You may wonder why I bothered, since it functioned just fine, but I'm glad I did. All the bearings were completely dry, with just a rusty-looking patina of what must have been grease once upon a time. It was sort of chalky, with just enough moisture left to stick to the rag and wipe out easily, but I think I caught it before anything got badly worn out. I'll replace the bearings anyway, or at least most of them; some look OK but many are, well, not bright, shiny, and smooth (brinelled?). Plus I think I lost some, unless there are fewer in the bottom bearing cup than in the top. I'm told I can replace the loose bearings with the mind already fixed into a ring, like I'm used to, but I have enough trouble getting headsets to to back together without trying to change things.
And, OK, the main reason I wanted the handlebars/steering tube off was to make the frame easier to paint, 'cause I think I'm going to do that. I don't have anyplace to spray it, though, so I'll probably try brushing the paint in; we'll see how that works out. May end up borrowing someone's garage....
After chatting with David-the-Bike-Guru about paint options, and starting work on a dirty white bike at the Walk N Roll shop, I probably won't go for the white with black or cream with brown color scheme after all. My first impulse was black, which I discarded as not visible enough for what's going to be mostly a winter bike, thinking "if only there were such a thing as reflective black...". Now it seems that might actually be a thing, or black with a reflective clear coat, either of which might look pretty darn, um, pretty. There's also glow-in-the-dark paint, although apparently it doesn't glow for very long; could make for cool accent bits while it lasts, though.
