finch, the yellow one

as i mentioned yesterday, ari’s 25-year old bike has arrived. his parents lugged it into the plane and brought it along with them in a huge box, packed by ari’s dad. huge thank you, mom + dad!

so, we’ve been busy putting it together… (ari’s mom and dad also brought all the tools needed to put it back together, too!)
after a whole day of rain, we finally finished it today. it’s so cute and little! really… it probably doesn’t look small in the picture, but in real life, it’s soooo skinny and tiny! smaller than my negi.

by the way, it’s a he. and his name is finch.
finch is a road/racing bike that was bought during the time when ari and his family lived in japan during the 80’s. at that time, it was one of the lightest models available. that probably explains why he’s so thin and skinny. the tires and the saddle are not the original finch anymore, but the other parts remain the same.
right now, finch is a little bit dirty, dusty and rusty… but that’s sort of expected from a 25-year old bike. the first time ari rode it, as soon as he reached the house’s gate, the rivet on his left brake broke and popped out… it flew about a meter away from the bike. oops!

the tires are rather new, so they’re good. but we think we need to change the brake on both tires because it makes a weird sound and vibrates. we probably need to repaint finch, too… there are a few chipped paints here and there. oh, and we need to wash the bike first!
overall, finch still rides well. we took koda and aina out tonight around the housing complex along with negi. it feels so good to be able to ride with ari (on a bike too, instead of half running next to me and negi).
i soooo can’t wait to do all the replacements, and ride to the botanic gardens with negi and finch!