My New "Old" Bike

I was gifted a bike by glenng (BikeForums member) back in November that was initially to be my "beater" bike. It is a Lotus Excelle and I don't really know any more about it. Serial number is Y6N 759. When I received it, it had rust on it, scraps/scratches, paint missing, etc. I was very grateful for the gift, but my personality is such that I just couldn't stand the "beater" look. I was probably never going to ride it like that.

Very soon after receiving the bike, I purchased a partial Arabesque group off of ebay because I had decided I wanted to make this a nice bike. I had initial thoughts of trying to clean it up and slap the group on there and riding it, but never did - just didn't have the time required to clean it and I still needed some parts. Instead, the bike sat around my house for almost 2.5 months before I decided that I would just find someone to do the stripping and painting.

I took it to a local powdercoater last week and got the frame/fork back on Wednesday. All I can say is Wow!! I had it painted a bright red and I have plans to use white cable housings, bartape, and saddle. I have cleaned up the front wheel using Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish and need to work on the rear wheel this weekend. The brakes need cleaning as do some of the other parts that I will be keeping (seatpost, stem, handlebars). I also don't know whether to keep the headset or get something new. I have no idea if it's still good or not. Today, I ordered, hopefully, all the remaining parts I will need to build it up.

So, I will have something to work on for the next couple of weeks. Gonna be a real learning experience, as I have never built up a bike, but it should be lots of fun.

Here are some of the before/after & Arabesque pictures. I'll try to post more as it gets built.