Technical & Reference Section > Tech and Restoration
They are still out there... (time capsule Californian)
midschooljon:
So most of you know I am very much a mid school guy, but what most of you probably dont know is that my first bike was actually an 83 Californian, followed by a CW Pistol Pete, and then a Prolight, before finally buying the bike of my dreams which was a 94 Holmes....
Anyway, I have a real soft spot for MK3 Californians as a result, and have been keeping an eye out for a nice one over the years. All the ones that have come along have always been over restored, or silly money, so I have passed them up.
In October however I was over in the USA for work, and came across a guy who heard I was into BMX. He casually mentioned he has a Mongoose that he had owned from new. I didn't get too excited, as the number of early 2000 POS mongoose bikes floating around is staggering. However, he then went on to say he bought it brand new in 1983, rode it around town for about a year, and that it has since been sitting in his parents garage unused. At that point I got excited! :LolLolLolLol:
Anyway, a few days later he sent me a message saying he had gone and found the bike, and that it was in terrible shape after rotting in the garage for the last 30 years. He apologized for getting my hopes up, and said it probably wasn't worth selling any more. I wasn't going to give up that easily though, and after requesting pictures a deal was done.
While the bike had a lot of surface rust, and was a bit battered from its life in storage, it was 100% original. I know a lot of people say bikes are 100% original when they actually aren't, but this thing was genuinely all original. It had the same tyres, grips, brake pads, and even brake cables as it did when it came off the shop floor. It even had the original pad set on it that looks almost new. Sadly the tyres were rotted right off the rims, and the cables have seized inside the housings, but it was all there and original.
I unfortunately had to leave the USA before he could get it to me, but I was back over there last week and managed to pick it up. Its now back in the UK and Im going to tidy it up over Christmas. I threw some chen shin comp III's on it to take some pics, but as you see it below is as I found it.
I need to track down some replacement cables, and I might put some pro class bars on it, but other than that its staying as it was found. :daumenhoch:
I will update with progress as I get on.
If anyone knows where I can track down some replacement clear DC brake cables please let me know. :daumenhoch:
ED209:
soak the cables in citric acid and see what happens ... gotta be worth a try to keep them orig
:daumenhoch:
bloody lovely score :)
I got one like that in 92 but I fully destroyed it and sprayed it yellow :daumenhoch:
CustardLips:
oldschooljon. :LolLolLolLol:
Very nice mate... looking forward to seeing the finished article. :daumenhoch:
In2bmx:
LOL Nick . Oldschooljon ;D
Great find . fistblump
Gra_goose:
Very nice Jon.
Not sure if he still has them but I used to get the cables from bignaturechan on eBay. They was a bit of a pain to find, but was only about £25-£30 a pair delivered.
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