West Virgina Auction

i drove my mother out to Pennsylvania last weekend to visit family. the first night i was there, i found this auction online that was only 50 miles away. i immediately knew how i would be spending my sunday morning. i pulled up an hour before it started an there were only a few people there. once it started it was fairly clear that prices were going to be dirt cheep and that i was the only person really interested in the Japanese things. this made me both happy and heart broken at the same time. i came out really well, but i also left a RD350, suzuki titan, and cb750 SS that went for under $100 each. also a cb750 motor went for $5. i really wished we had driven the cargo van. i crammed everything i could into mom's Buick rendezvous. a cb750 chopper frame, gas tanks, pile of service manuals, set of hard bags, helmets, cabs, exhausts, etc...man, auctions like this don't come around very often. i'm just glad i was able to catch it.

tale of a Firestone Sign

 most of you know that i dabble in a little wheelin' and dealin' of bicycles, motorcycles, skateboards, antiques, etc. so last month when my friend Charles was getting ready to put his house on the market and mentioned there was an old Firestone sign in his basement, it peaked my interest. unseen, i told him we could probably get a few hundred dollars for it.  the sign was tacked to the studs and was being used as paneling. only about a 1/3 of it was visible. i don't know much about old advertising signs, but i knew the black Firestone signs were older. we carefully pulled the nails out. when we flipped the sign around we were surprised to fine it said Firestone "aircraft tires and accessories".  i knew it was something unique. i instantly started doing research, texting my buddy who owns an antique store, checking ebay, and other auction sites. i discovered that it was made it 1946 and that they don't come around often. we sat on it for a few weeks and i cleaned it up. i joined a facebook group for old signs and posted it up. i was instantly flooded with messages of offers to buy it. after a couple days, we decided to just list it on ebay and let everyone duke it out. we ended up doing really well for something that was tacked up in a basement.

picking at Ray's

i had heard about Ray's stash for a while, but couldn't get to it until he posted a craigslist ad. funny thing is, i had driven right by his place before and never noticed it. i think it's safe to say we were some of the first people to get in there and dig around. i can't even begin to list the things we found. Ray was a super rad old biker and showed us personal collections, old magazines he was in, and what not. these are picks you can only dream about.

that day i found a Haro Master

a couple days before christmas i was driving back from the city dump, when i noticed a building with a bunch of bikes surrounding it. i'd been by it many times but the bikes were a new addition. naturally, i had to make a U-turn and inspect. when i pulled up, there was an older man getting out of a small pick-up. i asked him him if the bikes were for sale and if i could look around. he obliged. most of the bikes were department store junk, with the exception of a few road bikes. as soon as i ventured inside, a neon green Haro caught my eye. when you spend hours and hours as a kid looking at these things in magazines, they tend to jump out at you in real life. the state it was in was heartbreaking and laughable at the same time. it had 144 spoke lowrider wheels and a 3' seat. i probably would have crapped my pants if i saw someone riding it around like that. in case you didn't know, all old BMX bikes and stuff from the 80's are highly collectable and hard to find. the Haro Master was arguably in the top 3 of freestyle bikes (hutch trickstar is #1). i asked him what he wanted for it, and he told me to make an offer. i threw out $30 and he said he needed more. he showed me around the shop and we chatted for a while. homeless and addiction problems for years, now he's into church and fixing up bikes for people. he ended up being a really nice guy who was enjoyable to talk with. we came back to the Haro and i ended up getting it for a bit more. he taunted me when he disclosed that he has more old BMX stuff in storage. i'm going to be paying him another visit soon.

"the mess"

a few days ago, there was an ad that caught my eye on craigslist. it was for a "kawasaki 550". from the photos it was clearly a honda cb500. i called and left a message and the guy called me back a few days later. i ended up going to look at it today and got it for close to nothing. there's no way this thing is coming back from the dead, but there are a few good parts. drilled out rotor, finned valve caps, exhaust, rear sets, carbs, etc...it was obliviously someones drag bike project, but i doubt it ever saw the track. the engine has my curiously. it's cb500 bottom end with a cb550 head. someone has definitely worked on it. i'm really hoping it has a big bore or hot cam!

never hurts to ask: how i got 69 chevy van

my parent's neighbor a few doors down had an old van out by their barn that i'd been eying for a few years. it never seemed to move but always looked rad from a distance. i was out there a couple weeks ago and noticed it was parked in front of their house. my dad said that he thought they had moved out. i walked over, knocked on the door and no one was around. poked around the van for a bit and ended up leaving a note on it, asking if it was for sale. i came home and was still thinking about about it. i knew the guys last name from the mailbox and that he repaired guitars. after a little searching, i tracked him down and semi-nervously gave him a call. i introduced my self and asked if they van was for sale. he said that he hadn't really thought about it, but he did take my name and number ( you never know if they are actually writing it down). 5 days later i got a call from him, saying he was fine with selling it. i went back out, met him, and drove it around. he offered it to me $750, what he paid for it. $750 is an amazing deal, it's easily worth 2 or 3 times that. the van originally came from logansport indiana, where it was used as an escort vehicle for wide load semis. it's a 69 chevy g20 108. it has a 307 V8 motor with a 3 speed manual transmission. it starts up and drives great. i took it for a 15 mile drive yesterday. it reminds me alot of my dads old 77 chevy van that i used to drive. it defiantly needs some body work, seats are worn, floor boards are rusted, and fluids need gone though. we got to talking, i told him i was into old motorcycles. he said there was an old honda cb500 in a shed that i could have for free. i really couldn't believe my ears. after a bit of hustling and selling my plunger frame, i went out yesterday and sealed the deal. i had to pull the motorcycle out of a half collapsed shed. he still has to find the title and another tank. overall i'm stoked. deals like this don't happen all the time, but this is an example of why it never hurts to ask. it might just be for sale.

bob's motorcycle supply

i spent the last week in phoenix. aside from skating and tacos, a visit to Bob's was at the top of my list. i had heard stories about Bob's from Lee and had to see it for myself. it was everything i imagined. it's so big that pictures don't do it justice. i'm not going to lie, i wish there was an open yard like this around here. i saw tons of parts on my wish list and didn't even scratch the surface on digging.