This evening I purchased this little beauty. It dates back to at least 1985. The woman I bought it from purchased it as a first wedding anniversary present for her husband back in the day. He only rode it for about 6 months after he received it and it's been sat in his garage ever since.
Everything is original on the bike apart from that dreadful seat so I'm looking for recommendations as to what to replace it with to make it look original?
My main question is about the manufacturer, Alpina. It was my understanding that these bikes were manufactured in South Africa during apartheid so I was questioning how a South African bike ended up in Ireland. I thought the seller may have purchased it second hand somewhere but apparently she bought it brand new from a shop just outside Dublin. When inspecting the bike I noticed that the sticker on the head tube reads made in West Germany, was this just a rebadging exercise to get around trade restrictions with South Africa or was it genuinely made in West Germany?
Getting it home I pumped up the 40 year old tyres and took it for a ride. The gears need a bit of a tweak, it won't shift into 5th and the tyres need replacing as the sidewalls are cracked but other than that everything seems to work as it should with no rattles or creaks.
by IrishWolfer