Wednesday, January 23, 2008

I bought a British gentleman's bike today

Blimey! A bloke in Fieldbrook sold me a 1963 Hawthorne 3-speed bicycle today for $40. Hawthornes were made by Hercules, which were made by Raleigh at its Nottingham, England factory. Back in the day, the factory employed 7,000 workers and built gobs of Raleighs, which were designed for people to use for actual transportation.

Hawthorne.bike.1.23.08

It doesn't look like much, but trust me – this will be a real beauty in short order. I feel downright jammy. God save the queen.

hawthorne.decal

Bollocks! This neat decal is bloody rusty. I'll take a bunch of photos of it and find a way to make a new decal.

hawthorne.chainguard

This will keep me trousers from getting all higgledy-piggledy. I'll show you wankers the restored bike in a month or two.

4 Comments:

Blogger gb05 said...

When it's done, you can celebrate with a bacon buttie. Remember good old Onslow from "Keeping Up Appearances"?

12:34 PM  
Blogger beachcomber said...

I generally just lurk outside your blog and enjoy your pictures. You're getting me enthused to clean up my old 10-speed and go for pleasure rides (that would NOT include Kneeland and Fickle Hill).

I would have to say the English are a tough lot -- I would HAVE to have a seat if I were to ride it.

1:24 PM  
Blogger Jerome said...

Sweet! Looks like you got a sweet deal.I'm stoked to read about the restoratoin in the coming weeks. Cheers!

8:48 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't know you, I just wanted to comment on your awesome bike! I just bought an American-made fixed gear that looks like a girly version of yours--same color and everything.

Thanks for posting pictures, I think I have a pretty firm idea on the date on mine thanks to you. It's a pretty stunning bike--rides marvelously well, just needs paint.

Cheers, Kali

1:40 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home

Free Website Counter
Hit Counters