Classic & Vintage - Okay I'm dumb, just shoot me.

:(

I have MEGA remorse. I went to an estate sale yesterday that featured
property that was collected in one Family for 6 generations. The items for
sale were primarily bicycles and bicycle ephemera. (See where I'm going with this)

The (2) feature bikes were a 1897 Mens and Ladies skip-tooth Falcons.
The Mens bike came with a trophy won by the owner named Roth. He
had won a big 6 day race at Madison. Both his bike, and his Wifes, were
Museum quality and of course were in mint, and fully restored condition.

So I sit there, and let each one of these get sold for $500.00 each.:eek:
What in the World was I thinking ... ? My rational was the fact that I
also restore Motorcycles and cars, and that money would be better
spent on what I need now, and not a pair of wall-hangers. I'm sure I
could have made money if I wanted to sell both bikes, but I would have
rather kept them for myself, and didn't have the extra money.

So, instead of the two bikes, I went home with a steamer chest with
White Star labels all over it, a load of framed 100 yr old bicycle
pictures, first issue bicycle stamps from all around the World, and
a lot of 120 year old bicycle postcards. After I got home, I went
through the stamped envelopes and found the autographs of
Andy Hampsten and Davis Phinney. Some of these were from
the Olympics and the Tour DeFrance. This was some consolation
for my agony of not getting the two Falcons.

I did manage to get 5 vintage seats, a pair of Superbe pedals,
a fully cromed Silca pump, and a set of Stronglight cranks.

A very interesting day to say the least.:) Anybody wanna buy some
vintage Post Cards ??




Cheers,
JohnnyBee.

That's not dumb, unless you spent the rent money on it. Ephemera collectors will pay for good stuff.

Take it to eBay in lots. You'll be surprised.

...So, instead of the two bikes, I went home with a steamer chest with White Star labels all over it...

Well, until we win the various lotteries, most of us can't afford to spend unlimited amounts of money on our hobby/obsession so we just do the best we can. It looks as if you still had a great time, and you did get some interesting items.

The steam trunk you picked up caught my eye, as we (my parents, me, and my older brother) emigrated to the United States on the SS Britannic which was a White Star liner.

East Hill

Bang! :D

where you do find estate sales like this one? this sounds like alot of expensive fun!

So scan the pictures and bicycle cards and share them with us.

So scan the pictures and bicycle cards and share them with us.



I'll have to buy a scanner so I can purchase the pics. I sure wish I could show
everyone the wonderful turn of the Century post cards right now. Everyone
who is as passionate about the sport of Bicyling as I am, would enjoy the
trip back in time.




Cheers,
JohnnyBee. :)

Well, until we win the various lotteries, most of us can't afford to spend unlimited amounts of money on our hobby/obsession so we just do the best we can. It looks as if you still had a great time, and you did get some interesting items.

The steam trunk you picked up caught my eye, as we (my parents, me, and my older brother) emigrated to the United States on the SS Britannic which was a White Star liner.

East Hill


Hi East Hill,

That's a fascinating story ! It really can be a small World. Oddly enough, one of
my other great passions and interests is Maritime History, and particularly Ocean
Liner History.. I am an avid collector of Maritime Memorabilia.

Did they arrive at Ellis Island ? Have you had the occasion to go there ?
It is a very interesting place, especially after the restoration.



Cheers,
JohnnyBee. :)

where you do find estate sales like this one? this sounds like alot of expensive fun!

Your local newspaper classifieds. For the more hard core auction goer there are reigonal publications. Or you can try the intarwebs... www.auctionzip.com is a good place. It's about two years old and even the old school auctioneers around here are promoting their sales thereon.

Auctions are a great way to waste time you don't have, buying stuff you don't need, with money you can't afford. But you'll meet lots of cool people there.

No, we did not go through Ellis Island as it had closed by the time of our arrival.

This is the Britannic on which we sailed:

http://www.greatoceanliners.net/index2.html

I was quite surprised just this past week to find that my entry into the United States is now on Ancestry.com's database of New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957!

East Hill

where you do find estate sales like this one? this sounds like alot of expensive fun!


It was held at the York Pa Fairgrounds. The whole Auction was like going
back in time. There were 18 large tables filled with ephemera, bicycle art,
framed bicycle art, vintage badges, vintage bicycles, vintage parts, Schwinn
Whizzers, Frames, wheels. I do believe the interest is generational. And I
think that for the most part, our generation is now primarily intered in
the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's. It is part of our childhood, and therein lies
the passion and nostalgia we all feel for our Hobby.

I have to admit that most of the items were from the turn of the Century.
I now have many postcards dated 1887-1897 with Victorian Ladies in full regalia riding their High Wheelers. :D

I have pictures of The 6 day races at Madison, the Velodrome in Philly,
and gatherings in many other parts of Europe. It's Enough to keep me busy
over the long winter with thoughts of a bygone era.:)



Cheers,
JohnnyBee.

Thanks Stacy,
Your words are reassuring. I'm having a bit of "Losers remorse" right now.

I'll be okay in about six months ;)



Cheers,
JohnnyBee.

Hey-you two ocean liner buffs-does POSH really mean Port out Starboard home? (something to do with keeping the sun out of your window on a trip to and from Egypt from GB)?
On the other stuff-you can't buy everything-you have to pick and choose.Paper collectors love that stuff.I collect motorcycle"paper" and have paid waaaay too much many times(more than for" hard parts"at times-and this is for late 70's stuff-Yamaha SR500 junk).Lot easier to ship also!!
Thanks,
Charlie

-and this is for late 70's stuff-Yamaha SR500 junk).

There's my nostalgia! I had the wildest '78 XS 500 ever! A friend rode an SR500 and another rode the RD400. (The RD rider went on to fame & fortune in the GP circuit 250cc class.)

Somewhere, I have one photograph of Bijou. I'll have to dig it up and e it to you!

One modification was to use an RD400 gastank. I liked the quasi coffin shape more that the suitcase tank that the XS came with.
The rest of the mods were the blue anodized DG swingarm, the blue painted Fox Shox, the mag wheels were painted blue, and the frame was baby blue! :eek:
I had the heads ported for better flow in the 2-1 tucked exhaust from the dual 36mm Mikuni's w/K&N's.
I had the cams ground, used a Barnett clutch and made custom rearsets. The handle bars clamped to the top of the fork legs. One wicked 500!

Topped it out at 140+ once. Got a ticket for doing 130 once too. :o
(probably because I passed on the shoulder!) :rolleyes:

Thanks for setting the WayBack machine to 1978! :p

There's my nostalgia! I had the wildest '78 XS 500 ever! A friend rode an SR500 and another rode the RD400. (The RD rider went on to fame & fortune in the GP circuit 250cc class.)

Somewhere, I have one photograph of Bijou. I'll have to dig it up and e it to you!

One modification was to use an RD400 gastank. I liked the quasi coffin shape more that the suitcase tank that the XS came with.
The rest of the mods were the blue anodized DG swingarm, the blue painted Fox Shox, the mag wheels were painted blue, and the frame was baby blue! :eek:
I had the heads ported for better flow in the 2-1 tucked exhaust from the dual 36mm Mikuni's w/K&N's.
I had the cams ground, used a Barnett clutch and made custom rearsets. The handle bars clamped to the top of the fork legs. One wicked 500!

Topped it out at 140+ once. Got a ticket for doing 130 once too. :o
(probably because I passed on the shoulder!) :rolleyes:

Thanks for setting the WayBack machine to 1978! :p

Another XS500 freak! Amen! :D

I had a '76, brown and that crazy psychadelic-ish striping Yamaha was using at the time. Clubman bars really made that bike look good, the squared off lines were just made for low bars. Unfortuantely, any Triumph I had in the garage could eat that bike's lunch without breathing hard. I named the Yammie "Poseur", as it was a wonderful looking bike when wearing rocker kit . . . . but if I wanted to run on a Friday night, I went bike home and grabbed a Bonnie.

[quote=Dr.Deltron;5731126]There's my nostalgia! I had the wildest '78 XS 500 ever! A friend rode an SR500 and another rode the RD400. (The RD rider went on to fame & fortune in the GP circuit 250cc class.)

Somewhere, I have one photograph of Bijou. I'll have to dig it up and e it to you!

One modification was to use an RD400 gastank. I liked the quasi coffin shape more that the suitcase tank that the XS came with.
The rest of the mods were the blue anodized DG swingarm, the blue painted Fox Shox, the mag wheels were painted blue, and the frame was baby blue! :eek:
I had the heads ported for better flow in the 2-1 tucked exhaust from the dual 36mm Mikuni's w/K&N's.
I had the cams ground, used a Barnett clutch and made custom rearsets. The handle bars clamped to the top of the fork legs. One wicked 500!

Topped it out at 140+ once. Got a ticket for doing 130 once too. :o
(probably because I passed on the shoulder!) :rolleyes: "




Thats great ! I used to race my 500 XT's and TT's back in the late 70's. I guess
two wheel fever, is two wheel fever regardless :D

I'm riding a KLR650 right now and love it. I traded my ZX-14 in on it. No need to
go 196 MPH. :eek: With the versatility of my Dual Sport, I can go anywhere
and still get 50 mpg. Of course when the weather is decent, I ride the self - propelled
contraption. (aka bicycle) But the money I save in gas, is spent for bean burrito's
to supply gas of another type. :roflmao:



Cheers,
JohnnyBee

Another XS500 freak! Amen! :D

XS! Yay Lordy!

Currently I'm negotiating for a box-stock XS400. :rolleyes: Rough, but all there.

and still a buck a cc. :p

Dr Deltron,Skyrocker, I had no idea there were so many old Yamaha guys here.Especially old XS500 fans.It was a bike that was a bit ahead of its time-4 valve heads,and dual overhead cams-but I didn't think anyone raced them!! There must have been 100 RD350,RD400 riders/racers for every XS500 rider/racer.
This SR500 is actually a 1980-despite the 1978 tank color-.I bought it new in April 1980-the only one of 12 different SR500's I owned that I bought new.
You got 140 mph out of a XS500!!!! It must have been the fastest XS500 in history!They were good for maybe 105 mph in stock form(like Skyrocker says,they were slowish-any Bonneville would eat it up despite 1950's 2 valve heads etc).You spent cubic $$ on that baby-do you still have it???
I should talk about speed-the SR500 was just about the slowest 4 stroke 500 made by Japan Inc.It was supposed to do a 14.9 1/4 and about 97 mph at top end.
Guess we were all bitten by the same bug.I spent a zillion $$ sending this SR's head to France(I think they actually had some Krauts do the machine work) to have the intake port raised,and to have a second spark plug plumbed in($1000 with shipping in 1994-I was clearly out of my F'ing mind!!).I also milled down(with a Sears grinder clamped in a vice) the crown of an 11/1 JE piston to drop 11 grams and to drop the compression to ~10.2/1 so it would run on pump gas.Usual Megacycle cam,Supertrapp pipe-36mm flat slide pumper.It runs strong for a primitive 2 valve single.Wish it wasn't kickstart.The only advantage to the 30lbs BlueBelle Home Made Vanilla has packed on me is making it easier to kickstart this sucker!!
I also have a 1983 VT500 Ascot-V-twin shaft drive-nice bike.It is probably quicker than the SR500 despite the $2000 motor,and 35 lbs wt advantage!!
Memory lane-didn't know there were so many MC nuts here.I would love to see the XS500!!If you sold it, it will probably appear on Ebay someday(for BIG $$)
Thanks,
Charlie
As I took the picture the Saints just CHOKED!!I told my wife and son that they would choke!!
PS-Take a look at my fine machine work-check the front caliper adaptor plate! I mounted an SV650 disc and caliper-got a 2 piston caliper,and dropped 2 lbs of unsprung,rotating wt.Looks like crap of course.I hacked the aluminum plate with a $20 Harbor freight grinder.
PPS- JohnnyBee-heh,folks still race the Yamaha 500's in various venues.Maybe someday all my SR500 junk will be worth something.You're right-2 wheels is 2 wheels! -

XS! Yay Lordy!

Currently I'm negotiating for a box-stock XS400. :rolleyes: Rough, but all there.

and still a buck a cc. :p

You weren't talking about Team Marlboro's bad boy John K. were you.

I just gave away an XS400. <ducks>

You weren't talking about Team Marlboro's bad boy John K. were you.

???

I'm not sure if you mean who I'm getting the XS400 from, or my friend who raced GP?

My friend Martin has the XS400. My other friend is Richard Oliver, an independent Yamaha GP 250cc racer.
I think it was 1997 when Richard went to victory lane 10 out of 10 times. (that's ALL the races in one season!) :eek:
IIRC that record still stands.
Again, that would be the 250cc class.

. I traded my ZX-14 in on it.

:roflmao:

That always makes me laugh! A 1,400cc motorcycle!

I spent years driving my moms old B-210 fastback.
IT had a 1,288cc motor! :p

:roflmao:

One, Mr. Horton in San Francisco might be interested in what you came home with.

No, we did not go through Ellis Island as it had closed by the time of our arrival.

This is the Britannic on which we sailed:

http://www.greatoceanliners.net/index2.html

I was quite surprised just this past week to find that my entry into the United States is now on Ancestry.com's database of New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957!

East Hill

Wow East Hill, do you feel old now? :D

I was just looking thru the auctionzip.com listing for this sale...OMG was there some cool stuff there! :eek:

http://www.auctionzip.com/cgi-bin/auctionview.cgi?lid=352931&kwd=

I was just looking thru the auctionzip.com listing for this sale...OMG was there some cool stuff there! :eek:

http://www.auctionzip.com/cgi-bin/auctionview.cgi?lid=352931&kwd=


Hi Stacy,

See what I mean ? It was a really unique sale. wish I had more money.






Cheers,
JohnnyBee.

Mornin JB! Do you live in the York area?

Wow East Hill, do you feel old now? :D

I would feel MUCH older if the listing was from 1820 ;) .

East Hill

Hi Stacy,

Yes, I live in dover Pa. just NW of York. Are you nearby ?




Cheers,
JohnnyB.

Hi Stacy,

Yes, I live in dover Pa. just NW of York. Are you nearby ?




Cheers,
JohnnyB.

I'm in Quakertown, NW Bucks county.

Oh and before it becomes a habit... there's an 'e' in my name, please use it. :)