Costa's Bicycle Restorations: 2018

1987 Nishiki Modulus

I bought this Nishiki Modulus from a friend of mine. He is a mechanic at a bike shop and he lets me know when vintage bikes come through the shop. This Nishiki has all original components which are in good condition so I will only be replacing the tires , bar tape ,brake pads ,cables and cable housing. The paint is a smooth metallic red with white seat tube and head tube. The paint has some chips and scratches that I will touch up after conditioning the frame.

Nishiki Bicycles (a short history)

Nishiki bicycles were manufactured by Kawamura Cycles in Kobe ,Japan. They were imported to the United States by West Coast Cycle. They were first marketed under the American Eagle brand in the 1960's and later under the Nishiki brand. In the 1970's and 80's they competed with Schwinn , Raleigh , Peugeot , Motobecane ,Panasonic, Univega and other Japanese and domestic brands. The Nishiki name is modeled after Saga Nishiki , the gold Nishiki thread woven into wedding kimonos. The Nishiki name was picked because it is an easy Japanese name to pronounce. Later Nishiki bicycles were produced by the Giant manufacturing company. This particular bicycle was built in Japan by Kawamura Cycles in 1987. After 1987 Nishiki bicycles were produced in Taiwan.

Before I tore down this bike , I took some before pictures to see how the components and the cables looked before hand. This gives me a good idea how to put the bike back together in the correct way. The frame and forks are made from Tange 900 double butted Chromoly tubing which is both durable and light weight .

Frame (before cleaning and polishing)

Nishiki Head badge

Downtube

Seat stay and seat tube

Chain stay and rear derailleur

Seat stays

Bottom bracket and cranks

Rear cassette and dropouts

Fork

Front derailleur

The first thing I did with this bike was strip all the components from the frame. The paint is in good shape and only needs some minor touch up. I cleaned the frame and compounded it with Maguire's ultimate compound. The frame was then polished and waxed with Maguire's carnuba wax.

Frame (polished and waxed)

Headtube (polished and waxed)

Top tube (polished and waxed)

Downtube (polished and waxed)

Seat tube (polished and waxed)

Seat stay (polished and waxed)

Chain stay (polished and waxed)

Rear dropouts (polished and waxed)

Bottom bracket (polished and waxed)

Fork (polished and waxed)

The first components to get cleaned and lubed is the headset. This headset is manufactured by Hatta and is the "Vesta" model found in most Japanese made road bikes of the 80's. I soaked the headset and bearings in soap and water to remove all the grease and grime then I polished the headset components with chrome cleaner and polish. Then I greased the headset bearings and pressed the headset into the headtube.

Headset (broken down) before

Headset (cleaned and polished)

Headset (before)

Headset getting pressed in.

Top and bottom bearings greased and installed

Headset and fork complete.

Next I worked on the stem and handlebars. The stem had a coating of oxidation on it that needed to be removed and the handle bars needed to have the old adhesive removed and cleaned.

I cleaned and polished the stem with Mothers Aluminum cleaner and polish. This stem is the stock stem that came with the bicycle.

Stem (cleaned and polished) exploded view

Stem (cleaned and polished) complete

The drop bars on this bike are Kusuki WinPista. I could not find much information on the web about these bars but they are fairly decent bars found on most high end Japanese bikes. These bars are super light and cleaned up nicely to a brilliant shine.

Kusuki WinPista bar and stem

Kusuki WinPista bars (before)

Kusuki WinPista bars (cleaned and polished)

Drop bars and stem (installed)

This Nishiki is equipped with the Shimano Exage Sport groupo. The Exage group of components was the first group to feature front derailleur index shifting. The Exage name stands for EXcellence + new AGE. The first component from the group I am restoring are the cranks and bottom bracket. The cranks are equipped with Shimano Bio Pace 52x42 chain wheels. Bio Pace is a type of non round chain wheel designed to provide a more natural motion of the foot for better off road traction and reduce knee stress.

Cranks (before)

Cranks (before) exploded view

I cleaned the cranks and chain wheels in an orange degreaser then I polished them with mothers aluminum polish.

Cranks (cleaned and polished) exploded

Shimano Exage cranks / Bio Pace chain rings.

Next to be cleaned is the bottom bracket . The bottom bracket is a standard cup and come bearing system. I soaked the bearings in degreaser and cleaned up the rest of the bottom bracket components.

Bottom bracket (before cleaning)

Bottom bracket (cleaned and polished)

Bottom bracket bearings (greased)

Bottom bracket (installed)

Cranks (installed)

Next I started on the brakes. These brakes are Shimano EXAGE Sport side pull brakes. I cleaned and polished them with Mothers aluminum polish and buffed them to a brilliant shine.

Front and rear Shimano Exage Sport brakes.

Shimano Exage Sport brakes (cleaned and polished)

Front brake caliper (installed)

Rear brake caliper (installed)

The brake levers were oxidized and the brake lever hoods were dirty. I cleaned the brake hoods with Bleche- Wite and they came out looking good. The aluminum levers came out shiny.

Shimano Exage Sport brake levers and hoods (before)

Shimano Exage Sport brake levers (cleaned and polished)

Brake levers (installed)

The derailleurs are Shimano Exage Sport. The front derailleur is a double, it is the first to have "SIS' Shimano Index Shifting capability. The rear derailleur is a 6 speed , making this bike a 12 speed which was a common drivetrain for 1987.

Both derailleurs were dirty and greasy. I cleaned them in orange degreaser and polished them with Turtle wax chrome polish. Then I lubed all the pivot points. I think they cleaned up nicely.

Front derailleur (before)

Exage Sport front derailleur (cleaned and polished)

Rear derailleur (before)

Rear derailleur (before) exploded view

Rear derailleur (cleaned and polished). I lubed the jockey wheels and all the pivot points.

Shimano Exage Sport rear derailleur.

The shift levers are Shimano Exage Sport. They are downtube shifters that click precisely into every gear. The rubber grips on the top of the levers give them a nice feel when shifting.

I cleaned these levers with Mothers aluminum cleaner and polished them to a nice shine.

Shift levers (before)

Shimano Exage Sport shift levers (Complete)

Front derailleur (installed)

Rear derailleur (installed)

Shift levers (installed)

The wheels on this bike are Araya 700c with Sansin hubs. Sansin is a Japanese company who made hubs for Suntour and marketed their hubs under the Sunshine name in the US. The wheels were strait, so I didn't need to true them. The sansin hubs are solid hubs that cleaned up well with no wear to the cups, the bearings looked good too. The 6 speed freewheel looked brand new with virtually no wear to the cogs so I am going to reuse it.

Araya front wheel with quick release skewer.

Sansin front hub.

Both rims has a layer of dirt and road grime and the hubs had some oxidation. I cleaned the rims with orange cleaner and cleaned and shined the hubs with Mothers aluminum polish. Next I put new grease and bearings back in the front and rear hubs.

Front hub (before)

Front axle and bearings (before)

Front hub (cleaned and polished)

Front hub repacked with new grease and bearings.

Front Sansin hub (complete)

Araya rim (before)

Araya rims cleaned up nicely.

I removed the 6 speed freewheel from the back wheel then cleaned and repacked the rear hub with new grease and bearings.

Rear wheel (before)

rear hub (before)

Bearing race (before)

Rear axle and bearings (before)

Rear hub (cleaned and polished)

Rear hub (new bearings and grease)

Sansin rear hub (complete)

I cleaned the 6 speed freewheel in degreaser and flushed out the freewheel with spray lube.

6 speed freewheel (before)

6 speed freewheel (cleaned and lubed)

Rear wheel (complete)

I wrapped the wheels in CST white wall tires.

The seat post on this bike is a fluted seat post. I think they look cool because they have that 80's style and flair. The seat post had a layer of grease and oxidation . I came off with orange cleaner and polished up with Mothers aluminum polish. The pinch bolt has some surface rust that came off with Turtle Wax chrome cleaner.

Seat post (before)

Seat post and pinch bolt (cleaned and polished)

Seat post (complete)

The Vetta saddle had some scuffs and holes in it. I used a vinyl repair kit to fill the holes and fix the scuffs. I conditioned saddle with leather and vinyl conditioner. It was my first time repairing a saddle but I think it turned out ok.

Vetta saddle (before)

Vetta saddle (after)

The last component on this bike to work on are the pedals. They are Wellgo pedals and I don't think they are the original pedals that came with the bike. I took them apart and cleaned them with degreaser then polished them .

Wellgo pedals (before)

Wellgo pedals (after)

I replaced the brake cables and housing . I used white housing for this bike , I think the white housing goes well with the red and white color scheme of the bike.

New cables and housing.

Same cable routing as before.

Front brake caliper.

Rear brake caliper.

New brake pads.

I also replaced the shifter cables and housing . Then I tuned up the gears and adjusted the brakes. The derailleurs shift perfectly and the brakes adjusted nicely. I am starting to like this Exage Sport group.

Front derailleur (adjusted)

Rear derailleur (adjusted)

Pedals (installed)

I wrapped the drop bars with Fi'zi:k white leather bar tape. The leather bar tape has a thick feel to it.

Bar tape (installed)

I took this bike for a test ride around the neighborhood. This is a fast rolling bike, I like how the Shimano Exage Sport gears shift effortly. The down tube shifters are really cool and nostalgic at the same time. The brakes stopped this bike with very little effort. This Nishiki Modulus is actually a fun bike to ride , it;s light weight and corners well. The red and white color scheme looks cool too.

These next pictures are of the finished bike.