Thursday, February 19, 2015

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - So very cool!

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle After Restoration
I recently started restoration work on a customers 1980 Miyata 912 restoration.  Readers know that 1980's Japanese bicycles are near the top of my list for favorites and this Miyata 912 is right up there.  The black, gray and white paint scheme is very 1980's but also so very cool.  

This is going to be an interesting build because none of the components are necessarily original to the Miyata, the frame is the starting point.  The customer has a collection of very cool Shimano 600 components from the era that will make an awesome build for the the Miyata.  To go with the Shimano 600 components are Dura Ace hubs, top of the line in my book but then my book has Dura Ace above Campagnolo and that's me and what makes vintage bicycles so cool, you can like anything in you want in an order.

The frame is in good starting shape, a few scuffs and chips here with a few very minor spots around a lug line, the frame should really polish nice.  The crank is going to come off an old Cannondale Aluminum bicycle from the late 1980's that the rear derailleur hanger is broken off.

Te frame and components will receive a restoration along with new cables, cable housings, saddle, seat post and handlebar tape.  The tires will be kept as the Miyata will be a display bike and light rider and the tires are in good shape and just look cool.  It would take along time to get the tires to look like that again.

I can't wait to see the Miyata 912 finished and hopefully be able to get a good test ride in.  Like I said the Miyata is right in my wheel house for favorites.

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Before

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Handlebars

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Stem & Handlebars

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Head Tube

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Front Brake

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Dura Ace Front Wheel hub

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Wolber Front Wheel Rim

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Stem

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Front Brake

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Top Tube

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Down Tube

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Seat Lug

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Seat Tube Decal

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Seat Tube

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Bottom Bracket

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Bottom Bracket

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Bottom Bracket

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Seat Lug

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Shimano 600
Rear Brake

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Chain Stay Decal

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Shimano 600 Rear Derailleur

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Before - Dura Ace
Rear Wheel Hub

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Before
Rear Wheel Rim

Below is the Cannondale frame that the crank and bottom bracket will be taken from.  Its to bad the cable hanger is broken because the frame otherwise is in great shape.

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Cannondale Donor

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Cannondale
Donor - Broken Cable Hanger

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Cannondale
Donor - Shimano 600 Crank

With the frame stripped of the few components that where on it I can see that it will take some elbow grease to get looking good but should really pop after the Miyata is polished.  I also somehow lost the before profile photo of the Miyata 912.

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Before
Head Tube

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Before
Head Tube

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Before - Top Tube

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Before - Down Tube

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Before - Down Tube

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Before
Down Tube

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Before
Seat Lug

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Before
Seat Post

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Before - Bottom Bracket

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Before - Bottom Bracket

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Before - Bottom Bracket

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Before
Seat Lug

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Before
Rear Brake Bridge

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Before - Chain Stay
Decal

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Before
Drop Outs

The frame really cleaned nicely and after working through the grits is quit stunning!  The polished white and black does not show up well in photos but really just pops!  I love the white, silver black fade!

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Polished

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Polished
Head Tube

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Polished
Head Tube

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Polished - Down Tube

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Polished - Down Tube

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Polished
Seat Lug

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Polished
Bottom Bracket

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Polished - Bottom Bracket

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Polished - Bottom Bracket

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Polished
Seat Lug

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Polished
Rear Brake Bridge

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Polished - Chain Stay

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Frame Polished
Drop Outs

The all black fork goes very well with the frame colors.  The fork was quite dirty and dull but cleaned and polished beautifully!  I am very happy with the fork.

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Fork Before

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Fork Before - Fork Crown

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Fork Before - Fork Crown

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Fork Before
Fork Blade

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Fork Before - Fork Drop Outs

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Fork Polished

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Fork Polished - Head Tube

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Fork Polished
Fork Blades

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Fork Polished - Drop Outs

The headset is a very nice Shimano 600 headset with cartridge bearings.  The headset has alloy cups with a brushed finish and the Shimano 600 decals.  I wanted to keep the brushed finish and decals so that meant hand polishing.  The headset polished nice and looks great installed and is very light.

The bottom bracket is pretty nice bottom bracket, this had the same brushed finish and I wanted to keep it to match the headset so I hand polished the bottom bracket.  I did polish the bottom bracket lock ring on the power polisher.  With the bearings packed in new grease the bottom bracket spins extremely smooth and looks great.

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600 Headset - Before

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bottom Bracket - Before

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Headset & Bottom Bracket
Polished

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Headset Cups
Pressed

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600
Headset Cups - Pressed

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600
Headset - Compelte

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bottom Bracket Bearings
Packed

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bottom Bracket
Complete

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Headset & Bottom Bracket
Complete
I don't know why but I installed the brake calipers next, I normally install the stem and handlebars first.  The calipers are extremely nice Shimano 600 calipers.  It took a combination of power polishing and hand polishing.  I wanted to keep the brushed finish of the caliper arms and then power polished all the small pieces.  The calipers turned out fantastic, I love the looks of these calipers.

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600 Brakes - Before

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600 Brakes - Exploded

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600 Brakes - Polished

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600 Brakes - Compelte

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600 Front
Brake - Installed

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600
Brake - Installed

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600
Rear Brake - Installed

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600
Rear Brake - Installed

The handlebars are very nice later model Road Champion bars.  The customer had the stem around and will be perfect for the Miyata 912.  I polished both the handlebars and stem by hand.  The handlebars where and great shape and have a lacquer finish that I wanted to keep.  The stem also has a beautiful finish that took a lot of hand polishing but turned out amazing.  I could not be happier with the handlebars and stem. 

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Handlebars & Stem - Before

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Stem - Before

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Stem - Exploded

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Handlebars & Stem - Polished

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Stem - Polished

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Handlebars - Polished

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Stem - Polished

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Handlebars & Stem
Installed

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Handlebars & Stem - Installed

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Handlebars & Stem
Installed


1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Handlebars & Stem - Complete

The brake levers are nice Shimano 600 Tri-Color levers.  Being the gray color I can not power polish them.  I did a deep cleaning, hand polished the levers and treated the hoods.  I think the Tri-Color brake levers are going to be a very nice touch to the Miyata 912.

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600 Tri-Color
Brake Levers - Before

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600 Tri-Color
Brake Levers - After

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600 Tri-Color
Brake Levers - Installed
\

The Shimano 600 crank came off the Cannondale donor frame.  I was debating back and fourth on how to handle the crank.  The crank has a brushed finish covered with a lacquer.  There are a few minor scratches but not bad at all and I think it would look better keeping the brushed finish instead of polishing it all off.  After a whole lot of hand polishing I think I made the correct choice keeping the original finish.

I have been working on finding a second media blasting cabinet at a descent price to set up with glass beads or walnut shells to be able to put textured finished back on alloy components like this.  Hopefully soon.


1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600 - Crank - Before

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600 Crank - Exploded

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600 Crank
Polished
1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600 Crank
 Complete

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600 Crank
Installed
The derailleurs are very nice Shimano 600 derailleurs.  The rear derailleur polished just beautifully, I find it to be quite stunning and beautiful.  The rear derailleur also has an upper jockey wheel with a ceramic bushing that is kind of cool.

The front derailleur also polished beautifully and looks fantastic against the crank and paint!

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600 Derailleurs 
 Before
1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600 Rear Derailleur
Before

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600 Rear Derailleur
Exploded

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600 Derailleur
Polished

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600 Derailleur 
Complete

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600
Rear Derailleur - Installed

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600 Front Derailleur
Before

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600 Front Derailleur
Exploded

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600 Front Derailleur
Complete

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600
Front Derailleur - Installed
The pedals are nice Shimano 600 Tri-Color pedals.  They are in pretty good starting shape considering the beating pedals take.  I did a lot of cleaning and then polished the pedals, they look pretty good installed.

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600 Tri-Color
Pedals - Before

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600 Tri-Color
Pedals - Polished

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shimano 600
Tri-Color - Pedals Installed

That completes the main body of the Miyata 912 besides the shift elvers and seat post, they arrived late this afternoon.
1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle So Far

I love the wheels that where chosen for the Miyata 912!  The hubs are Dura Ace and the rims are a bronze colored Wolber that is perfect for the Miayata 912. I disassembled the hubs and got to cleaning and polishing.  the hubs polished amazing and the rims cleaned up very nice.  After cleaning and polishing the axle components I packed the bearings and assembled the hubs.  The wheels hub spin extremely nice, sometimes it is just so nice to have the high quality of the Dura Ace line!  I love the wheel choice!

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Rear Wheel
Before

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub
Before

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Dura Ace Rear Wheel Hub
 Before

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Rear Wheel Rim - Before

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Dura Ace Rear Wheel Hub
Before

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub - Polished

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Wheel Hub Axle Components
Cleaned & Polished

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub - Complete

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Rear Wheel - Complete

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Front Wheel
Before

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Front Wheel Hub - Before

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Front Wheel Rim - Before

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Front Wheel Hub - Old Grease

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Front Wheel Hub - Old Grease

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Front Wheel Hub - Bearings
Packed

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Front Wheel Hub
Complete

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Front Wheel - Complete

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Wheels - Complete

In the next few days the seat post and shift levers will be polished and the saddle will be installed.  Ice gray cable housings with new cables will be installed along with the new handlebar tape.  So hope the weather will be nice enough to give the Miyata 912 a good hard test ride!



The shift levers are nice Shimano 600 index shift levers.  I polished the levers and they look like little jewels, I love them.  Installed they look even better.

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shift Levers - Exploded

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shift Levers - Polished

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Shift Levers - Installed

The seat post polished beautifully, it looks amazing and looks even more amazing against the polished black paint.  The saddle is perfect for the Miyata 912.

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Seat Post - Polished

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Saddle - Cleaned

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Seat Post
Saddle - Installed

I started to wire the Miyata 912 when I ran into a problem, the Shimano 600 brake calipers reach was to long so the brake pads would not line up with the rim.  I should ave caught this earlier but luckily the customer had a set of Shimano 600 short cage calipers.  I restored the calipers and installed them.  The calipers look just as great as the long reach calipers and does not hurt to have a restored set of Shimano 600 brakes around.

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - New Bits & Pieces

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Calipers Not Reaching

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Short Cage Calipers - Exploded

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Short Cage Calipers - Polished

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Short Cage Calipers - Complete

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Short Cage Calipers - Installed

The micro adjust screws for the rear drop outs where missing so new where installed, it will be a nice touch on the Miyata 912.


1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - New Micro Adjust Drop Out Screws

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Micro Adjust Drop Out Screws
Installed
 Next is installing the new chain.  I measured and removed 4 links form the new chain.

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - New Chain
Installed

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - New Chain - Installed

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Cables - Complete

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Cables
Complete

Last thing is installing the handlebar tape.  A black leather like tape was chosen and looks great installed.

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Handlebar Tape - Installed

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Handlebar Tape - Installed

That completes the Miyata 912.

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle - Complete

I test rode the Miyata 912 this morning and it rode like a dream!  Although it was a very short ride because the temp was -2 Fahrenheit out, Come one spring, Stop dragging your feet!!  I will take 25 and some sun at this point!

The test ride went great and the Miayata shines in final photos!!  I think this is about as cool as it gets!!  I love the idea for the build the customer had!  The pant scheme is cool, the Shimano 600 components are cool, the Dura Ace wheels are ultra cool!  I love it!! 

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Complete

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Complete

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Handlebars

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Stem & Handlebars

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Head Tube

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Front Brake

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Dura Ace
Front Wheel Hub

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Front Wheel Rim

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Stem

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Front Half

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Top Tube
Decal

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Shift Levers

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Saddle

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Seat Tube Decal

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Bottom Bracket

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Drive Train

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Shimano 600 Crank

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Front Derailleur

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Rear Derailleur

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Seat Lug

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Rear Brake

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Rear Wheel Hub

1980's Miyata 912 Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Rear
Thank you for all the interest and work!
John Z.

2 comments:

  1. Beautiful Job! I had a late 70s Miyata 912 with Arabesque components and really like what you've done bring this bike back to show room condition.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow just found your blog through this restoration. I just came into a similar model, I'll be following your steps in order to do a deep restoration, instead of wiping the thing off, thanks a lot

    ReplyDelete