1981 Miyata 610 Restoration

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Bicycle - After

While working on the Raleigh 3 speed I am also starting work on a 1981 Miyata 610 restoration.  The Peugeot P8 is just waiting on some bearings and it will be complete in an hour.

I am pretty sure this is a 1981 Miyata 610, not 100% sure yet but will find out more as I go.  he 610 from 1981 is considered a touring/sports touring bicycle and as readers know I love touring bicycles.

The 1981 Miyata 610 needs a restoration but overall the 10 is in fantastic shape, there is a real gem under the dirt and dullness.  The Miyata 610 will receive a total restoration along with new tires, tubes, cables and cable housings and new handlebar tape.  I am excited to see the Miyata 610 complete and can't wait to ride it.

As I mentioned above the Miyata 610 is in fantastic shape under there, its hard to tell now but the results are going to be stunning.

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Bicycle Before

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Handlebars

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Stem & Handlebars

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Stem & Shift Levers

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Front Brake

1981 Miyata  610 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Front Wheel

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Cable Stop

1981 Miyata  610 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Miyata 610 Decal

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Saddle

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration
Bicycle Before - Tube Decal

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Bottom Bracket

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Front Derailleur

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Crank

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Front Derailleur

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Pedal

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Rear Brake

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Rear Derailleur

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Rear Wheel

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Bottom Bracket

 The frame stripped of components looks dirty and dull but I could only find a few chips and scratches.  A good cleaning and a good polishing to bring out he deep brightness will reveal a jewel.

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Frame Before

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Frame Before
Head Badge

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Frame Before - Down Tube

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Frame Before - Seat Lug

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Frame Before
Seat Tube Decal

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Frame Before - Bottom Bracket

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Frame Before - Brake Bridge

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Frame Before
Drop Outs

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Frame Before
Fork

Today I got to clean and polish the frame, it cleaning took a little more hen I was expecting, some of the grease was very strong and required some WD-40 to remove it.  It took some polishing also, I started with course and worked my way through very fine.  The results of the frame polished is stunning!! I am amazed, the frame is like a time capsule.

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Frame Polished

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Frame Polished
Head Tube

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Frame Polished - Top Tube

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Frame Polished - Down Tube

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Frame Polished - Seat Lug

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Frame Polished - Bottom Bracket

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Frame Polished - Brake Bridge

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Frame Polished
Fork

The headset and bottom bracket where a little rough.  I cleaned all of the components in the crock pot and then went to the polisher.  The components turned out beautiful.  I packed the bearings and assembled the pieces.  The headset and bottom bracket spin perfectly.

The handlebars are one of my favorite, Sakae Randnner Road Champions, I polished the handlebars and the stem.  The stem turned out fantastic and looks great with the handlebars polished.  I can not be happier with the results of the headset, bottom bracket, stem and handlebars, the are perfect time capsules.

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Headset & Bottom Bracket
Before

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Handlebars & Stem - Before

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Stem - Before

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Headset & Bottom Bracket
Polished

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Pressing
Headset Cups

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Cups
Pressed

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Headset Bearings - Packed

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Headset
Complete

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Bottom Bracket - Bearings Packed

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration
Bottom Bracket - Complete

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Handlebars & Stem - Polished

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Stem - Polished

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Stem & Handlebars
Complete

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Stem & Handlebars - Complete

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Headset - Stem - Handlebars
Bottom Bracket - Complete

The brake levers where in descent starting shape, a good cleaning, flushing, lubricating and polishing and the brake levers look great and function great.  I installed the levers and everything is really coming together.

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Brake Levers - Before

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Brake Levers - Polished

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Brake Levers - Installed

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Brake Levers - Installed

The shift levers are Sun Tour Power Shift levers.  These are an early version and they are quite large however I like these shift levers a lot, they are very easy to use and work very well.  These levers cleaned, flushed, lubricated and polished fantastic, I am very happy with the results.

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Shift Levers - Before

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Shift Levers - Polished

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Shift levers - Installed

The brake calipers are nice Die-Comp center pull brakes.  I like center pull brakes versus side pull brakes from this era, they work a lot better especially for a sport touring bicycle.  I disassembled the brake calipers and did the cleaning and polishing.  he calipers turned out beautiful and look fantastic against the red of the paint.

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Brake Calipers - Before

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Brake Calipers - Exploded

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Brake Calipers - Polished

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Brake Calipers - Complete

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Front Brake - Installed

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Rear Brake - Installed

The crank has the longest chain ring bolts I have ever seen!  I like the crank, it is a triple chain ring and an early fairly well working one.  I cleaned and polished the components and assembled the crank.  The crank polished perfectly, the new polishing techniques are working fantastic, I really like this crank, it looks great and is great.

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Crank - Before

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Crank - Exploded

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Crank - Polished

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Crank - Complete

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration
Crank - Installed

The front derailleur is a little rough, the rear derailleur is in descent shape.  I cleaned both and flushed all the moving points.  After polishing the front derailleur turned out pretty good the rear derailleur looks and functions great.  I am happy with both.

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Derailleurs - Before

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Derailleurs - Polished

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Derailleurs - Complete

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Front Derailleur - Installed

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Rear Derailleur - Installed

All the brake stop brackets where dirty and a little rough, I cleaned and polished the brackets and installed them.  Components like these really make or break a restoration, these brackets polished and installed look fantastic against the perfect paint, the really make this restoration.

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Cables Stops - Before

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Cable Stops - Polished

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Cable Stop - Installed

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Cable Stop - Installed

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Cable Stop - Installed

The seat post is in good condition, just a little polishing and it was installed.  The original saddle is a very nice Avocet Touring saddle.  It will stay and was installed.  I do not have a completed photo.

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Saddle & Seat Post - Before

The pedals are nice touring pedals.  They are very large and very heavy duty.  They where a little gumed up but after flushing and lubricating they freed up and spin beautifully.  I polished the pedals and got into the nooks and crannies the best I could.  They look great and installed spin great.

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Pedals - Before

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Pedals - Complete

At his point all the main components are complete and installed.  On to the wheels!

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Main Components - Complete

The wheels are nice touring wheels and are in good shape.  The old grease was far gone and the hubs had some staining but after cleaning and polishing they look great.  The rims are in really good shape, just a little dull and dirty after cleaning they are amazing, amazing to have rims this old and in this good of shape.  I packed new grease and installed the new Kenda tires and tubes.  I am very happy with the results, the gum wall tires are perfect for the look of the Miyata 610.

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Rear Wheel
Before

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub - Before

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Rear Wheel Rim - Before

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Rear Wheel - Old Grease

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub - Polished

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Rear Wheel Rim - Polished

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Rear Wheel Bearings Packed

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration
New Kenda Tires

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Rear Wheel - Complete

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Front Wheel - Before

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Front Wheel Hub - Before

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Front Wheel - Old Grease

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Front Wheel Hub - Polished

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Front Wheel Bearings Packed

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Front Wheel Complete

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Wheels - Complete

 Last things to do is install the new cable and cable housings and the handlebar tape.  I chose the charcoal/silver cable housings, it looks perfect with the red of the frame.

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - New Bits & Pieces

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Cables & Handlebar Tape
Installed

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Cables
Installed

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Cables Installed

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Cables - Installed

It was a late evening when I completed the Miyata 610 so I stand tuned the 610 and hat went very well.  In the morning I will test ride the Miyata and take final photos if its not still raining here.

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration - Bicycle - Complete

I was able to test ride the Miyata this morning, the roads where dry enough but the rain is coming soon.The Miyata 610 rides fantastic, exactly like I thought it would being a Miyata 610.  It did take a little adjustment, well a little more then a little adjustment.  This is why I always test ride the bicycles when they are complete, a perfectly stand tuned bicycle can be way out of tune when the force from riding is applied.  Most bike shops when they tune a bicycle never ride the bicycle so it is only stand tuned and then when you take it home and ride the bicycle it is way out of tune.

I love Miyata bicycles, I believe most readers know this from my many Miyata posts.  They are extremely well thought out bicycles and well built.  This 1981 Miyata 610 is no exception.  This Miyata 610 is a time capsule, it now looks like it is right out of the store in 1981 never ridden.  This could easily be a show bike if some one wanted to show it and probably would win a few ribbons in original & preserved categories.

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration -  Bicycle Complete

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration -  Bicycle Complete

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration
Bicycle Complete - Front

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration -  Bicycle Complete
Handlebars

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration
 Bicycle Complete - Front Brake

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration -  Bicycle Complete
Stem & Shift Levers

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration
Bicycle Complete - Front Half

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration -  Bicycle Complete - Drive Train

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration -  Bicycle Complete - Rear Half

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration -  Bicycle Complete - Rear

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration -  Bicycle Complete - Rear Wheel

1981 Miyata 610 Restoration -  Bicycle Complete - Rear Brake