1936 Royal Enfield bicycle: Oily rag
Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2023 3:41 pm
Change of plan, but thanks to those who have taken a look.
However, the bike is done.
Certainly easier to do an Oily-Rag rebuild than a restoration of any description.
After some investigation with the Royal Enfield Club, the bike is a Model L of 1938 vintage, just before the war. This model was stopped for the war effort in may ways. Royal Enfield was a sizable company.
In the end I stripped it as little as I could get away with and resisted ALL temptation to paint anything (hard to do) and removed all dirt and as much rust as I could. The wheels were the hardest part.
The original chain was restored with a paraffin soak and WD40 and typifies these old British push bike, so well made.
The lady who bought this bike new must have been a BIG girl as even with the saddle as low as I can get it the saddle is just a bit too high for me.
The Brooks saddle is on the edge of unusable with 3 tears.rot evident and the saddle is quite miss-shapen as a result.
Some available on ebay, so may be tempted.
