Nishiki Alien AL - Info? "Cracking stuff Grommet"

[EarlofBarnet]

I'll post a pic of it up tomorrow and you can see what you think. Really is a shame as its in lovely original condition.

 

[incorrigible]

It occurs to me that because it's the silver-colored version, it shouldn't be too hard to match the paint, so maybe only the repair area needs to be stripped.

Uh-oh! I think I just talked myself back into being interested in that frame

What size is it?

 

[muddyfox_courier]

I got sidetracked last night and didn't have a chance to get out to the shed to measure the headtube until just now. muddyfox_courier has it right: 1 1/8", although I just measured the steerer of the fork that

came off of one of mine...

Hmm. My head hurts. I'm actually now thinking that my mates has that Fisher sized 1 1/4" headset....

Shame its cracked. Iconic thing. Arguably a poor man's Mantis.

 

[EarlofBarnet]

Just measured it and get the seat tube as 20" centre to top and top tube as 23".

 

[EarlofBarnet]

Got some pics, found more cracks in the headtube:

 

[incorrigible]

..Really is a shame as its in lovely original condition.

Agreed. That's beautiful. Wow! Original fork, too! All the decals look to be intact. Could you take some good pics of all the decals so that they could be reproduced?

I see that the dropouts are different than any other aluminum Alien I've seen (I've seen them in blue, green, purple, and half green/half silver). The silver ones must be very rare because I hardly ever see them compared to the others I just mentioned, which are rare to begin with.

What is the serial number stamped on the underside of the bottom bracket? I suspect that will give an iindication as to when the frame was built.

From what I know talking to a welder about my frames, I'd say it's repairable if someone would want to take the time, but it will never look original. Of course, the other option is wall art, and the repair option will always be there in the future. If you just want it gone, please let the RB community know, because I'm sure someone would want it.

Thanks for all the beautiful pics.

 

[EarlofBarnet]

Happy to take close up pics and measurements of decals if they help. Could trace them too?

The bike hasn't been out of the blokes garage in 10 years plus, so I'm sure a clean and it'd look better.

Still has original supply decal on underside of downtube:

 

[incorrigible]

Happy to take close up pics and measurements of decals if they help. Could trace them too?

The bike hasn't been out of the blokes garage in 10 years plus, so I'm sure a clean and it'd look better.

Still has original supply decal on underside of downtube:

No need to trace. I think good quality photos and actual measurements (length and width) of each decal would suffice. For measurements that go around a tube, use a tape measure or even just mark a piece of paper wrapped around the tube, and then measure that dimension after you unwrap it. You could even mark the photos to indicate exactly what you measured.

I know that RBer gil_m specializes in decals, and there's another guy I've corresponded with who has a bicycle decal business, and I suspect those guys could add that info to their library of images and measurements, but if nothing else, I'd certainly like to get them. I'll PM you my personal email and that way, if you want, you can send large images, and if you do, you can also let me know how I can return the favor.

I wonder if the bar-code decal contains any useful info? Pics of that may be useful as well.

I don't know if I can speak for the entire RB community, but I for one would definitely want to preserve this bit of RB history. It seems that the manufacturers didn't keep a lot of detailed records back then, and so RBers are relegated to act like sleuths and archeologists, trying to piece together the past from whatever artifacts we can "unearth". This may not be the Holy Grail of bikes, but I think you have found the RB equivalent of King Tut's tomb (or, depending on your opinion, maybe just his dog's tomb ), and it may be years before we ever see another one of these, especially in this condition.

 

[sylus]

both sides and ends cracked makes it an ideal candidate for a fix or new tube?

 

[Raging_Bulls]

That last pic on page 1 is a nasty one. From what I can see, the crack goes underneath the downtube-headtube weld and then continues.
You won't fix that with a drill, some welding and a collar. That frame really needs a new headtube.

On the flip side, the original fork looks like it's in good condition, so if the bike is scrapped it can be salvaged to put another alien back to correct spec.