1985 Dawes Kingpin refurbished.

I set about refurbishing the Dawes Kingpin last week, a complete strip down, clean and polish of all the components, wheel bearings replaced after a degreasing the hubs and bearing races, the same with the bottom bracket and the headset. 

The only big spend was on new tyres, I went with the plain black because they are cheaper than the white wall tyres. I reused  the rim tapes and inner tubes as there was nothing wrong with them. 

Total spent on this bike was about £22.00. 

I might at some time change the cables but they’ll do for now. 

I sold this bike in 2022

And another Dawes Kingpin

I found another Dawes Kingpin local to me advertised for £30:00 pounds, I went to view it, knowing full well that I was going to buy the bike. I offered the seller £25:00 and they accepted. 

This is a September 1985 bike so coming towards the end of a 30 year production run for Dawes Kingpins. 

The bike was in quite nice condition tyres were flat and I had to repair a rear puncture, but the bike rode well. 

The saddle is not original, but aside from that the bike hasn’t had a lot of use, the tyres had a lot of tread on them but the sidewalls are perished so they will be replaced. The chrome is mostly ok, but the handlebars are a bit corroded in places. 

The next thing to do is service and clean the bike it very grubby. I will do a full bearing service on the wheels, the bottom bracket and headset, clean the chain which has no signs of wear and give the bike a good wash and polish. 

No full restoration for this one, the only money I will spend on it is for new tyres. 

Bad chrome on the handlebars 

No standard saddle 

The dealer sticker 

This is a photo of the Chesil Cycle Depot from where the Kingpin was bought. 

This is where the shop was today. 

The later bikes no longer had the spindle and BB shells made in England. Now made in Japan. 

Here is the bike with new tyres, it has a complete service, including new bearing and grease in the bottom bracket, headsets and wheel hubs. I have also added added a bag which I already owned and a chrome pump. At some point I may change the brake cables.  

I sold this bike in 2022

Purple to Gold Dawes Kingpin

In my last post I mentioned that I bought a purple Dawes Kingpin, well here it is customised. See photos below. The frame has been powder coated metallic gold. 

I also rebuilt the wheels using the original hubs, which I refurbished with new bearings and grease, and rims with new black spokes, spoke nipples and new tyres. 

I also replaced the chain set with a new Sturmey Archer chain set, pedals, chain and rear cog. 

I painted some of the bright work, brake levers and callipers mat black to tie in the gold/black/chrome effect. I also added a new black Selle Italia saddle, black decathlon handlebar grips along with  inner and outer brake and gear cables. The bell came from an old Dawes Diploma bike I bough and moved on. All the original fitted parts that were kept were thoroughly cleaned, polished and refurbished. 

I think the overall effect is quite contemporary. It rides very well and is much lighter than my other shopper bikes. 

 I recently added a Selle Italia leather saddle bag. 

 UPDATE: I have ridden this bike a few times, unfortunately last time I rode it it got damaged by falling over, it is not a pristine as it was. Still looks cool though. 

Click on the photos to enlarge

Another Kingpin 1977 Version

Another Kingpin 1977 Version

Purple 1977 Dawes Kingpin

I bought another Kingpin, this time a 1977 model, 10 years older than my blue one. Purple is the colour which is nice but it’s not staying that way, it’s going to be painted or powder coated gold. 

Kingpin showing Bottle Dynamo holder. 

H.G Hoare Dealer Label

As you can see, this bike still has the dealer label on H.G. Hoare from High Wycombe and Marlow. There is still a bike shop on the Marlow site, but not under the same name. I expect the Kingpin above came from the High Wycombe shop as that was near where I bought the bike from. 

There’s a couple of jobs to do on it first, both wheels feel a bit stiff and the Sturmey Archer gears are not working at all, they’ll have to be stripped down and cleaned and regreased I expect. 

UPDATE: I stripped down, took apart the Sturmey Archer gears, degreased, cleaned and bought and fitted new ball bearings. 

Dawes Kingpin Refurbish Update

Dawes Kingpin Refurbish Update 2021

It has been a few years since I updated this blog, so I thought it about time to post some more photos and add some more information.

In 2019 I wrote on another forum: 

“Some fettling today, I have swapped the wheels from KP2 to KP1 so I now have Dynohub on my bike. I also swapped the front mudguard over and removed the dynamo lights, the cable clips are missing from KP2 and the cables were held on by zip ties, they looked messy I need to source some clips. I cleaned re-set lens on the front light and polished the chrome on both, not much of a job really they are in really good condition.

Just remembered years ago l had a couple of

KP donor bikes that I removed the cable clips from, took me over an hour to find them, then I couldn't find the little one for the fork, just when I was about give up I found two under a pile of screws! Re-feckin-sult.

A tip I picked up on the Kingpin FB group Swarfega rubbed in really works on the Whitewall tyres.”

As mentioned in an earlier posts the original version of the Kingpin I had in 1970 had a Sturmey Archer Dynohub and lights, in 2019 I found another Kingpin on eBay with the correct lights and a working Sturmey Archer Dynohub from more or less the correct date year (1968). I collected the bike from Birmingham for £50 and stripped it of the hub, lights and front mudguard, seat post and swapped them with the those that were on my original Kingpin. I then sold the latest Kingpin for what I paid for it. 

I now have a bike that is pretty much how I had it in 1970. (except for the Brooks Saddle, the original white Mertens saddle was an instrument of torture). 

I have changed the rear carrier bag too for one that is a better colour match than the one mentioned in a previous post. 

Dawes Kingpin with Matching Tartan Bag