Joining the Owner's Club

I've never owned a Sekine of my own. I've worked on them, fixed one up for my girl, and looked at dozens of them on the streets over this past summer.
Haunted by dreams of riding my own Sekine machine, I've been browsing the used bike ads on Craigslist for the past while. The other day I finally saw something I wanted to buy, a red RM-20 lightweight:

The Sekine RM-20, with disembodied hand

Took it for a quick test ride down the street, and it seemed alright. A quick look-over to make sure there was nothing obviously wrong with the frame hinted the bike needed much work, giving me grounds to bargain down the price. The lady selling was the original owner; since buying the bike in 1981 she'd ridden it countless miles all over the west coast. I handed over a fistful of bills, and doubled off home on my new (old) Sekine.

Buyer beware, of course. As with the majority of used bikes bought off Craigslist, this one needed more than a few repairs. Some things were obvious, some weren't. Here's a list: The cables and housing (almost always) need to be replaced, handlebar foam is worn out, the chain is worn out, the tires were old and starting to crack, the rear wheel was a mis-matched 700c, the seatpost is a tad short for me, the front brake pads have hardened. Add to that all the labour required to tune this machine to my standards (basically, a full overhaul and detailing). Despite all this, I think I paid a fair price, and got a nice little bonus out of the deal (post to come later!).

It's mine to work on now, mine to ride and obsess over. My first Sekine!

Over the next little while I'll be posting as I tear down and re-build this bike.