Originally Posted by
molleraj
Happy to share and happy that you enjoy the photos! This is indeed a Japanese OEM bike built for Huffy, Sekai, and Bridgestone, at least. It does look good, hehe. The fenders are aluminum I think. Someone on the DC metro was super curious about it this morning and had lots of questions :-)
Indeed I had heard the 60s era 333s were crummy but this 1981 3S is a delight as you said. Shimano apparently worked out their IGH quality issues in the 70s. Thanks for corroborating! I don't want suddenly snapping pawls in the middle of a commute :-(
If I remember right, those Sears three speeds were no slouch. Weren't they Austro-Daimler or Puch built?
My dad's was a Murray built bike. The frame was pretty flexible. Not in a good, storing energy and releasing it way, more like cooked spaghetti. The bike could not be ridden without both hands on the handlebars. The spokes were all looser than would have been on a better quality bike. The brakes squeaked and barely slowed the bike down, pedals wore out, I am sure I repacked the grease on the front hub and the crank. And I squirt too much oil in the oil hole of the rear hub, because, again, I was a teenager. More had to be better. I also remember adding a bottle generator to the fork with a light on it. The adjustment had loosened and the generator went into the spokes. It might have broken a few spokes.
The bike kept going for some time. Years.