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In 1986 Columbia Mfg. began production of the now famous RX-5 to commemorate their 110 year anniversary.
This was to be a reproduction of the 1952 5-Star Superb Men's Motobike. The 1952 model in green and cream was itself made
to commemorate the company's 75th anniversary.
 Ultimately this bike would not prevent the bankruptcy that would befall the company in just one
year.
This did not change the fact that this was an exceptional bike although it did have it's flaws. Some of the good things about this bike were the sheet metal parts. In the 50's Westfield Mfg. had all their sheet metal parts made by McCauley Metal Products. McCauley was approached again in 1986 to reproduce the Chainguards, Luggage Racks, Fenders and tanks for the new RX-5. The good news was all of the original dies used to make the 50's parts were still around. These were used to stamp out these parts so they were exactly like the the originals. Some of the other "good things" were the frames, forks, rims and basically most
of the bike was made at the Westfield Columbia factory.
Notable are many of the failures. These include rough butt-welds on the rims, something that would
have been sanded and polished back in 1952 making the joint invisible. Similar finish issues existed with the crank and sprocket
which were left rough and un-polished. The handlebar stem "goose neck" also failed to replicate the 50's type.
Less obvious was the tail light. It looked good but for the sake of cost the brake light was excluded and the repro
just had on and off.
The most obvious deviation from the 1952 bike was the headlight. The one put on the RX-5 simply did not look right and did not come close to what the original looked like.
The following are some pictures from the 1986 - 1987 RX-5 production run.         One of the goals for the RX-5 was to bring attention to Columbia's new "Classic" line
of high end "bike shop" bicycles.
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