Raleigh RSW Compact Stripdown

This project has been started in lockdown, hence the back garden has assumed the role of my workshop and the garden table replaced the workbench. There are several problems working in the open in a garden: firstly, there's no roof. On the first day of dismantling it was sunny and hot and had been like that for two weeks. I couldn't imagine it raining ever again but of course it did, the very next day. All of the parts were left in the open and got wet. Secondly, if you drop any small component onto grass, a nut, a planet from a hub, a bulb from a light; you're not going to find it again unless you are extremely fortunate. I dropped a handlebar grip on the ground and it vanished, to be found after several minutes searching, under a bush two metres away. The third difficulty is dust. If there is any wind at all, dust seems to be blown up from the ground and it will attach to greasy surfaces and wet paint. Insects also seem attracted to sticky paint. You must keep all clean parts well away from the ground. Apart from these challenges, on a nice day it's good to be working outside in the open air.

This RSW Compact should be a rewarding project. It is an interesting machine and far rarer than it's non-folding stablemate. (Although Compacts do come up regularly on ebaY). The paintwork is dull and discoloured and it will be so much more attractive in a bright colour. The shotgun hinge is pretty much unique on folding bicycles, as far as I'm aware, and I love the amazingly rapid operation and secure locking into place either folded or unfolded. It's far more user-friendly than the Allen bolt and wiggle-apart system of a Moulton Stowaway, although that system does have different plus points. I wanted to prepare and paint the frame by hand to add to the frame painting page on the website. The colours I've chosen are what I had in the workshop, Massey Ferguson Super Red and MF Stoneleigh Grey tractor paint. Finally, the bike will be practically very useful on my canal boat. The fat tyres are ideal for the towpath and it was designed for shopping.

As the original decals will be painted over I will either buy or make replacements, so I've photographed the lettering to copy it. You can buy the RSW 16 decal on ebaY no problem, but I've previously made lettering by cutting it out of vinyl film. The original paint colour is a mystery. It definitely looks a coppery-brown on this indoor photo, but when the forks were removed from the frame, the painted tube not affected by light was a shade of green.

To the left, the photo shows the pair of RSWs exhumed from the pile of pending restorations. There are one or two differences in the bikes apart from the hinge of the Compact. Notice that the headtubes are different lengths. The blue RSW is a Mk2 and the Compact is a MK1. All Mk1s had a short headtube and also domed mudguards. Mk2 guards are much more square in section. The RSW Compact has a shorter saddlepost than it's stablemate but they both have coil sprung saddles. As the Compact can't use the typical RSW pressed and bent frame joining piece above the bottom bracket, the chain stays are simply brazed onto the sides of the hinge plates. Looks a bit of a bodge. The white tyre had hardened to such a degree that the butyl rubber formed gritty crumbs that cascaded to the ground with a brush. That went straight into the bin. Beneath was the original 1960s Dunlop 2 1/4" tube in flexible unperished condition. The bike has probably done very few miles and the mechanical components are surely going to be in similarly good order.

Click on the first photo to start the slideshow.

Here is the RSW Compact in all it's oxidised glory. The back mudguard seems to be from a different bike.

Getting the phone camera to focus was a problem sometimes. A Mole wrench was used to free off stuck grips. These will be replaced as they didn't match.

The gear trigger is a 1990s design and was probably a replacement for a twist grip gear changer.

Before removing the wheels I wanted to take off the bar controls. Rear brake cable first.

The rear brake is fairly rusty on the underside. Note the cable adjuster for the rear brake.

Loosen the screw on the gear trigger next.

Take off the mudguard bolt which also attaches the rear carrier to the fork bridge.

Then the small bolts on the dropouts that secure the carrier legs.

Here is the RSW Mk1 rear brake that was an ancestor of the U brake some 40 years later.

Remove the rear brake blocks.

Brake blocks have a wire hook around the chainstays to prevent the braked wheel bending the brake arms.

Undo the bolt securing the brake backplate to the bottom fork bridge.

Demonstrating the brake completely open...

... and closed. Note the extension of the triangle of beams that connects to the brake cable.

RACK OFF! The rear mudguard will be replaced.

The Chopper restorer's favourite, Raleigh R nuts on the front wheel. There are no cone locknuts- miserable Raleigh penny pinching.

The inner rim is not in the greatest condition but it will be treated and painted. The rim is very strong.

Chainwheel close-up. While left-facing Raleigh herons have been seen, I noticed that they don't have the heron's eye on them, therefore I think they are a mistake.

The chain is split by easing off this clip with a small screwdriver and wiggling out the joining piece.

Although this chain is rusty, it isn't beyond salvage if necessary. However I have a large stock of discarded galvanised 1/4 chains from my days at Pashley.

Undo the cotter pin nuts and remove them with the washers.

Tap out the pin with a hammer or press it out if you have a tool, and wiggle off the crank and pedal.

Undo the pedal with a 15mm spanner. The left pedal is a left-hand thread so must be screwed clockwise to undo it.

Here you can see the left hand thread of the left pedal. The right pedal has a normal right hand thread. The reason for the difference is to avoid precession.

Here is the nut and rather long bolt that must be undone to remove the chainguard.

The bolt has a slotted end so must technically be called a machine screw.

The chain guard falls away and the chainwheel can be wiggled off the bottom bracket axle.

Rotate the gear toggle chain anti-clockwise to unscrew it.

Then undo the rear wheel nuts with a 15mm spanner. Note plenty of oil on the sprocket which is a good sign.

Rear wheel off. The spokes in the wheel are galvanised and a little loose as can be expected.

The hub date will be very close to the bike date as it was made in the factory next door. October 1966, a few months after The Beatles released Revolver.

The sprocket is quite small, 14 tooth. However the chainwheel is also small, 42 teeth giving direct drive of 48", top gear 64" and bottom of 36"

The colour under the main frame tube looks like a dark brown metallic but colour is "bronze green". That is a clip to secure the brake and gear cables.

Shown here is the hook to secure the bike in the folded condition, underneath the rear forks.

Tap off the bottom bracket locking ring with a hammer and an old screwdriver, or use a C spanner if you have one.

Here's the ring. It doesn't do it any harm as it is hardened. I've never seen a tool to take out a cup of this design...

... I normally use an adjustable spanner. Sorry about the poor focus. Push the tips of the jaws over the axle and keep pressure against the cup to stop it slipping off.

This is an excellent sign. Plenty of grease in the bracket assembly and it doesn't look hardened. If balls are undamaged, I put them back in.

The axle can be pulled out easily, and the balls from the other side recovered.

After a quick wipe down, it seems that there is some deterioration of the hardened surface on the axle.

It's as if a plating has failed under pressure, but the bike has done very few miles so I think that Raleigh must have used sub-standard components to get rid of them.

Though you can leave the chain side cup in place if you like, I've removed it for before the frame painting.

On the home straight now. Undo the quick adjust nut for the handlebar height. This may have been a lever when new.

The stem was greased and came out easlily.

Unscrew the headset locknut...

... and take off the nut and the front light bracket. The cables go through the hole in the bracket.

Position the headtube above a tray to catch the balls from the bearing and unscrew the upper headset race.

Pull the forks down to release the bottom set of balls. These look like 3/16ths of an inch diameter.

When the bike is folded this is how the hook secures the loop welded to the frame. It clicks into place without needing a catch to be pressed.

Take off the nut that secures the main frame kingpin.

After you have unscrewed it, you can tap the pin out of the other side and split the frame in two.

Here's the pin, chrome-plated and in excellent condition.

This is the front frame tube and the inner piece of the central hinge. you can see that the thickness of the metal on the hinge is 4 or 5mm.

I can't read all of this transfer but it shows the condition of the paint in some areas of the frame.

The rear forks carry the side plates of the hinge. It is heavy but so strong that you feel no flexure in any direction.

The machine screws holding in the handlebars can be unscrewed after removing the locknuts on the rear.

Similar in concept to the frame hinge, a big welded block of steel. Works great.

4mm steel sideplates to carry the folding bar pieces. No flexure whatsoever when locked.

The nipples were steel and no chance of moving them to tighen and true the wheel, so I cut both hubs out of the rims.

That completed the process of dismantling the bike, apart from the hubs. The rear hub is a Sturmey AW which has a page to itself on the site.

The next stage is to dismantle sub-assemblies like the hubs and degrease all of the parts before washing them with detergent and hot water.

RSW Compact Resto

Raleigh RSW Compact Stripdown