A somber goodbye and an Impulsive Hello!

A few weeks ago, reluctantly, I put the Schwinn Passage on Craigslist.  I made sure the price was at a I don't want to sell this but if you meet my price I will be ok with it level.  There was no action in the first week and then I got some interest from a young man who arranged to see it on a Saturday.  The day before on Friday I got a call I had been waiting a long time for, a Job offer!  A lack of job was the reason the Schwinn was on the block and I considered cancelling the ad and telling the guy the Passage was off the market.  Although I had an offer I wasn't going to start right away or get paid right away either and I had a good feeling about the potential buyer so I went ahead with the meeting. The guy and his wife drove up from Joint Base Lewis McChord (about 50 miles) and when he saw the bike I heard him say under his breath, it looks even better than the ad, and I knew I had made the right choice.  He was very excited to buy it and I was excited to fill up my wallet.

I now had a  job in the offing, projects completed and listed on CL, and a hole in my quiver, I have been working hard to clear the decks of bike projects, frames and parts that I will probably never get to..BUT...I really liked having a mid 80s Japanese touring bike.  Maybe I will just take a peek at CL, nada, hmm wonder what's for sale on Bike Forums these days.

Catalog shot

On bike forums I see that there is a 1987 Nishiki Cresta in 58cm which is my size but it says local pickup only.  I click the post for a closer look, the seller is in Portland, Oregon, that is not too far down the road, my old stomping grounds and home to numerous friends and family, that could work.  And wait a sec the logo the seller is using on his Bike Forums profile is familiar....I think its the same as the logo for The Simplicity of Vintage cycles blog, the same blog that got me so obsessed with Vintage Japanese Touring bikes that I went in search of a Schwinn Passage.  So I PM the seller, is this Josh of blog fame? and he emails me back asking if I am the guy who runs the Ryan's Rebuild blog, small world!

Now I am still technically unemployed and cash strapped so I don't commit right away but I keep my eye on the listing, ping my Portland friends, who are Oregon Ducks and live in the Hollywood district btw, to see if I could stay with them on the off chance I come to Portland for the weekend.  I find the 1987 Nishiki Catalog online and start obsessing.

Ok who am I kidding, of course I am going to buy it!  I get up early Saturday and drive down to Portland, meet up, get a tour of his very nice, and clean!, shop and seal the deal.  And now I am the proud owner of a 1987 Nishiki Crest GT touring bike that is nearly bone stock.

I have many more pictures here and I will probably do another post just on all the cool features of this bike but for now I just wanted to follow up on my tease from a few days ago and share the new addition to the stable.

I just completed the Raleigh Mixte and the Motobecane Mirage has been over half done for 8 months so I want to get it completed on CL soon.  I have one other potential quick and dirty project after that and then the decks will be cleared.  Then I can start the rehab on this lovely Nishiki, maybe in time to do the Tour de Lopez for the second consecutive year on my second consecutive mid 80s Japanese touring bike.

Ride. Replace, Smile. Repeat.