1992 Gary Fisher Hoo Koo E Koo

[JoeG]

I've always wanted an e-stay bike, so I bought this 1992 Gary Fisher Hoo Koo E Koo on Friday for $75 from Craigslist.

https://flic.kr/p/weFfdP

The seller said he bought it when it was one or two years old from a guy who worked at the bike shop and has had it ever since. The bike has been ridden, and the paint shows it. But the photos don't do the color justice; it really "pops" dayglo orange in real life. Maybe I'll respray it someday, but now its just getting a refurb so that it can be ridden a bit.

https://flic.kr/p/weFeBZ

Saturday I stripped it down to the frame. Pedals were hard to remove, but everything else went pretty well. For all of those who complain about the current lack of bike industry standards, this one has several odd ones: 1-1/4" steerer, "direct mount" front deraileur, and a square taper BB that has cartridge bearings pressed directly into the frame held in with circlips. The e-stays mean that you can remove the chain in one piece, though.

https://flic.kr/p/vhNN6k

It has Deore shifters, and most of the rest of the components are Exage 500. Brake levers don't match, so will look for a new one. Saddle is a Trek, so not original, either. And the grips are some massive squishy things. :roll:

https://flic.kr/p/weF9ic

Sunday, I started stripping, cleaning, and rebuilding the components and still have a ways to go...

 

[JonTom]

Re:

Nice find - and bright! Get some colour restorer on it and it'll pop even more.

If you want to restore it to original spec all the parts needed can be found here on RB, or on the 'bay. I've seen the original saddle for sale recently, and the Fisher FatTrax tyres come up occasionally.

I'm just about to finish restoring a 1991 Fisher Montare e-stay. These bikes are full of little quirks (as you've discovered) but it's part of what makes them interesting.

And be careful with that braze-on attachment for the front mech - apparently it has a habit of breaking.

Enjoy the ride!

 

[Roqsta]

Re:

Very nice. Mine says Fisher not Gary Fisher and is white. Other than that very similar. Very loose bike to ride down hill with the extra short wheelbase - love it!

 

[JoeG]

Re:

JonTom - what is the difference between a Montaire and a Hoo Koo E Koo?

I'll look into color restorer, but I'm pretty sure that some of the paint has been worn away and/or faded

 

[JonTom]

Hey JoeG,

I suspect the HKEK and Montare are the same frame but with different components - your HKEK looks to be LX / Exage, whereas the Montare uses a DX groupset and Araya RM-20 rims.

If you have faded paint a colour restorer will help bring it back to life. I prep the frame with a handful of steel wool drenched in WD40, which I gently wipe over the paintwork to remove marks and scuffs etc. This also removes a very thin layer of clear coat. Wash the WD40 off with very hot soapy water and apply Mequiar's Ultimate Compound with a damp sponge, let it dry, and buff it off to a shine. I usually then seal it with a regular auto wax.

 

[JoeG]

As far as the paint, I'd be afraid to use anything abrasive; some of the orange paint has definitely worn off making the white base coat more visible. It doesn't have clear coat; the catalog said that it was a matte finish (which it is). So I'm thinking more of a spray on & wipe off silicone rather than a paste wax like Nu Finish.

I also did some more work on the components today. The front cones are pitted, so I'll need new ones. I also dented one of the metal dust seals on the rear hub.

I just have the shifters and brakes left to tear down and clean up now.

And figure out how to reinstall the BB.

 

[JoeG]

Re:

BB measurements:

BB shell width 88 mm

Bearings (6003-2RS) OD 37 mm, ID 17 mm, Width 10 mm

Circlips approx 37 mm

Spindle
- 128 mm overall length, symmetrical
- 34.5 mm from spindle end to shoulder (inside bearing face)
- 59 mm central portion (between the cartridge bearings)

 

[JoeG]

Update! Lots of progress.

The BB shell was rust free; I think that the frame was hit with frame saver or similar. So I cleaned the old grease out of the bearings, and put in new grease. Reinstallation went well. I used a rubber mallet to tap the first bearing flush with the shell, then used a socket as a drift along with the rubber mallet to drive it in far enough to fit the retaining snap ring. I then put the bearing in place on the BB spindle and was generous with grease on the spindle and shell. Rubber mallet socket did their job again just fine. Easy.

I went to https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kraynick ... 2757048961 and found the bearings for the 1-1/4" headset! They were the third ones (out of hundreds) in the completely unlabelled drawer that I looked at! :shock: I bought spares, too. I also found the 2 new cones and bearings that I needed for the front hub. And a NOS gumwall tire, a 40 mm headset wrench for the 1-1/4" headset, crank bolts and washers, and a couple of Hite-Rites.

Then I went to http://freeridepgh.org/ and found an Avocet racing saddle (vinyl cover, so similar to what would have been OEM) and some (4?) used gumwall tires for $10.

That was a good day!

So, the fork is back on, stem and bar are installed. The hubs are rebuilt. The Deore thumbshifters were torn down completely, cleaned, and reassembled s were the derailleurs. The drivetrain is all back on and I added cables this evening.

So only a couple of things left
- pick tires
- pick grips
- maybe add a rock ring
- maybe have the LBS true the wheels (easy now w/o tires)

And the big one - brake levers! The ones that came on the bike were mismatched. I found some lovely Suntour XC LTD ones in my spares box, but remembered that one of the pinch bolts was seized and it had to be sawed off. :|

So If anyone has a right XC LTD lever (or at least the body)... http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... p;t=329912

 

[JoeG]

Re:

Yesterday, I found a crack in the drive side crank at the pedal hole. :cry:

So I won't be riding it unless I get a crank, too. :|