Shawn S’s 1988 Murray Image “The Pleasurekraft”

Posted

In light of some of the comments to yesterday’s ‘questionable entry’, I’m hoping to lighten the mood and right the ship with today’s totally on-topic entry from Shawn S. This is his 1988 Murray Image aka “The Pleasurekraft”.

In the immortal words of Rocky Squirrel, “And now, here’s something we hope you’ll really like.”

Hi, My name is Shawn S. and this is my 1988 Murray Image 10-speed dubbed “The Pleasurekraft”. I found this bike across the street from my house on the curb awaiting it’s fate in the dump. I was in need of a bike so I rescued it from its inevitable demise. I disassembled it, sanded everything down, put some new paint on it, replaced the brake and gear lines, replaced the chain, added the handlebar wrap and it now rides beautifully. The wrap alone was 20 bucks, and I put another $20 into it with the chain, paint and brake line kit. Couldn’t be happier with it.

 

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  • BeaterRezQ

    Shawn S., well done! I’ll bet the farm that that ol’ Murray’s ride rivals that of an ol’ Fleetwood!
    Treasures are what we find, and make…” I couldn’t be happier”–tells me that you found yours!
    Black,bold and beautiful…a Murray, who would have thought———–B
    ps/ love the name Pleasurekraft (know anyone handy with an airgun or brush, vinyl letters?)

    • Shawn79

      Thank you! I thought about trying to get some custom decals made up. Brand it as my own. I think it would add a nice touch to it.

  • http://www.facebook.com/wellroundedengineer Roger Allison

    Nice rescue. Where did the rat trap go?

    • Shawn79

      Thanks! and I still have it, just thought it looked a little sportier without it. Plus it weighed a ton!

  • TPC

    Good job, Shawn! My white bike is due for paint and I have been thinking of black. After looking at yours I think my mind is made up. Really, that is a very impressive transformation from a thrift shop reject to a handsome and businesslike bicycle. Congratulations.

    • Shawn79

      Thanks a lot! This was my first attempt at a bike resto, and I’ve been hooked and on the hunt ever since!

  • TPC

    Good job, Shawn! My white bike is due for paint and I have been thinking of black. After looking at yours I think my mind is made up. Really, that is a very impressive transformation from a thrift shop reject to a handsome and businesslike bicycle. Congratulations.

  • Ryan Surface

    Shawn nice curb save! I am shocked, shocked I say, that you would want to cover up that classic (awful?) late 80’s paint and decal scheme with something classy like black. The white bar tape is great against the black, great resto job.

  • Shawn79

    One extra note, I plasti-dipped the brake levers as an experiment and it worked out great. I just taped them off and sprayed on a few coats. Now they have a little extra grip to them and I wont have to worry about them rusting (they were already pretty rusty). I used the spray can version, but i assume that you could actually dip them for a little better application.

    • BeaterRezQ

      As a side note/ FYI, a local Schwinn dealer out here sells molded plastic brake lever grips that will fit over most any straight brake lever handle, but I don’t know if they would accommodate a curved lever. (such as you have on that Murray) What you did is very creative and does not look cheezy. I draw the line at cheezy. (but we all have our own standards/definitions of what cheezy is) I somehow completely failed to see them before, nice job!
      BRQ———-real men improvise!

  • SWells

    Is that just a rattle-can paint spray job? That’s some fine handy work there. Also, I love your plasti-dip brake lever idea. I’m re-doing an old Huffy for my 10 yo daughter and she’s not totally used to hand brakes…might give that a try.

    • Shawn79

      Yep, i sanded most of the original paint off and then used a can of flat black paint+primer. It has since had a couple nicks in it and not sure how i could avoid this, the paint seems to be a little delicate. I want the flat black look without the gloss finish just not sure how to make this happen and have a sturdy paint job at the same time. And yes, I’m a huge fan of the Plasti-dip.

  • Shawn79

    So one thing I’ve liked about some other bikes on here is the stem. I like the sharp angle, high stem. Is this something that I could replace pretty easily? I’m more concerned about the sizing. I have no Idea what size stem The Pleasurekraft has. Are these fairly standard?

    • BeaterRezQ

      Shawn, the size of the stem will appear on the side of the stem that goes into the head tube, sometimes it is on the bottom of the wedge that screws onto the stem. Just match up these two sizes and you should be fine. 22.2, most likely. No telling until you visibly remove and inspect stem for sizing. B

      • Shawn79

        Thanks! I’ll check it out tonight!

  • J. T.

    Man, I hate to say it, as you did an awesome job on this bike, but that frame looks bent to me; top tube and down tube where they meet the head tube. I hit a curb on a Philips three speed with the same result.

    • Shawn79

      I think you might be right. There definitely is a slight bend in the top tube about 2 inches before it hits the head tube. i found it a little odd and just though it was supposed to be that way. I cant seem to find another picture of a 1988 Murray Image on these giant interwebz to compare it to, but i think it definitely might be a little bent. It still rides well, and it was essentially free and I dont plan on trying to sell it so what are ya gonna do? Thanks for pointing that out though.

      • J. T.

        I still ride that Philips I mentioned, I call it character. Sorry for being a downer, hope to see your next project soon.

  • BeaterRezQ

    Shawn, my advice to you would be exactly what you pointed out above….if it still rides well, make it your own and ride the crap out of it.
    —B
    as a side note: I have an old lugged bike that I could never tell whether the frame was cracked or the paint was just flawed. The only way that I could really determine this would be to sand the area in question. (and ruin an otherwise undamaged paint job) I have left it alone now for years, it ride wells and no one would ever know unless I pointed it out to them. And like you, character/integrity would keep me from ever selling it. Enjoy it!

  • BeaterRezQ

    “…Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit outta my hat!”

  • fluppybunny

    Hey, I have a 1988 Murray bike that I want to restore. How hard is it to disassemble the bike? Thanks.