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Hello, Newbie looking for help
Thank you for adding me to your group, much appreciated.
I am a complete newbie to vintage bikes so hoping your experience and knowledge can help me. I have just picked up the below bike and intend to restore it for my daughter. Obviously it’s CCM, research so far indicates it could be an Apache or Rambler? Appears to have the incorrect bars and seat?
Can anyone tell me anything about this bike. I will post more detail once I can find any numbers.
For posting a photo, I find that attaching it in an additional post (in the same thread) rather than with the original post works well. If it's larger than 2mb, cropping the edges off with a photo editor will help.
I've seen a few bikes like that before. My guess is that during the late '60s / early '70s when "muscle bikes" were in style, someone retrofitted an older "roadster" type bike by bolting on the seat and the handlebar. My father hated those upright bars because he thought they were dangerous. You could restore that bike by cleaning and greasing the bearings, cleaning the paint (or repainting), and putting on a new seat and correct handlebar, or you could spend about a hundred dollars and buy a nice girls bike that needs less work. If you search on this site for a thread with the title "His 'n Hers Pic Page" you will see two bikes that I bought for about $100 each (plus I had to chase down correct tires and seats). They are both 1963 Imperial Mk IIs.
Another thing to consider is whether you want to give your daughter a bike with 28" wheels or 26" wheels. The 28s were considered suitable for older kids and adults, and the 26s for younger kids or smaller people. My wife is under 5 foot and she prefers a 26" wheel bike. You didn't say how old your daughter is. Your bike looks like it's riding on 28" tires.
To clean up chrome, try "ultra fine" grade 0000 steel wool and warm soapy water, or chrome cleaner. It works great on handlebars and rims, but I've heard that it can be bad for CCM bikes with chrome fenders, as it will dull the chrome.
The serial number for your bike is on the frame, under the seat. Look for the letter code.
Hope that helps.
Brian, thanks so much for the reply. My daughter is 18 and 5’ 4”, heading off to University, thought this would be perfect.
My research so far concurs with your comments, needs regular saddle and bars. My intent is to tidy up and make mechanically sound.
i will find the serial # and post a few more photos, would really like to know the model and year.
The serial # is H 142866
1965
Thank you