> > Here is where all of this applies to THIS forum .
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > I just can't "restore" it .
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > A thing is only original once .
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > My dream of making this bicycle all pretty and shiny and
\r?\n> > new-looking , so that I can ride it around a little and play
\r?\n> > "show-off" . . .
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Has been replaced by a deep sense of responsibility for the
\r?\n> > lasting legacy of History , which has been entrusted into my
\r?\n> > temporary care .
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Now , my plans have changed .
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > And ,
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > This was someone's true pride and joy , if not the craftsmen who
\r?\n> > constructed it , then certainly the original owner or two .
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > That hand-laid , incredibly ornate , amazingly complex , pin-striping ?
\r?\n> > It's all done in silver . We all know that silver is the most delicate
\r?\n> > color . We've all seen what happens when silver paint dies . But ,
\r?\n> > I don't mean that these pin-stripes are each a thick but narrow line of
\r?\n> > paint . This is like you might leave from the nib of a fountain pen
\r?\n> > filled with silver ink . You have to look closely to see it . When you
\r?\n> > do , you spend more and more time following it around , as it travels
\r?\n> > the curves of the tubes , and the nickel plated front fork .
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > It is astounding that such thin traces of delicate silver pin-striping
\r?\n> > somehow survive after 109 years . And on the down tube , the name was
\r?\n> > lettered on by hand , using the same mysterious , almost ghostly ,
\r?\n> > coloring .
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Sterling , Built Like A Watch .
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Raoul (the-curator-of-his-own-mind) Delmare
\r?\n> > Marysville (where-birds-fly-over-the-rainbow) Kansas
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> >
>
> Raoul,
> #1) First of all I'd contact the Smithsonian before you start to
> mess with it. You might learn some neat tricks and save some possible
> to the bike. They have a pretty good collection of bikes.
>
> #2) You can't write a description like that and then leave us
> hanging without pics. That's torture.
>
> Craig in Tucson
>
>
Hey Craig , thanks for the kind words . Thanks indeed !
Thanks for the good idea . Never thought about going to the big folks for advice !
I know it's hard to believe I'm so far "behind the curve" - no way to post pictures ( yet ) .
Just got a digital camera .
I've only glanced at the big-thick Owner's-Manual-Instruction-Book- And-Unabridged-Tagalog-To-English-Translation-Dictionary.
I have VERY serious doubts about finding a way to connect new camera -to- old computer , IF I can ever figure out how to take any pictures . . .
Then there's the whole issue of establishing relations with some kind of company who posts your pictures to the Internet for free ( sounds way too fishy . . . ) . . .
Cheers ,
Raoul Delmare
Marysville (flint&steel is technology enough) Kansas