Raleigh Team Burner AR Signature light restoration
Discussion
Hello all.
I recently bought a shabby looking bike on eBay and decided to give it a quick clean-up rather than a full restoration.
The bike arrived in a nasty state, all the chrome work was badly rusted like this
The brakes were jammed and the crank wouldn't turn properly. First job was to strip everything apart. Plenty of WD40 and I had the Burner in bits. Didn't photograph everything but here's the frame after I'd given it a good clean.
As you can see, I'm a clumsy sod and managed to get oily hand prints everywhere but I'm blaming it on the frame for being white (erm... can I say that?).
The headset and BB spent a night in a bag of Oven Pride although I think it's the last time I'll use it because of the mess (and I'm scared of it) and I got to work on the chrome.
I'm particularly pleased with the bars:
The wheels came up okay, there is pitting but short of a re-chrome that can't be helped.
If I get round to it I'll Autosol the spokes but I was really in a rush to get the bike built back up. Full regrease of the head and BB, the crank now spins like a dream.
The brakes just needed a thorough clean and change of cables, one of the levers was seized but an evening of moving it back and forth so much I developed a nervous tic did the trick.
Put it all back together and there you go, the finished result..
Although my intention was to bang the bike on eBay to fund a full restoration of a TAP Burner two things have now happened. I've got a Mongoose Cali F&F (ending tonight hint hint) on eBay which is proving exceptionally problematic and I've now gone and got attached to the bloody thing so may well end up keeping it.
I recently bought a shabby looking bike on eBay and decided to give it a quick clean-up rather than a full restoration.
The bike arrived in a nasty state, all the chrome work was badly rusted like this
The brakes were jammed and the crank wouldn't turn properly. First job was to strip everything apart. Plenty of WD40 and I had the Burner in bits. Didn't photograph everything but here's the frame after I'd given it a good clean.
As you can see, I'm a clumsy sod and managed to get oily hand prints everywhere but I'm blaming it on the frame for being white (erm... can I say that?).
The headset and BB spent a night in a bag of Oven Pride although I think it's the last time I'll use it because of the mess (and I'm scared of it) and I got to work on the chrome.
I'm particularly pleased with the bars:
The wheels came up okay, there is pitting but short of a re-chrome that can't be helped.
If I get round to it I'll Autosol the spokes but I was really in a rush to get the bike built back up. Full regrease of the head and BB, the crank now spins like a dream.
The brakes just needed a thorough clean and change of cables, one of the levers was seized but an evening of moving it back and forth so much I developed a nervous tic did the trick.
Put it all back together and there you go, the finished result..
Although my intention was to bang the bike on eBay to fund a full restoration of a TAP Burner two things have now happened. I've got a Mongoose Cali F&F (ending tonight hint hint) on eBay which is proving exceptionally problematic and I've now gone and got attached to the bloody thing so may well end up keeping it.
Edited by mattviatura on Thursday 14th July 10:00
Captain Answer said:
What did you use on the wheels?
Working around the rim, one side at a time I coated an area with light oil and scrubbed it with wire wool. It can be a bit time consuming but it really brings them back. You don't need expensive oil, I just used the cheapest I could find called 151 (which I had thought was a type of Bacardi).If you want to go further you can use a chrome polish. I've used Autosol before but there's a school of thought that it's too harsh for bike chrome. It's always been okay for me but I've only used it on old bikes - I have a theory that old bikes last much better than modern ones but that's a whole different can of worms.
mattviatura said:
Working around the rim, one side at a time I coated an area with light oil and scrubbed it with wire wool. It can be a bit time consuming but it really brings them back. You don't need expensive oil, I just used the cheapest I could find called 151 (which I had thought was a type of Bacardi).
If you want to go further you can use a chrome polish. I've used Autosol before but there's a school of thought that it's too harsh for bike chrome. It's always been okay for me but I've only used it on old bikes - I have a theory that old bikes last much better than modern ones but that's a whole different can of worms.
Thanks I will give that a go, I've got a pair that need a bit of a brightening up (they aren't as bad as the one's you started with though)If you want to go further you can use a chrome polish. I've used Autosol before but there's a school of thought that it's too harsh for bike chrome. It's always been okay for me but I've only used it on old bikes - I have a theory that old bikes last much better than modern ones but that's a whole different can of worms.
Gorgeous bikes, mate.
Mars said:
That looks great. Every cyclist should have a BMX in the garage (probably where mine will stay - it's bloody hard work isn't it? 
).
Nice one..!!
Or about nine! My girlfriend is getting somewhat fed up with all these BMXes that I never ride, plus my Yamaha XV Dragstar and my Trek Fuel EX5 MTB.).Nice one..!!
Edited by Highrisedrifter on Friday 15th July 15:24
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