deux jambes

since6

Here's the earlier 1970's Nishiki Professional-Katakura/Silk. I got a set of new decals and had them installed and then clear coated the frame as is. The reason for this is because the frame and fork are both completely chrome plated which you can see in the close up of the front fork drop out where the paint is missing it is shiny chrome. I upgraded to Suntour Cyclone derailleurs, added a dual Minora handlebar water bottle cage, new Velocity Atlas rims and 32mm compass tires, Grand Compe vintage center pull brakes, new brake hoods and cool stop pads and MKS New Sylvan pedals oh and a wider handlebar.
Later I found a vintage Primus bike pump and had it painted to match the frame.
This too rides really nice and with the 32mm tires you hardly notice chip seal and bridge edges.
Good luck on your restoration, post when you're done so we can all share.

deux jambes

since6

Velocals is who I sourced my decals from they have the entire set of Nishiki Professional decals, except the pink/silver metallic "Silk":decal on the fork legs. Luckily the originals could be saved and where clear coated over to try and retain them into the future.

[PDF]

1974 Nishiki Brochure - VeloBase.com

velobase.com/CatalogScans/nishiki-1974.pdfYou may want to find this online as it has the entire Nishiki line of bikes for 1974 including the Professional and lists the components for this model.

deux jambes

since6

Here's a thought, you can copy either of these pictures of the decal on my fork and then mail copies of these photos to Velocals and ask if they can reproduce them. I had to do that on a one of a kind bike to have decals made from photos and they made exact and excellent reproductions from the photos I supplied. There will be cost as they are doing a one of run of decals, but if they can do it you will receive great decals.

since6

This "Silk" decal is approx. 12mm wide by 12mm high.

Another unique part to the Nishiki Professional-Katakura/Silk bike are the handlebars, "Nishiki Road Silk":

deux jambes

since6

When the dust settles do post pictures of what you receive. Also check out the stamped frame number on the bottom bracket as you can learn a lot about the date of manufacture, etc. You should also check out the fork legs in that if they are like my bike then they will not be oval like more modern fork legs but instead will be round in profile.

noahwayout

Here's my fairly unaltered Professional. I'm not totally sure about the skip-tooth rear cluster but the bike also came with it's original tubular wheels and a set of clinchers. I don't recall which set of wheels is in the pictures. The saddle is the original which I posted about a while back.
.

since6

Very nice noahwayout. How does that saddle ride, it looks like it is a little broader in the back? Which would be a plus for my sit bones.

If you want an OMG moment check out ebay which has a black stitched Elina Super Pro for.....(drum roll)....$650.00. Maybe a typo??? Take good care of your saddle.

greg3rd48 

@noahwayout Very cool bike.

classicjapanese

Greetings to all ! — think that any bicycle you can procure with that happy little "silk" insignia is a real find — Katakura was a "converted" manufacturer after the war — and they had a hand in some of the machines built for the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 — so quality was a central issue for them — https://www.rizzoliusa.com/book/9780847861705/ — I cover them briefly, under the Nishiki section of the book because they did build some of their earlier machines -- although the brand name kind of continues in Japan -- they did not quite make it out of the 20th Century — Also I hope some of you are enjoying the book — cheers!

since6

classicjapanese: I have really enjoyed the book and was surprised to learn that I own two of the bikes discussed in it, one a 1972 Nishiki Professional - Katakura Silk and the other a 1981 Nishiki Professional - Campagnolo Gruppo. Thanks for all the research that went into this book which is a real reference for vintage Japanese collectors.
In your research for "Japanese Steel" did you ever come across the Erba bicycle? I have a "H. Hagiwara" signature decaled Erba that is both my grail and mystery bike. It is made with Champion Pro tubing and is the lightest frame I have ever held in hand with internal routing of the shift cables. It was originally sourced with either Nuovo Record or Super Record components, but I found it as only a frame and a fork.. You can see the before and after pictures of the restoration if you search H. Hagiwara and/or Erba in Bike Forums. A master builder made this frame, a pure race bike, and I choose to restore it with a mix of top line Suntour components, but I have never been able to discover who "H. Hagiwara" was and/or who made this Erba. Short of flying to Japan and undertaking a search there I will probably just have to live with the mystery, but thought to ask if you might know more. My thanks.

noahwayout

I know! It's always something to realize the saddle is worth more than you paid for the bike. I'm not sure how the saddle rides since I never got around to getting the bike into riding order. It was one of those too-cheap-to-pass-up Craigslist impulse buys and it's just been hanging around ever since. I'm purging most of my bicycles so I'll probably post to bike to ebay or perhaps here in the next couple of months.

niliraga 

Recently picked up a silver/blue example just like since6 's one here, only in more battered shape. Seems to have grown old with its owner, before being put out to (damp) pasture... it gained an 80s era Sugino triple, 90s era Brooks B17 and some upright bars with thumbies - I reckon the only original bits left might be the centerpulls, headset and maybe BB once I get that far.

S/n is KE22926. That very special seat bolt had rusted into a solid nugget, has now come free after a long marinating in PBblaster but the threads are too far gone to ever work again - I will need to find an alternative for this one!