For followers of this blog you may recall a long time ago I was looking at buying a camp stove , well I never ended up buying one at that time and just last Sunday I received from my good friend Minagawa san a fantastic optimus 8R gasoline stove . Today I pulled it apart and cleaned the brass fittings up and as I'm not to keen on the light blue paint , I've decided to repaint it a different color and add a clip to the lid for holding the Optimus spanner. In Japan you can buy white gasoline from outdoor shops and large sporting goods stores so at a later date I'll purchase some and test it out. Also I think I may have also located a set of square alloy mess tins which would contain the stove inside it's metal box so as not to take up too much room in my saddle bag. Once restored the above cooker should be perfect for brew up while on a run in the countryside.
4 comments:
The 8R is a good little stove. Most of the ones that I have seen were more of a greyish-blue that was not quite so bold.
I have a Svea 123 which has served me well for 30 years. Also made in Sweden, it used a similar burner.
I would suggest getting a glass eye-dropper. It should be large enough to hold enough white gas to fill the warming ring twice. If you fill and light the gas in the warming twice (without opening the cap on the gas tank of course), it should pre-heat the system such that it will fire up with no problems. No need for those optional pumps that mount to the fill cap.
These little roaring Swedish stoves really put out the heat. They can bring a quart of water to a boil in no time. And when you shut them off, the resulting silence is deafening. :-)
Hi Jeff
Yes someone had repainted the 8R in the past Ford tractor blue which of course is the wrong color and it looks like it might have had a spanner clip attached to the inside lid at one point, there is a small round peice of metal where it may have been attached. Thanks for the info re lighting it and once repainted greyish-blue I'm looking forward to using it again.
Hi from a new follower, Don. I just discovered your blog from a link on another, and have been admiring your Humber for the past half hour.
I'm currently restoring a '79 Raleigh Sports (my first vintage), and I was wondering if your white fenders were original to the bike, or if they were replacements. If so, would you mind sharing where you acquired them?
Also, I LOVE the Carradice bag! I've been considering purchasing the Carradice Barley - I assume yours is something a bit larger(??) Regardless, it's very handsome and compliments the color of your Humber very well. Looks very sharp indeed.
You've got a great blog here. I hope you continue to update it.
Cheers!
Hi David
Thanks for your kind comments re my blog & my Humber sports. The fenders that were on the bike where in bad shape and to top it off they were also damaged in tansit from New Zealand to Japan, but luckily the Old Bicycle Co ( see my links ) has replacement fenders made of steel in white or black. They are perfect for restoring a bike and very strong. Tim Gunn who owns the Old Bicycle Co in the Uk has a fantastic web site with some great hard to find spares etc. As for the Carradice saddle bag it's the longflap Nelson which can extend to carry more if needed. If you also look back through my posts you'll see the Viva saddle back surport rack which is a handy item to have as well. The weather is starting to get colder here now so it's time to put away the shorts and dig out the tweeds for bicycle rides. This month I'm rather busy but when I get the change I'll be out on the bike again.
Cheers Don
3speedtouringinjapan
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