My first Resto -1952 Raleigh Sport

[shadaboot27]

It is.difficult. Took me 2 years to restore my 1978 Elswick (only 100 made in Lotus JPS fag packet colours) and I bought a couple of near complete Elswick bikes to rob for parts. Value is irrelevant, cos it ain't for sale and never will be while I'm breathing.

Go with your heart and do what suits you but lose the idea that a full resto will devalue it. Unless it's a historically significant model, or owned by someone famous (and can be documented as such) then it won't devalue it, only moves it into a different sector of the market place. Of course one thing to consider, which has nothing to do with market value, is that if everyone suddenly restored bikes to showroom spec then there will be no originals left to act as a template for future renovations, so fair play for giving the matter some thought.

Go with your heart, not ill advised talk about a bikes "value".

I wouldn't call it "i'll advised". This is my 1935 Raleigh Golden Arrow which i sold a year ago. It was in absolutely remarkable original condition due to being dry stored it's whole life. I sold it for a lot of money, the originality and rarity attracted a lot of collectors, hence why it sold for so much. If i had of repainted this it wouldn't be worth anywhere near what I got for it, the collectors wouldn't have any interest in it at all as most serious collectors go for original pieces. And even putting value aside, if I had of re-painted it, it would of been a huge shame because it managed to survive so long in untouched condition, by painting it I would of lost all that originality forever which would of been a massive shame. My original comments were simply advice based on my own experience. Before I knew anything about bikes I would see a tiny bit of surface rust and think it was ruined, not knowing that this is not the case. By the sounds of it this Raleigh Sport might be in excellent condition, but as this is his first project he might also think that a little rust means that a respray is the only option so I just wanted him to know that there are more options and it may clean up really well. But yes of course he can choose to ignore me and repaint it which he has every right to do. But hopefully some of this info may of been some help to him on choosing how to go about fixing the bike up.

 

[Daddybus]

We need photos!

 

[shadaboot27]

We need photos!

Agreed, if its in terrible condition then there is no question about it, get painting!