Reader Project: Mauricio's 1969 Huffy Sportsman

Ah, the wonders of the interwebs and the machinations of fate. Mauricio happened to take a wrong turn the other day, and when he stopped to ask directions, noticed the white tail of this Raleigh-made Huffy Sportsman peeking out of a garage. He asked if the bike was for sale, and lo and behold, took this lovely specimen home for a mere $10. Pretty good haul for getting lost. 

So then, whilst Googling "Huffy Sportsman" he found my blog, and (this is the best part) discovered that we live only about twenty minutes away from each other. Long story short, that's Yours Truly in some of the photos below.

I went over to Mauricio's last night and we got started taking things apart. This is Mauricio's first old bike project, and it's perfect for learning. The cables are all broken, the rust is pervasive, but not impossible, and much of the chrome appears to be nearly pristine under the thickest coat of road/storage grime I've ever seen. It took a fair amount of work to even find the date stamp on the hub. The really cool thing is that this bike is equipped with a Sturmey-Archer grip-shifter, which I've never worked on before, so I get to learn something new.

More photos to come as Mauricio and I get our hands dirty and get his bike ready to roll again.

Images: Except for the one at top, all photos by Mauricio.

Posted in: 1969 Huffy/Raleigh Sportsman,reader projects,Sturmey-Archer