Takara custom 12 late 70's - early 80's

Are you looking to repair this bike?
Links below for parts you can buy now on amazon.

Over the years we repaired thousands of these and became experts in finding alternatives to original bike parts. 
Buying parts for older bikes is confusing, as most of the original parts have been discontinued. 
We use these parts everyday and created this list to make it easier for you to repair your bike.

Shifter cables and housing: https://amzn.to/38g40ol

Brake cables and housing: https://amzn.to/2DZqPPk

Handlebar Tape: https://amzn.to/2qxHiaf

Rear Wheel: https://amzn.to/2RuAB3X

Front Wheel: https://amzn.to/2PuFaIM

Tires (good): https://amzn.to/2s9eipE (similar look, casual use, choose 27x1 1/4)

Tires (better): https://amzn.to/33YwOyl (super flat resistant and fast rolling, choose 27x1.25 or 27 1 1/4)

Shifters: Front and rear (right and left): https://amzn.to/347vWrv

Rear Derailleur (good): https://amzn.to/2DYUOXF (choose w/ direct attachment)

Rear Derailleur (Better): https://amzn.to/2PupyVA (choose GS type)

Front Derailleur (good): https://amzn.to/3415IXm (choose double)

Front derailleur (better): https://amzn.to/2LAI262 (better quality, fit and finish)

Bottom Bracket: https://amzn.to/2RydlSI (Likely 68x122.5 but must measure spindle length before purchase)

Crank (good): https://amzn.to/2Yw7miQ (better quality fit and finish, will likely need a new bottom bracket)

Crank (better): https://amzn.to/2rg0YQx (lesser quality option, likely will not need a bottom bracket)

Freewheel: https://amzn.to/2qx4c1t

Headset: https://amzn.to/38EkfvQ (Choose 27.0 but it's better to remove crown race and measure inside diameter for sure)
Pedals: https://amzn.to/3593fvC (Modern style)

Pedals: https://amzn.to/2DZbNZP (same style as original)

Chain: https://amzn.to/38ayVCI (fits 5, 6, 7 and 8 speeds)

Brake pads (good): https://amzn.to/36eEldP (casual use)

Brake pads (better): https://amzn.to/38ixNN7 (Improved performance and wet/cold condition)

Brakes (rear): https://amzn.to/2P31N8o

Brakes (front): https://amzn.to/2Prqcn2

Brake Levers: https://amzn.to/2LQALz9 (similar to original

Brake Levers: https://amzn.to/356h3Hc (modern style)

Late 70's or early 80's Takara Custom 12  road bike we refurbished here at Bike Boom. If your'e not familiar, Bike Boom is a used bike shop in Davis square, on the border of Cambridge and Somerville , near Boston MA. where we specialize in restoring and refurbishing used and vintage bikes and offer professional bicycle repair services.

Great representative entry level bike of the early 80's with a Lugged hi tensile steel frame and alloy components with suntour shifters. Takara was an american company building bikes in japan to be marketed solely to the US cyclist, similar to nishiki, univega and shogun. They were not as popular as the univegas and shoguns here in New England but we still manage to find a few every year. They had a  whole range of models such as the prestige, advantage and others. 

From oldroads.com, probably the best forum for vintage bikes on the web: "Takara bicyles were made to spec for an Oklahoma firm, Takara Bicycle Co. The company survived well into the 80's and possibly beyond. Though not confirmed, the bicycles were probably made by Kawamura, the same company that manufactured Nishiki. Ads showed base and immediate models. Road rests from the period vary in opinion from "average" to "outright bargain", depending on the model, though they had nicer than average paint" .

This Takara custom 12 was customized in the shop with brand new alloy wheels, saddle, handlebar tape and the usual tires, tubes, cables and housing.

Early-mid 80's Takara Outback

Early-mid 80's Takara Outback we refurbished here at Bike Boom. If your'e not familiar, Bike Boom is a used bike shop in Davis square, on the border of Cambridge and Somerville , near Boston MA. where we specialize in restoring and refurbishing used and vintage bikes and offer professional bicycle repair services.
A nice simple bike, this Takara Outback has a mountain bike frame, wheels and Brakes but 10 speed gearing similar to an 80's 10 speed. My guess, as there is almost no reliable information on the Takar brand, is that this was an entry level mountain bike or comfort bike, way before the term was coined. The Takara outback has road bike gearing which tells me it was not really meant to go on the trails but rather serve as a bike path bicycle.
It also has friction shifters which tell me it was made prior to 1986 as Shimano released indexed shifting in 1985 but only for the Dura ace group.This was one of the most affordable bikes in the shop at $160, we had it for almost 2 months and for some reason it wasn't picked up until today when a nice girl came in, took it for a spin and basically didn't want to check out other bikes. In my honest opinion, a bike like the Takara outback even though it's 20 years old, lightly used and refurbished with a few new parts such as the saddle, grips, cables, housing and 2 new sets of brakes, it is still a better choice than a Walmart type bike, priced similarly or even more expensive. We see this almost every day, customers bringing either their department store bikes (in our area it's Schwinn, mongoose, pacific, and some others which I cant seem to remember) or an entry level bike shop brand such as trek Fuji or Giant (which cost them a hefty $350-$450) and all the cheap low end plastic parts just fail miserably and the worse thing is modern parts are expensive to replace, even the low end ones. When I have to tell the customer his parts need to be replaced it always leaves him unhappy as he already spent some money fixing up his bike but it's still not perfect. I'm always impressed by the quality of the old parts especially the mid and low end verity of the 70's all the way to the late 90's. The low end and mid end bike represent the the majority of the bikes sold in the US. I can say this because we get to buy and sell them all the time. I'm glad it went to a customer who can appreciate a nice and simple bike that has been revamped, is ready for a new life and will most likely be more reliable than a brand new bike twice its price.
Another takara we refurbished in bike boom here with some info about the brand

Are you looking to repair this bike? Links below for parts you can buy now on amazon. Over the years we repaired thousands of Vintage bikes and became experts in finding alternatives to original bike parts.  Buying parts for older bikes is confusing, as most of the original parts have been discontinued.  We use these parts everyday and created this list to make it easier for you to repair your bike. Parts list for Early-mid 80's Takara Outback  Rear Wheel: https://amzn.to/3526DqZ Front Wheel: https://amzn.to/2RmyIGj

Tires (pavement, light off road): https://amzn.to/2YsSodj (choose 26x2.1)

Tires:(high performance off road): https://amzn.to/2LzPazq ((choose 26x2.1)

Shifter cables and housing: https://amzn.to/38g40ol

Brake cables and housing: https://amzn.to/2DZqPPk

Front and rear (set) Shifters: https://amzn.to/2NZdQ5o

Rear Derailleur: https: https://amzn.to/2sHJOeL

Front Derailleur: https://amzn.to/2Pj0QHH

Crank: https://amzn.to/30RzpdC

Freewheel (6 speed): https://amzn.to/2qx4c1t 

Pedals: https://amzn.to/2OUDbyD

Chain: https://amzn.to/38ayVCI (fits 6, 7 and 8 speeds)

Headset: https://amzn.to/38EkfvQ (Choose 26.4 but it's better to remove crown race and measure inside diameter for sure)

Brake pads: https://amzn.to/34TYUMF (standard use, original part)

Brake pads: https://amzn.to/369Nvbs improved performance and wet and cold condition 

Brakes: https://amzn.to/2s2IfIg

Saddle: https://amzn.to/34Wkccn

Handlebar (25.4 clamp): https://amzn.to/34SU2XT

  

Early-Mid 80's Takara Advantage

Are you looking to repair this bike?

Links below for parts you can buy now on amazon.

Over the years we repaired thousands of Vintage bikes and became experts in finding alternatives to original bike parts. 

Buying parts for older bikes is confusing, as most of the original parts have been discontinued. 

We use these parts everyday and created this list to make it easier for you to repair your bike.

Parts list for Early-Mid 80's Takara Advantage:

➤Shifter cables and housing: https://amzn.to/38g40ol

➤➤Brake cables and housing: https://amzn.to/2DZqPPk

➤Handlebar Tape: https://amzn.to/2qxHiaf

➤Rear Wheel: https://amzn.to/2RuAB3X

➤Front Wheel: https://amzn.to/2PuFaIM

➤Tires (good): https://amzn.to/2s9eipE (similar look, casual use, choose 27x1 ➤1/4)

➤Tires (better): https://amzn.to/33YwOyl (super flat resistant and fast rolling, choose 27x1.25 or 27 1 1/4)

➤Shifters: Front and rear (right and left): https://amzn.to/347vWrv

➤Rear Derailleur (good): https://amzn.to/2DYUOXF (choose w/ direct attachment)

➤Rear Derailleur (Better): https://amzn.to/2PupyVA (choose GS type)

➤Front Derailleur (good): https://amzn.to/3415IXm (choose double)

➤Front derailleur (better): https://amzn.to/2LAI262 (better quality, fit and finish)

➤Bottom Bracket: https://amzn.to/2RydlSI (Likely 68x122.5 but must measure spindle length before purchase)

➤Crank (good): https://amzn.to/2Yw7miQ (better quality fit and finish, will likely need a new bottom bracket)

➤Crank (better): https://amzn.to/2rg0YQx (lesser quality option, likely will not need a bottom bracket)

➤Freewheel: https://amzn.to/2qx4c1t

➤Headset: https://amzn.to/38EkfvQ (Choose 27.0 but it's better to remove crown race and measure inside diameter for sure)

➤Pedals: https://amzn.to/3593fvC (Modern style)

➤Pedals: https://amzn.to/2DZbNZP (same style as original)

➤Chain: https://amzn.to/38ayVCI (fits 5, 6, 7 and 8 speeds)

➤Brake pads (good): https://amzn.to/36eEldP (casual use)

➤Brake pads (better): https://amzn.to/38ixNN7 (Improved performance and wet/cold condition)

➤Brakes (rear): https://amzn.to/2P31N8o

➤Brakes (front): https://amzn.to/2Prqcn2

➤Brake Levers: https://amzn.to/2LQALz9 (similar to original

➤Brake Levers: https://amzn.to/356h3Hc (modern style)

Mint Takara advantage touring bike we refurbished Here at Bike Boom. If your'e not familiar, Bike Boom is a used bike shop in Davis square, on the border of Cambridge and Somerville , near Boston MA. where we specialize in restoring and refurbishing used and vintage bikes and offer competitively priced professional bike repair services.

Great representative bike of the early 80's with a Lugged 4130 chromoly frame and alloy components with suntour shifters. Takara was an american company building bikes in japan to be marketed solely to the US cyclist, similar to nishiki, univega and shogun. They were not as popular as the univegas and shoguns here in New England but we still manage to find a few every year. They had a  whole range of models such as the prestige, custom 12 and others. 

From oldroads.com, probably the best forum for vintage bikes on the web: "Takara bicyles were made to spec for an Oklahoma firm, Takara Bicycle Co. The company survived well into the 80's and possibly beyond. Though not confirmed, the bicycles were probably made by Kawamura, the same company that manufactured Nishiki. Ads showed base and immediate models. Road rests from the period vary in opinion from "average" to "outright bargain", depending on the model, though they had nicer than average paint" .