Cheers for the help guys, won't rush into doing anything with it as i have a heap of other jobs around the house i should be doing first. The bike sat in my oldies garden shed for probably 20 years before i found it there, sadly it was a pretty damp shed with water laying on the concrete most of the time, so will take some work getting rust off of stuff. The frame is remarkably clean, though there's been a crack in the bottom of it that was welded years ago, and this needs attention which will bugger up the paint work there. For some reason i'm thinking this paint isn't original and the thing was powdercoated after that weld job was done, i could be wrong here though, as it was near 30 years ago this all happened. The tuffs are in pretty sad condition, i'd read somewhere of someone putting them in the dishwasher to help clean them up, i was thinking of giving this a whirl next time the wife goes out somewhere...lol....though if you think this is a bad idea, speak up now please.
Mal shoot me a list of the parts you want to replace, I can get you a discount on reproduction parts.
I'm assuming it's a Motomag and not a Team or Supergoose model. If your not sure post a pic of the serial number on the bottom bracket. Frame and forks only for a 79/80 Team goose in original condition is worth around $700 in good nic.
Also, I have the era correct bars and gold stem for that bike. If you want to replace with original parts Mongoose parts are expensive for what they are.
Please don't strip the paint or decals off it some of them clean up surprisingly well.
Way cool bike btw.👍👍
I'll check out the seriel number and get back to you, to be honest i don't know myself and haven't checked exactly what it is. As kids we used to strip parts off of bikes left right and centre and just build stuff up as we went, i just know my bike was better then my brothers which is what really eeerks me about getting rid of it. At the end of the day though, if we'd of realized what these old things would be worth nowadays, we'd all still own everything we grew up with now hey...lol. First thing i'll do is strip it all apart and leave it laying on a tarp in pieces, i'll grab some new tubes and tyres for it, also need some new hand grips aswell (will likely keep the chequered look just cause that's what we rode it looking like). Other then that, will try and clean up the other parts first, the handle bars are quite rusty i noticed yesterday after removing the pad from it, as is the top of atleast one brake lever, so if they don't polish up i'll replace them also. Will give you shout for sure when i know exactly what it is i'm going to replace
Listen to snappy. He speaks wise words. There are good theads on bicycle australias forums on restoring parts as well. Those skyways will the hardest to restore. I suspect you will need to cut and polish the faded top layer of plastic out. It will be time consuming. Other than that the cable housing , grips and chain are prolly the only items that may need replacing. (Other than the tires as you mentioned). The frame will polish up pretty well with a light cutting polish. The decals still look pretty bright which is suprising given the amount of UV the wheels appear to have been subjected to.
The bars may come up well with a 48 hour bath in brown vinegar and then a coating of clear.
Collectible relics in Melbournes northrtn sudurbs is another place that does old school bmx stuff.
Oh and at least you sold your old steed. My old x gussett hotfoot adorned with araya 7x and dx platforms got stolen!
As for the model, didnt the motomags have those magnesium webbed wheels?
for the heads up, will try the vinegar thing on the handle bars as you suggest, though they are in pretty sad condition currently. Sucks to read about your bike getting stolen, i had mates loose similar style when we were kids, though luckily it never happened to me or my brother.
