To restore or not? 1988 SM600

[Ergo]

This was my wife’s bike in college, she got it from the original owner, and my kid needs a bike for college now.

It’s 80% stock, missing the original shifters, red seat, pedals and red cable sheaths.

Frame is straight but a lot of the paint has been scratched off from locking it to posts/handrails, etc.

It is going to be facing the same sort of life with my kid since he only sees it as a mode of transportation, so I have mixed feelings about restoring it if he has minimal appreciation for it, OTOH, he doesn’t want a different bike, and I believe in using things for their intended purpose rather than merely treasuring them as a memento.

T o purely functional questions as I tune it up:
1. It rides fine, but I’ve had trouble with the chain hitting the front derailleur cage when in the lowest gear (smallest sprocket). I tried moving the derailleur clamp down on the frame, but the cage then hits on the largest sprocket when shifted into the highest gear when the derailleur is clamped low enough on the frame that it no longer drags when in low gear.

2. There’s also the fact that there’s a broken tooth on the 3rd largest gear on the cassette.


I’ll go for the project if someone out there can source me the original Suntour cassette and shifters.

Any thoughts?

 

[letsbike]

The first step is getting some compatible parts. You currently are running a Shimano 7spd shifter with a 6spd Suntour freewheel. Try a 6spd Shimano shifter/freewheel combo with an older long cage Shimano derailleur.
I hope that this helps a bit. Good luck.

 

[Ergo]

Thanks - much appreciated. I’m struggling with trying to stay stock vs upgrading… this helps.

 

[black lightning 1987]

Since you need a new freewheel (not cassette) anyway, you might as well see if you can convert the bike to 7 speed. I'm assuming that you still have the original wheels. You will need to see if there's room for another cog. According to Sheldon Brown a Shimano 7 HG freewheel is only 2.4 mm wider than the XCD 6 speed. I'd look for something like a Shimano LX RD-M560 if there's room for the 7 speed freewheel.

 

[Ergo]

Since you need a new freewheel (not cassette) anyway, you might as well see if you can convert the bike to 7 speed. I'm assuming that you still have the original wheels. You will need to see if there's room for another cog. According to Sheldon Brown a Shimano 7 HG freewheel is only 2.4 mm wider than the XCD 6 speed. I'd look for something like a Shimano LX RD-M560 if there's room for the 7 speed freewheel.

I found a few freewheels on eBay. This is the closest. https://ebay.us/m/pXsOFs
Stock was 14-30, this is 14-28. I’ve decided to go ahead and do a full restoration to get as close to stock as possible. I’ll be painting tomorrow.

I was lucky enough to find NOS shifters on eBay, and will try to restore the old FD and RD.

I got new red cable housings and am looking around for the stock red stem, but haven’t seen anything online.