Found these 2 bicycles in the woods, what are they worth???
 

Hi Everyone,
A couple months ago, my boyfriend and his friend were riding their 4 wheelers in the sandpits/woods between Fitchburg and Lunenburg, MA. They took a pit stop and saw these 2 bikes leaning against a tree in the middle of the woods, not even near a trail or anything! They said they looked like they had been there forever. We just wanted to get an idea of what they are, how old, and what they're worth as-is. One bike is a Racycle, the other is a Butler Co. Record with a flower design all over the frame. Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

-Carly
This is the Racycle:
http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC02270.jpg
http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC02271.jpg
http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC02273.jpg
http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC02274.jpg
http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC02276.jpg
http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC02275.jpg
http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC02277.jpg
http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC02278.jpg
http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC02279.jpg
http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC02280.jpg

Linkies no worky.

Google posting pics to the forum.

OK, here is the direct link to the Photobucket album: http://s913.photobucket.com/albums/a...tique%20Bikes/

Are the rims made out of wood?

Yes the rims are made out of wood.

Here are more pics of the Racycle:
http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC02281.jpg
http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC02282.jpg

And here are pictures of the Record:
http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC02283.jpg
http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC02284.jpg
http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC02286.jpg
http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC02287.jpg
http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC02288.jpg
http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC02290.jpg
http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC02289.jpg
http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC02285.jpg

OK, now the pics are working. Pretty cool bikes, outside my area of expertise. Thanks for salvaging them. Hopefully someone will put them to good use!

very very cool, but far too old for me to have any info. With a significant amount of work those would be some very neat bicycles.

Wow, those are very old.

The Racycle is an interesting bike for lots of reasons; a lot of its components were top-notch equipment for the day, years ahead of its time. The strangest thing about it is that someone posted a while back that he'd found a Racycle chain ring --the piece that is missing from yours-- in the woods. I think that was in upstate New York.

A year or two back an antique dealer near me had a Racycle in very good shape (much better than yours) that he tried to auction off on Craigslist. I believe the best price he could get was $400. So yours is presumably worth quite a bit less than that.

I wonder why someone would cut the seat tube like that? Very cool bike but they need quite a bit of work but no way lost hope. Does the Racycle use a one off bottom bracket or a standard one piece press cup setup? Can say I've never see a setup like that before.

I don't think there's anything standard about a Racycle bottom bracket, but the design is very similar to what high end bicycles have today. There's some interesting stuff here.

I assumed the 'cut' in the seat tube was damage, maybe from water freezing in there?

You might write a story explaining how they ended up there. Ghost story, romance, mystery: maybe all three.

wow cool story makes you wonder how they got there. wasnt forever or the raycycle rims would look like the other bike. raycycle is a big name in old bikes they had several models usually with a super large chain ring. i would be interested in some parts if you decide to go that route

You might get one whole bike out of the two as they sit.

Tires are going to be a problem. Not cheap.

Fun to see. I think the adrift seat tube is at the weld line, a number of these bikes had bulge formed bottom bracket shells. The broken / missing brand specific crank may well end getting much for it.

Fun to see the images.

Thanks for the heads up on this topic RHM!

Yes, that was me. It's a massive skip tooth ring that presumably only manly men could turn over. I believe, if I remember correctly, the forum identified it as around 1908.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...s/IMG_7048.jpg

Carly, considering their age, they are in remarkable shape for being in the woods. However, the rarity of parts missing and in need of replacement is going to severely hurt the value as already pointed out.

When you figure out what you want to do with one/both, drop me a message. Thanks for sharing pictures of a real woods find...it's neat to see the bike that would have probably been attached to the crank I found :)

Kevin

Unfortunately we do not really have the resources to start any sort of restoration project. Although we are "American Pickers" fans, we're not antique collectors by any means...just trying to figure out what we can hope for as far as price and get them out of our garage and into the hands of someone who has an interest in these kinds of things. We'd definately love to see them restored!

Carly, check this website out: http://www.copakeauction.com/bicycles/pages/2011.html

Carly, there's a bike swap meet a couple times a year(I think) in Dudley Mass. You might find some interest in them there.

Wow-I grew up in Fitchburg-definately appreciated my 10 speed there! They look like they should be in a museum. Makes for a great mystery!