Wednesday, June 15, 2016

1948 Raleigh Dawn Tourist On the Road

The Raleigh Dawn Tourist project is essentially done. I have some more minor clean up, but it's 98% done.

The bicycle combines the dimensions of a Raleigh Sports-style frame, but with the heft and extras of a full, rod brake roadster. It goes relatively well and has the feel of a sort of touring car. It's a joy to ride, though a bit on the heavy side.

The original, long arm shifter did not shift terribly well and was quite loose, even after complete cleaning and repair. I do have several really nice, 1950s-era shifters on hand, so I'm using one of those.







 The rear rack is quite heavy, but pretty sturdy as well. I get more use from this Banjo Brothers Barrel Bag, however.





The extra daylight this time of year gives me a little extra time to work on bikes like this, and to get them on the road. This final photo was taken around 7:30 P.M., and there was still plenty of daylight to get in some road time.