1980 Feather Professional BMX Part 3

The decision is made. I am going with the black Ukai rims and black Sunshine hubs.

Black Ukai BMX rims and black Sunshine hubs

Hajime Kato Suntour Postcards

I’ve recently discovered that Suntour distributed a 5 pack of postcards displaying reproductions of Hajime Kato original oil paintings. These paintings were abstract renditions of bicycle racing. I have been quite taken by Kato’s ability to capture movement in all his works.

Hajime Kato artwork on Suntour Postcards

Kato was a professional keirin cyclist in Japan in the 1940’s and 50’s. He is said to be instrumental in bringing keirin cycling to the world. He later moved to Paris where he focused entirely on his art.

1980 Feather Professional BMX Part 2

I’ve got the majority of the parts laid out with a few decisions to make along the way.

1980 Fuji Feather BMX Parts

One of the very distinct parts on the Fuji Feather Professional BMX bikes is the Tange Meriter headset. These are semi-sealed and were a very high-end part in the mid and late 1970’s.

Tange Meriter MX Pro headset

When acquiring a Tange Meriter headset one of the most often damaged parts is the top-nut. I must have 10 headsets and probably 5 good top-nuts, 2 bad top-nuts, and 1 unusable. If you ever find these top-nuts at a swap, buy them!

Tange Meriter MX Pro headset top-nut

Another very distinct part to the Feather Professional BMX is the curved Ishiwata fork.

Fuji - Ishiwata BMX fork

1980 Feather Professional Black

Today I begin bringing life back into this 1980 Feather Professional BMX. I will only be cleaning; there will be no resurfacing, repainting or even removing stickers on any parts.

80-feather-black

Coming soon Fuji Design Series B5142

The Fuji Design Series is the pinnacle of classic Fuji bicycles. I was able to acquire this DS in my size; which to my understanding is quite rare. More photos and story to come soon.

Classic Fuji Design Series

Bar Keepers Friend really works!

I had heard about oxalic acid and its power to remove rust from bicycle as well as many metal parts. In my research I also found out the active ingredient in Bar Keepers Friend is oxalic acid. It just so happens that I had just received a rather rusty Fuji Feather Professional Ishiwata BMX fork and have a bottle of Bar Keepers Friend under the kitchen sink.

So, here’s what I did. I got a large plastic bin I had purchased at Costco some time ago. I put one cup of Bar Keepers Friend in the bin and then filled it with hot water until the fork was completely covered. I carried the bin outside to let it sit for a few hours. Before walking away, I couldn’t help but pull the fork out to see if any thing was happening. Sure enough, with the wipe of my finger rust was already coming off! I was looking forward to the result!

3 hours later I began to lightly scrub away the rust with a Scotch Brite blue non-scratch sponge. Below are the results.

Classic Fuji Bicycle Fork Rust Removal Bar Keepers Friend

After and Before

Classic Fuji Fork Rust Removal with Bar Keepers Friend

After/Before