spirito wrote:
It was and will always be common to paint up and decal frames as shop marques. I even know of framebuilders who've honoured "lifetime warranty" frame repairs on bikes that sport their decals but were never made by them
Funny you should say this. A couple of guys on the Tuesday club ride had steel "Jock Bullen" bikes out for a spin, one sporting columbus stickers and prominent "Jock Bullen" signage - I was chatting to another guy in the club and he said standard operational procedure was for Jock to peel the stickers off and slap his own on there on built up frames, even on things that came in from overseas trips. He did used to make frames but stopped quite some time ago according to him. I suppose most bike shops did the same thing
In some ways it seems better to come across a Repco or an Apollo. It's far easier to work out exactly what it is you are holding. No matter, the blue one covered in so many "Sheldon Brown mentioned" parts you could almost use it as an example for his Japanese bikes page. SR Laprade seatpost, Kashimax saddle (the splashed paint came off it, yay!), the Suntour drivetrain and shifters, SR stem and Road Champion bars and Dia-compe brakes without the awful suicide levers. 100% complete. Bit of a shame the frame itself is scratched up but it wouldn't have been tip shop fodder otherwise.
edit: serial number is N2K5606 - definitely not kawamura. The "N" is not as deeply marked as the other numbers. It does match the Centurion number scheme (indicating perhaps the 5606th Centurion made in 1982. It's a possibility.