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1963? Imperial Mark II
This bike was on Kijiji with over 800 views but was not selling. The daughter of the owner said people were either no-shows or made offers of around $30. I thought I would help the woman out of her misery and pick up the bike. It's crazy that nobody bought it because it's in beautiful original condition and all I had to do to make it rideable was put air in the tires. It will look even better once I've cleaned up the rims and hubs. It had a 10-speed seat on it so I put on one that is at least the correct shape if not the correct colour. I especially like the blue paint colour because so many of my CCMs are maroon. Was it called electric blue or electronic blue? I also like this bike because I think of it as the last of CCMs line of traditional roadster bikes before they moved to chrome fenders and sticker head badges.
The serial number is D67096, which puts it as 1964, but I found a very nice photo in another forum on this site from paul246 of himself with his brother and their 1964 Imperial Mark II's, and their bikes had chrome fenders. So, with painted fenders am I right in thinking that despite the serial number my bike would appear in a catalogue as a 1963 model? From Paul's photo I also discovered that the grips are original. The only parts that are not factory original are the tires and the seat. On that note, can someone out there help get this bike back to all-original and sell me a blue and white seat like the one in the photo below?
Finally, the 1964 bikes owned by paul246 and his brother had white-wall tires. I have a pair of new 28" whitewalls that I'd like to put on - would the catalogue pictures of this bike show it with white-walls originally?
Thanks,
-Brian
Beautiful bike Bryan love the painted fenders have never really been a fan of chrome fenders. Good score
Thanks Lou. I've been told that this model was sold new with white-wall tires. I think it will look great once I've put them on and cleaned the rims. I'll post another photo later.
Brian what rear hub is in the Imperial II?
It's a Perry hub. I think it's an indication of the financial pressures CCM was under at the time. Long gone is the venerable "37" hub, and stamped metal head badges would soon follow.
Great score Brian.
In 1963, I had a brand-new Imperial Mark II with 26” tires. In 1965, we moved from Sudbury to Rexdale and my bike was promptly stolen.
In December 2016 I found a 28” Imperial MK II for sale. I think I paid $115 for it. The Craigs List and Kijiji ads said: “vintage look seat, modern handgrips, carrier basket. Single speed with coaster brake. Serial number: C79402 Made in Canada Will suit riders 5'8 to 6'0 approximate”.
The bike looked alright except that the rims were not the original alloy kind and the tires weren’t the original whitewalls. Because of a few inches of snow on the ground, I didn’t get a chance to test drive the bike. I found out that the coaster brake was shot in the spring of 2017 so it’s been in my garage ever since.
At minimum, I want to restore the rims and whitewall tires to original. I want to be able to ride this bike!
Thank you! Here is what the bike looks like today, along with its female companion. I managed to find correct seats and grips for both bikes. The girls bike has original 26" Dunlop tires, while the mens has new 28" Duro tires.
I had a very difficult time finding 28" white wall tires. I could not find any after market ones for sale anywhere. There was nothing in dealer catalogues even for special order. One day I found these on a bike store shelf without a label. The store owner said they came on a new bike and were swapped out when the buyer wanted a different look. He sold them to me as "used" tires for 20 bucks. They are called Duro Cordoba 700x35C (37-622) if you want to try to locate a pair.
The subject bicycle is definitely older than 1964, as that was the model year that the Imperial Mk IV was introduced and the alpha prefix for 1964 serial numbers was a 'G'. The Mk II was definitely avialable in 1962 and 1963 but It may have been introduced even earlier.