suntour derailleur and shifters are a bit of an upgrade over the Shimano stuff that's on the bike. The Shimano branded downtube housing stop also makes me think the bike originally came with Shimano, that's a part that's unlikely to have been replaced. I'd guess most of those spare parts were taken off of a Fuji and maybe saved to upgrade the Tsunoda. Those Shimano stem shifters are pretty cool though.
Gotcha, so these Shimano parts would've been earlier than the Suntour in the box. The Shimano derailleur sure doesn't look too nice, and appears heavy, but I've read that Shimano didn't get great until later on and that Suntour was ahead of them for awhile.
polymorphself is offline  
Old 05-13-20, 10:23 AM
  #18  
polymorphself 
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 2,028
Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 830 Post(s)
Liked 1,062 Times in 512 Posts
It looks like this may have been the bike, given the shifters, the fenders and there appear to have been a label on the seat tube of my bike where one is shown here. Made in Korea? Interesting. This person describes the bike as over 30 lbs, but I'm guessing they may not be to keen on bicycle weight. This Tsunoda, with all of these accessories hammered on feels to weigh around 30lbs to me. Certainly less than a Schwinn Varsity (just fixed one up for a friend so the weight is fresh in my mind ).

https://oldtenspeedgallery.com/owner-...oda-ten-speed/
polymorphself is offline  
Old 05-13-20, 10:29 AM
  #19  
niliraga 
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 557

Bikes: 1970s Coppi/Fiorelli beater, 1973 Raleigh Competition, 1972 Bob Jackson, 1970 Cilo Sprint-X, 1985 Fuji Touring Series IV, 1969 Legnano Roma

Mentioned: 11 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 217 Post(s)
Liked 198 Times in 129 Posts
I thought Tsunoda were the fabricators behind US import brands such as Lotus? and that white plastic bracket on the handlebars was for a lamp...


niliraga is offline  
Likes For niliraga:
Old 05-13-20, 10:33 AM
  #20  
Phil_gretz
Zip tie Karen
 
Phil_gretz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Fair Oaks Ranch, TX
Posts: 7,006

Bikes: '13 Motobecane Fantom29 HT, '16 Motobecane Turino Pro Disc, '18 Velobuild VB-R-022, '21 Tsunami SNM-100

Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1465 Post(s)
Liked 1,542 Times in 806 Posts
If it were me, I'd go with SunTour derailleurs and bar con shifters. I'd also replace the brakes with DiaCompe centerpulls and levers. I'd keep the hub wingnuts, for certain. PG
Phil_gretz is offline  
Likes For Phil_gretz:
Old 05-13-20, 10:35 AM
  #21  
polymorphself 
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 2,028
Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 830 Post(s)
Liked 1,062 Times in 512 Posts
Originally Posted by Phil_gretz
If it were me, I'd go with SunTour derailleurs and bar con shifters. I'd also replace the brakes with DiaCompe centerpulls and levers. I'd keep the hub wingnuts, for certain. PG
Funny, I do have an early 70's Nishiki Competition Step Through collecting dust with pretty nice DiaCompe centerpulls on it. I was also considering picking up some bar cons for that, but maybe both will be moved over to this. The Nishiki is quite nice though and is just waiting for brakes and shifters to be mounted...but I'll likely rarely ride it.

I definitely have some suntour derailleurs.

Last edited by polymorphself; 05-13-20 at 10:38 AM.
polymorphself is offline  
Old 05-13-20, 03:07 PM
  #22  
ascherer 
Senior Member
 
ascherer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Manhattan & Woodstock NY
Posts: 2,767

Bikes: 1987 Mercian Pro, 1985 Shogun 500, early '70s Falcon San Remo, 1972 Peugeot PX-10, 1972 Schwinn Paramount P13-9, 1971 Raleigh International, 1971 Peugeot PX-10, 1970 Raleigh Professional Mk1

Mentioned: 107 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 931 Post(s)
Liked 2,838 Times in 963 Posts
Originally Posted by niliraga
I thought Tsunoda were the fabricators behind US import brands such as Lotus?
Yup. My wife's '84 Lotus Eclair has the remnants of a Tsunoda label on the seat tube just above the bottom bracket.

Cool bike! Those shifters...
__________________
1987 Mercian Pro, 1985 Shogun 500, 197? Falcon San Remo, 1972 Peugeot PX-10, 1972 Schwinn Paramount P13-9, 1971 Peugeot PX-10, 1971 Raleigh International, 1970 Raleigh Professional Mark I
Curator/Team Mechanic: 2016 Dawes Streetfighter, 1984 Lotus Eclair, 1975 Motobecane Jubile Mixte, 1974 Raleigh Sports, 1973 Free Spirit Ted Williams, 1972 Raleigh Super Course, 1971 Philips Sport





ascherer is offline  
Likes For ascherer:
Old 05-13-20, 07:43 PM
  #23  
RobbieTunes
Banned.
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 27,297
Mentioned: 34 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 378 Post(s)
Liked 1,407 Times in 908 Posts
Originally Posted by ascherer
Yup. My wife's '84 Lotus Eclair has the remnants of a Tsunoda label on the seat tube just above the bottom bracket.

Cool bike! Those shifters...
Tsunoda was the frame builder behind the Lotus Classique, as well. The Centurion Semi-Pro is nearly identical, and handling both frames leads me to believe a connection.
RobbieTunes is offline  
Old 05-14-20, 09:25 AM
  #24  
clubman 
Phyllo-buster
 
clubman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Nova Scotia
Posts: 8,829

Bikes: roadsters, club bikes, fixed and classic

Mentioned: 133 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2287 Post(s)
Liked 2,028 Times in 1,244 Posts
It's got two front mudguards, fwiw
clubman is offline  
Likes For clubman:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.