thatonejohn
Finally riding a big boys bike
So, while perusing the local auction website looking for an interesting auction (my dad taught me well), I came across a picture of a bicycle. Nothing was mentioned about it in the listing, just this picture.
After figuring out what it was, I consulted Nickinator on a good ballpark value, and deemed it was worth the 3 hour drive to a little town on the edge of the Bighorn Mountains (plus it was very scenic). It was an estate auction for a well known collector of indian artifacts, so while the artifacts were bringing in thousands of dollars, I was biding my time and watching people to see if anybody appeared serious about the bicycle. I overheard a couple of guys talking about giving it a "refinish" and bringing the seat down to some shop to get redone, everybody else just loved the look of it. So, the time for the non-artifact big ticket items came, and the double sided porcelain GMC truck sign went for 5 grand or so, between a guy in the room and a phone bidder, so I was starting to worry that there could be some serious interest in the bike. A couple signs later, the bike was up, and luckily, there was no phone bidder for the bike. Also, nobody in the room had done any research on it. So, I won it at a good price after bidding against one other person. Turns out the family and the auction company thought nothing of the bicycle, and were surprised that it brought what it did. So, as a grad student, I can actually afford to keep it.
I talked with the son of the bike owner and one of the auctioneers after the auction. The auctioneer said that the owner rode it all around town, and to high school. The son said that the bike has been sitting in the grainery on their property since before he was born, which I estimated him to be about 60 years old. He wasn't sure how his father had aquired the bike, so, it could possibly be a single owner bike, but it's not certain. The only thing I'm not certain on, is how the bike came to be dressed in glittery red handlebar grips.
When I got it home, after smiling the whole way home, I found a tattered, but original, wiring diagram for an Auto-Cycle in the tank. Bonus!
So, without further ado, here's a bunch of pictures. There's a couple comments, due to the 10 image limit, and I have some questions about the bike after the pictures.
904
906
944
955
946
948
952
956
After figuring out what it was, I consulted Nickinator on a good ballpark value, and deemed it was worth the 3 hour drive to a little town on the edge of the Bighorn Mountains (plus it was very scenic). It was an estate auction for a well known collector of indian artifacts, so while the artifacts were bringing in thousands of dollars, I was biding my time and watching people to see if anybody appeared serious about the bicycle. I overheard a couple of guys talking about giving it a "refinish" and bringing the seat down to some shop to get redone, everybody else just loved the look of it. So, the time for the non-artifact big ticket items came, and the double sided porcelain GMC truck sign went for 5 grand or so, between a guy in the room and a phone bidder, so I was starting to worry that there could be some serious interest in the bike. A couple signs later, the bike was up, and luckily, there was no phone bidder for the bike. Also, nobody in the room had done any research on it. So, I won it at a good price after bidding against one other person. Turns out the family and the auction company thought nothing of the bicycle, and were surprised that it brought what it did. So, as a grad student, I can actually afford to keep it.
I talked with the son of the bike owner and one of the auctioneers after the auction. The auctioneer said that the owner rode it all around town, and to high school. The son said that the bike has been sitting in the grainery on their property since before he was born, which I estimated him to be about 60 years old. He wasn't sure how his father had aquired the bike, so, it could possibly be a single owner bike, but it's not certain. The only thing I'm not certain on, is how the bike came to be dressed in glittery red handlebar grips.
When I got it home, after smiling the whole way home, I found a tattered, but original, wiring diagram for an Auto-Cycle in the tank. Bonus!
So, without further ado, here's a bunch of pictures. There's a couple comments, due to the 10 image limit, and I have some questions about the bike after the pictures.
904
906
944
955
946
948
952
956
Last edited: