Finally, found a road bike... It's in pretty good condition. Hubs spin smooth, no brake wear on the rims, all original parts except for the handlebar tape and the stem I guess. Will take some better pics soon!

Those Koga's are crackers -
That will come up tidy as hell with a bit of elbo grease n tlc

You might want to drop the stem down looks like its ready to come out that high up

nice! I bought a similar Koga Miyata yesterday: http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=179325

If your interested in an original setup.. On the kogasite you can find the old brochures: http://www.koga.com/koga_uk/my-koga/pas ... es//#older

Thanks guys!

The stem needs to come down for sure, but this is a picture of how I picted it up. The "before shot", or something like that
The stem is to short for me anyway and probably non original, so it has to go.

It's great indeed that you can find the catalogues from Koga on their website. Good for inspiration! (how the "after shot" should look like )

These are my plans for this bike:

-fix the tiny problems it has (front wheel needs to be trued a bit, little play on BB)
-find another stem (period correct but longer, need to figure out what size)
-ride it a couple of times
-then do a complete rebuild/clean/polish

If I ride it first, I know how this bike handles allready and that will make me more patient with the rebuild...

I do need some help on deciding what stem to use (period correct), what handlebar tape to use (black, but what brand looks the most 'retro'), and what to do on the brake hoods.

stem: I would go for SR
tape: black Tressostar cotton. Alternatively Benotto
hoods: CanCreek/Diacompe hoods fit probably very well and are comfortable. Tiny bummer is they have text on them

thanks!
the stem that is on the bike now is an SR too. Might be original after all? Any idea on what stem length would be on a 56 cm (ct) frame?

I figured the Cane Creek hoods would be an Ok and cheap solution. I think I'll try those.
The Tressostar looks awesome!! Thanks for that one

The stem looks like a 60mm one to me. That is not how Koga specced them. Perhaps an older person wanted to enjoy the bike as long as possible.

Looking more closely I spot a couple more things that are not original: the nice aluminium 600EX headset is later and your bike has Dura-Ace callipers.

The sticker idicates the frame is built using Tange Champion #2. In case of your frame for full frame. Very nice.

well spotted!!

the shifters and brake levers are Dura Ace too...
What length of stem would this bike originally have had do you think?

Uhm... for that size somewhere in the 100-120mm range I think.

I fitted the CaneCreeks on my early Dura-Ace levers a couple months ago. From experience I can tell it works very well.



If you decide for cotton tape: make it wet. Ideally work top-down and use for example Velox screw plugs at the ends to hold the tape.

that looks like a tight fit! Nice levers too. NOS or home polished? Mine are pretty scratched on the sides, so might go for polish on them.
My rear mech is a Shimano Crane, but I thought these were a bit older then 1978?

I'm pretty happy with my purchase! not as original as I thought, but when it's Dura Ace, who cares

That's going to be a nice ride!

Think SR stems are good quality but undervalued. Yesterday came across a cheap 110 mm SR stem from a Koga, same period of yours (+handlebar and seatpost, check Marktplaats.nl)

thanks! I bought a NOS 100 mm SR stem on ebay. 10 dollar BIN, not too bad I think?

What SR stem? They are all good, but they are not all Extra Super Lights with titanium hard ware. $ 10 for a NOS one is money well spent, no matter what.

it's just a "normal" version, no titan hardware. Same as what's on there now, but 4 cm longer (and NOS!). Should be perfect for me!

Did a couple of short rides now. Really impressed with this bike! The handling is great!
I have to get used to the shifting a bit, and the positioning on the bike needs some adjustments.

The tires need to be changed, there a little rips in both front and rear tire. I also changed the seat for a Turbo. Much better fit for my behind , and the original one was pretty damaged.

going to buy brown Cane Creek hoods, and black handlebar tape soon!