1981 Mongoose Team BMX! Beaten But Not Over

Looking at this bike, 25 years after I came to own it, I never thought I would love this bike the way I do  now. I only asked my mother to buy it because it originally came with a set of CW style bars, the same bars that were on my mates BMX.

Seeing my old BMX's got me doing some research on this bike. As a kid I actually thought this bike was some Woolworths junk. I started browsing forums. I remember the back end of the bike; the flattened seat stay and matchbox. That's where I noticed the resemblance to an early 80's Mongoose Supergoose or a Team Mongoose and my hopes were high.

The next time I was back at my mum's, I had the frame down and my mobile in hand. The serial number started with T-CB1 and inside the bottom bracket and behind the gusset were the remnants of candy blue paint. I had a 1981 Chatsworth built TEAM MONGOOSE!

When I got it, it had no decals on it. Nothing screamed my style in the 80's like the pink and light blue "Street Flyer" decals. I found those decals at the local bike shop for $15 and loved them.

Thinking back now, I remember my mate's dad offered to service my bike when he saw it. I left it with him for a couple days and when he returned it he offered me $100 to sell it to him. I guess he knew what it was worth. I'm glad I didn't sell it to him!

As she sits right now, the Goose is covered in rust. I've started stripping the bike down to begin cleaning the Goose up as much as I possibly can.

My tools right now are very limited to a couple shifters and a set of multi-grip pliers

I've taken lots of pictures so that I can do a complete before and after comparison.

The matchbox is still in great shape with no dents, just a lot of surface rust and crud built up.

The brake bridge has a little compression from over-tightening of the brakes, but it's still in good order. I really love the Mongoose welds!

The gusset is filled with a lot of crud, rust and even some spiders webs. that will all need to be cleaned out!

After a lot of research on different bike forums, I've read that soaking the frame in some diluted oxalic acid is the best and easiest way to clean the rust from the frame. I'll get it under way and see how it comes out!