Spa treatment part I - a guest post by MotoGT_78

Bonjour, I am back to post again, you may recall me from my previous post.  The old Dude is making good on his claim to give me the Spa treatment, not actually sure what that means but is sounds good eh?  We started the day with me in the work stand, a place I rarely spend any time.

And before I know it my wheels, they are off,  I guess I won't be doing farmers market duty tomorrow.

Then he lays out the tools for the day, the two wrenches that will do most of the work and a bottle of something he calls a patience enhancer  (thanks Anniebikes).  It looks a lot like beer to me.

And then with a few twists of his Y wrench my brakes are off, and the rack.   I guess the Old Dude is not messing around.  I notice he has a box for all my parts to go in as they come off, he better not lose any!

Then my handlebars and stem come off, he always talks about the greasing of the stem and seat post but he may have forgot my stem.  I am sure now its off the bike it will get a good cleaning.

Ah and here is my brake lever with the dry cracked hoods that embarrass me, I am sure he will replace those.  He also said something about turkey levers, maybe I am not translating that right?, but I think he wants to get rid of that red piece that sticks out too.

The shift levers have come off so they can get a good clean and lube and the frame underneath hasn't seen the light of day in 40 years either.

My Japanese cable guide goes sayonara and will spend time in something called a sonic cleaner and come back shiny and clean.

And now my derailleurs are gone, they could both use a good overhaul as my shifting has been clunky, or maybe that was the chain? or the cables?  No matter they are both gone and will be replaced by new ones.  This is starting to feel very real.

In no time my cranks are gone, although he needed a special tool for that and the pedals, how many tools does the Old Dude have? 

My seat post, which was greased, saddle and binder bolt are gone now too.  I am starting to feel very au naturel maybe this is a spa day.

There is the parts in box I spoke of earlier and my wheels, was that really all hanging from me a few minutes ago?  Merde!  The old Dude  hasn't even listened to the whole James Brown CD yet and Papa's got a brand new bag already. Yes he is the god father of Soul even in France.

And Voilà I am down to the essentials, I have not been this bare since I was in la belle France.  I know old Dude could take my fork off easily but he's keeping me together while he figures out the bracket in the bottom.  I hear him muttering is it French, is it Swiss!?  I think he will do some research so as not to mess things up.  Anyway I hope I get a hot soapy bath and a rub down soon and maybe something to give my paint some shine.

Love your old bikes mon ami, we deserve a spa day every few decades.