jdawginsc 

Nah. We use patina in true ways and in cheeky ways. I think we all know the difference!

TugaDude

Good luck with your bike whatever direction you go!

kunsunoke 

Clear coat over the bare spots, maybe. Or just locate a reasonable match in Testor's or nail polish, then touch up. It's going to look bad to some potential buyer, no matter what you do (or do not do).

noobinsf 

If you want to practice paint touch up while showing your son how to do it, then maybe you can up the bike's intrinsic value. Otherwise, I am with the others who advise just selling it. Like you said, potential buyers may appreciate the paint damage's theft deterrent, and time is precious.

Andy_K 

I'd throw on some bar tape and sell it as is. If the buyer wants to attempt a clean fill and touch-up job on the paint, anything quick and easy that you do to cover it will make that harder. If buyer wants a quick and easy cover to protect the steel, they can do that themselves. If the buyer is happy to leave it as is, they'll have a great bike with no time wasted on anyone's part.

I really think that should bring $100 in the PDX market with no problem. It's a functional bike in good shape (apart from the paint). That ought to be worth $100 anywhere.

due ruote 

Does your 12 y/o need a bike?

RustyJames 

Good memory! He is quite content with the grip shift Trek hybrid I bought for him this past summer. If he showed an interest in a road bike I have a small frameset (Japanese made Schwinn) I could piece together that would work quite well. So far, no interest on his part.

Mr. 66

Oh great, now you got me motivated...

jdawginsc 

What is that one?

Mr. 66

That one is a 1974 1st edition Rodriguez. This was my brother's bike back in high school. I think he got back in 1978-79, I got it from him in '83. Originally red that's on the steer tube, I painted it gold. In '86 I painted what's on it now, and never used it. I been banging it around for years lol.

In '83 I brought it to Angel Rodriguez for authenticition and new decals. I explained what I had, he confirmed and graciously, gave me a 2 sets of decals. One being waterslide 2nd generation, the other lacquer applied 1st gen, along with a Reynolds frame fork and stays sticker.

He confirmed it is/was a Rod bike, but Angel explained that this was contract built in England for the opening inventory of Rodriguez bikes in Seattle at the one, and only, University District location.

Murray Missile 

I used the blue 3M Engineering Grade reflective tape on my old winter beater when I scratched the hell out of the fresh repaint. It was a perfect match for the DupliColor Metallic Blue I used.

(Before it became the winter beater) Daylight.....



Headlights......

RCMoeur 

As someone whose professional interests result in my having around my home office a wide variety of retroreflective sheetings from basic beaded Type I to DG^3 / OmniCube Type XI in an assortment of colors, I suppose I could nose in here.

Your single-layer glass bead sheetings (ASTM Type I or II) are being phased out of use on traffic control devices such as signs and delineators, due to innovations that have dropped the price of high-performance dual-layer microprismatic sheetings to close to the price of the beaded stuff. That being said, dual-layer microprismatic sheetings really don't like being bent or wrapped around curved surfaces less than about a 4"/100 mm diameter, and will crack and peel if applied to such tight radii (I have ample first-hand experience on my earlier bikes to back up the manufacturers' warnings.)

But single-layer beaded sheetings are still extensively used for vehicle applications such as conspicuity stripes, reflective accents, logos, or graphics/text, as they're much more forgiving of being applied to curved surfaces. And a good beaded sheeting will happily wrap around a main frame tube without cracking, although tight-radii applications such as seatstays can sometimes be tricky. But sheetings typically have a very aggressive adhesive and relatively low tensile strength, so an early-apply oops can result in a torn strip and trying again after some quality time with the ol' Goof-Off. Some applicators use soapy water on the substrate to gain time in positioning the sheeting correctly, but my experience with that option has been, well, mixed.

People have asked me if my taped-up "commutocruiser" (seen earlier in this thread) is wrapped in reflective tape. No, partly because of cost but more because trying to do such a large project as a spiral wrap would require extraordinary patience and skill, and also because regular electrician's tape was much easier to work with. But I do use extensive high-performance reflective material on the rear fender in diagonal stripes, in the direction where it can have greatest effect (and the fender curvature is much less than the frame tubes).

RustyJames 

Thats the spirit lad!

jdawginsc 

Love those forks.