pilot 3 speed

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heartlandcruisers

heartlandcruisers

Joined
Jun 3, 2012
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arkansas city,kansas
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i'm not sure much about this bike but its a working 3 speed which i cannot seem to find anywhere anymore
a 20 dollar yard sale find
its pretty nice considering i believe its from the 70's
the rear wheel has a flat spot on it so m gonna either relace the rear wheel or try to find a good replacement for it
anyone know who makes these?
the front sprocket tells me amf because my flying wedge had the exact same sprocket but i uncertain
anyways i think its a good restore project as these aren't too common anymore and this particular one is in decent shape
Sean








 
Early 70's AMF, my dad had one like it, same brake levers too. The bmi sticker on the seat tube verifies early 70's also. The rear wheel is 26 x 1 3/8, it might be easier to have it trued up. The 3 speed hub is shimano, it won't have a date stamp like SA hubs do. The bike looks like it was barely ridden then kept indoors. It'll need lubed up as the grease has probably dried up in all the bearings. A nice find!
 
heya wildcat
you hit the tee right on the head!!!! all the ebarings have been dried and ive regreased most of them
the rear hub does not have any dat on it but it definitely looks to be shimao
the rear wheel is 26x13/8
so it ounds like you are very familiar with this bike
thanks for the info
it was a good find im pretty comfy ith the price i paid
the rear wheel is bad though it has a bad flat spot and theres dents in the wheel
so if i can make it work i might but it mgith be ebst to replace it or i as thinking of relacing it to anew rim
thanks wildcat
sean
 
Very nice !

I have the AMF badged twin to that, AMF NImble in maroon - love the colors on your better. congrats.
 
thanks wheelspeed i was kinda regretting it after i discovered the wheel issue but im feeling better about it
it actually rides ok but the handlebars need to go their very uncofortable lol it's a decent survivor with a lil cleaning and tweaking it will be good as new again the main issue is the rear wheel everything else is ok

greendragon that was exactly what i was thinking this was i had a couple nimbles their pretty exact just the brown color
that's kinda what gave me the impression it was made by amf its very similar right down to the uncomfortable bars lol
the messinger seat i think is an add on but otherwise it appears to be original
thanks guys you made me feel better bout paying 20 bucks for this lol
sean
 
I took another look at the pics, that bike may not have seen 10 miles, there is not grime or marks on the sprocket at all. I also noticed the bracket for the shift cable is wrong, the part right under the chain guard where the cable goes through. The white plastic grommet should be positioned right under the steel bracket, not hanging out ahead of it. If you loosen the bracket, it should fit right up to the lip of the plastic grommet, then tightened down . The plastic grommet had a flat spot the sits next to the frame. The gears may need adjusted then as a little slack may have been created. On the that Shimano, there's an N in a red circle that lines up on the flange at the hub. The shifter needs to be in N (normal) gear when you adjust the cable.
 
heya wildcat
yeah you are right the gears do need tweaking a bit
i never even noticed that grommet til you mntioned it
thanks for the info i never even knew bout the n on the hub
i will have to check it out
as far as milage yeah i don't think it was ridden much its really clean that happens alot around nebraska i alays find bikes that have barely been ridden
thanks again wildcat
sean
 
dragnusa said:
Try mtn bike bars on it I think you will find its a more comfy ride
Click to expand...
heya dragnusa
i considered the mtn bike bars but right now i put a similar pair on upside down just for the look and i added a basket tothe front
i may tun upside down tn bike bars o give it a cafe racer feel though thats actually a good idea
thanks dragnusa
sean
 
well i made a couple minor changes to this bike
simple yet appealing to me
handlebars are upside down bars similar to the old ones
i added a wald basket to the front
simple no nonsense and easily converted back to stock
enjoy

 
lil update the pilot
i decided shes worth a full on restoration
so i will be looking for prts to restore her back to her glory
i did a mild custom look to it and will probably go that route
i cleaned the fenders and they look like brand new!! nice deep shine
so i won't need to rechrome it or paint it just touch up a few areas
updates and pics soon
also need a good name for her since i name all my bikes after women to remind me i gotta be gentle let her lead and i will follow and we will have a beautiful everlasting relationship( yup i already tore my mancard up lol)
thanks for reading
Sean
 
so this bike is becoming a build/restore project
it needs so little i am just cleaning it and it looks brand new
so heres some pics of the cleaning i have done as of now

i have never had such a clean pair of fenders these things are immaculate with only minimal scuffing on the bottom nothing a lil sanding and cleaning wont fix

even the supports are nice and clean for a bike from the 70's this thing is clean!!!!!

the pedals one before cleaning one after cleaning they look like brand new!!!

the front sprocket cleaned up nicely looks fantastic but not perfect

outside of the front sprocket looks just as good

this pic didn't come out too good but the crank-arms are a lil scuffed but really clean

ugh bottom bracket looks rough but i cleaned it it looks better forgot to take an after pic

tried to pic the serial but i couldn't get a clear shot i know it begins with ta i think i will check tomorrow and get the serial

that's it for now more pics and updates soon
thanks for reading
Sean
 
got the rear wheel laced to a araya hoop
now i just gotta tweak it and true the spokes which i will most likely have my lbs do since i have not had any luck truing wheels they always come out bad
the araya hoop looks excellent and the bikes coming along
i was also able to find a carlise rear tire that's in decent shape to mount on it.
the araya hoop is from a 1970 amf super 10 i restoed awhile back so its era correct
next step is getting the wheel trued and mounting the tire then adjusting the gears and this old man is back on the road
ould not b happier with how this is coming along
even though this old man is rideable probably not gonna ride it much as its in really good shape and i wanna keep it that way
thanks for reading more pics/updates soon
sean
 

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