Saudadeii

A neighbor of mine came as asked if I could do some work on her Mom's old bike so they could sell it. She hasn't ridden it on 20 years or so and it's been sitting in various garages as family members moved around. I was quite surprised at good condition it was in already, just really dirty and covered in cobwebs. There was some surface rust on the chromed parts but most of it buffed out. Tires were old and cracked but held air.

Anyway, I partially disassembled it. Cleaned and regreased all bearings, polished up a few parts, new chain, and thorough cleaning. Left the old tires on it to let the new owner decide what tires and to keep the cost down.

Sorry I don't have any before pics. But it went from a dingy, dirty, relic deeply buried on the back of a garage to something that became the daily driver of a nice lady that bought it. If my neighbor wanted to keep it, I would have completely stripped it and gone over every part, but you reach a point of diminishing returns when it's a flip.

Here are some after pics.

non-fixie 

That looks quite attractive.

T-Mar

That's a Kuwahara built model. It's got the pill bottle shaped chainstays stop that they favoured, along with their KCL and feather herald on the tubing sticker. The serial number is also in the correct spot, on the lower non-drive side of the seat tube, though it's not legible in the photo.

Saudadeii

Thanks T-Mar! Right, the serial is on the lower, nds seat tube. Starts with 80 (I assumed that was the year), then a space and a 3. Not sure what the 3 stands for. Then a space and 5 digits in the high 30000s. It rode pretty well and I almost bought it from them but didn't really need a bike in my garage I'd rarely ride.

T-Mar

The "3" indicates that the frame was manufactured in March, while 3xxxx is the sequential frame number for the month. For instance, if the complete S/N was 80 3 31234, it would be the 31,234th frame manufactured by Kuwahara during March 1980.

bamboobike4

Great path bike, or a quick run for ice cream.
I'm currently doing a neo-retro mixte build, and it is very challenging.

non-fixie 

It certainly can be. Mixte frame geometries are all over the place, and the thin tubes require a delicate approach to get the aesthetics right.

SurferRosa

Especially with steel rims/chainrings/seatpost, cheap pedals, etc. A frame that beautiful really begs for more mid-level components.

Kana G

I have this same bike, same color, features. I rode it in the 80's daily and a few times later. Any idea what she sold it for? I'm wondering if I should bother to get it cleaned up (it's not in bad shape but I just checked the tires - they are hard/brittle but still seems to hold their shape - they were changed around 2002).