# Reproduction OD Grips on Ebay



## HUFFMANBILL (Jul 10, 2018)

Did anyone see the price that took a pair of reproduction OD Military G519 grips on Ebay yesterday morning?  They went for $167.50 plus $7.20 shipping.  See ebay item # 323327703781.  Wow!!! That's way more then what I have ever paid for any pair of NOS original grips! I sure hope that the buyer was aware that those grips were reproduction since it was not real clear from the short description.  I contacted the seller and he confirmed that they were recent manufacture. Well,  maybe that is what repro. grips are going for now.  Sure glad that I use NOS original grips on my G519's as they are cheaper, at least in my case.
Regards,
Bill


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## Whitey1736 (Jul 10, 2018)

I saw them and also asked if they were original because I think he left it purposely vague. I didn't see the final price but seems crazy they sold for that.


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## HUFFMANBILL (Jul 10, 2018)

I agree,  the posting does look as though it was left vague.


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## Tomato John (Jul 10, 2018)

I paid $15 bucks for my repops. May not be authentic but hey- you get what u pay for


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## fat tire trader (Jul 11, 2018)

I'm closed to finished reviving my 43 Dayton. It came to me with one black grip. Did all the military bikes have OD grips?


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## blackcat (Jul 11, 2018)

Hello;
Of this model if, to my knowledge, i only know them OD color in WW2
Serge


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## GPWPAT (Jul 11, 2018)

I have my reasons why I threw so much at them. First off it was auction. So others drove the price up. I am sure all that were bidding thought they were NOS. I had never seen repro OD had grips. But then again I have only been looking for parts for just over a year. Over the course of that year I have never seen OD handgrips come up for sale of that quality. This was the last part I needed for my bike. I had to get it done this before this weekend. Why was I hot to trot for this weekend? Well I am taking my bike to see my grandfather who is 94 this weekend and he used G519 at Dyersburge Army Airbase.  He does not have much Time left. I am making a tag for my bike and he is going to sign it. It had value to me to grab these. But I didn’t bid to drive the price up. I bid to get them. So I only added $1 to the highest bid at the last 5 seconds. One of the other reasons why they had value to me was I had already purchased some rejects from a member on G503. The shape was right. But the color and quality was bad. I was going to use them to pull my own molds and cast some of my own. I knew in materials alone I would be over $100 to do that and would take me Hours and Hours. Sure I could sell some parts. But I don’t have the time. I don’t have a lot of time. I needed to stop using my time hunting for parts. Surfing the web. Looking for the last bits. This last part. I was not really buying hand grips. I was buying TIME in the form of hand grips. Too bad they are not NOS. But at least they are the correct shape and color.

They must be Bergerworks items. He does not sell them anymore. Nobody sells repro OD handgrips anymore. 

Tracking has them in my mailbox today. Just in TIME to get fitted and take to see my grandfather on Saturday.


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## Whitey1736 (Jul 11, 2018)

Well thank you grandfather for his service, awesome that he actually used the original bikes.  I'd say your rationale should sit well with most people...not that it really matters.  Sometimes time can be worth all the money in the world.  Good luck finishing the project.  




GPWPAT said:


> I have my reasons why I threw so much at them. First off it was auction. So others drove the price up. I am sure all that were bidding thought they were NOS. I had never seen repro OD had grips. But then again I have only been looking for parts for just over a year. Over the course of that year I have never seen OD handgrips come up for sale of that quality. This was the last part I needed for my bike. I had to get it done this before this weekend. Why was I hot to trot for this weekend? Well I am taking my bike to see my grandfather who is 94 this weekend and he used G519 at Dyersburge Army Airbase.  He does not have much Time left. I am making a tag for my bike and he is going to sign it. It had value to me to grab these. But I didn’t bid to drive the price up. I bid to get them. So I only added $1 to the highest bid at the last 5 seconds. One of the other reasons why they had value to me was I had already purchased some rejects from a member on G503. The shape was right. But the color and quality was bad. I was going to use them to pull my own molds and cast some of my own. I knew in materials alone I would be over $100 to do that and would take me Hours and Hours. Sure I could sell some parts. But I don’t have the time. I don’t have a lot of time. I needed to stop using my time hunting for parts. Surfing the web. Looking for the last bits. This last part. I was not really buying hand grips. I was buying TIME in the form of hand grips. Too bad they are not NOS. But at least they are the correct shape and color.
> 
> They must be Bergerworks items. He does not sell them anymore. Nobody sells repro OD handgrips anymore.
> 
> Tracking has them in my mailbox today. Just in TIME to get fitted and take to see my grandfather on Saturday.


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## JOHN DANGER (Jul 12, 2018)

Some G519 came with black coke bottle grips both Huffman and Columbia built I think they were slightly different with the columbia having a more ball shaped end and the huffman more flat like the coke bottle bottom, now the pics are black and white but I don't think there were any green coke bottle grips or I have never seen any old stock of them, I imagine they were just the standard grips used on the civilian bikes, some very original survivor bikes still have black coke bottle grips even with original wartime tires.


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## HUFFMANBILL (Jul 12, 2018)

JOHN DANGER said:


> Some G519 came with black coke bottle grips both Huffman and Columbia built I think they were slightly different with the columbia having a more ball shaped end and the huffman more flat like the coke bottle bottom, now the pics are black and white but I don't think there were any green coke bottle grips or I have never seen any old stock of them, I imagine they were just the standard grips used on the civilian bikes, some very original survivor bikes still have black coke bottle grips even with original wartime tires.
> 
> 
> View attachment 837661
> ...





JOHN DANGER said:


> Some G519 came with black coke bottle grips both Huffman and Columbia built I think they were slightly different with the columbia having a more ball shaped end and the huffman more flat like the coke bottle bottom, now the pics are black and white but I don't think there were any green coke bottle grips or I have never seen any old stock of them, I imagine they were just the standard grips used on the civilian bikes, some very original survivor bikes still have black coke bottle grips even with original wartime tires.
> 
> 
> View attachment 837661
> ...



The very early 1942 curved lower tube Columbia/Huffman Military bikes came with the black coke bottle grips.  Later in 1942 they were replaced with the OD textile #43 pointed torpedo style grips.  More then likely as some of these bikes were used the original grips would break or otherwise were changed out for other style ones.  Personally, I find that the coke bottle grips are more comfortable then the OD textile #43 grips.


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## GPWPAT (Jul 13, 2018)

There are more Grips on Ebay. Apparently there is a new supply. They are very nice. Very well made. The mold was perfect. I don’t know if they are worth what I paid especially since I thought they were NOS. Not reproductions. They are worth 50 to 75 probably. I do wish the seller had been more forthcoming in his description and stated they were new production. But whatever.


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## HUFFMANBILL (Jul 18, 2018)

Well, I contacted the seller again and asked him to list them as reproductions( which they are per an email from the seller) in his listing so that no one else would mistake them for originals.  He proceeded to accuse me of calling him dishonest.  He also wrote quote ''I spent weeks of my time orchestrating a small run of these grips and if I sold 10 sets at the price the last auction sold for I would barely break even.'' If this is true then this guy has a lot of money in these grips and needs to sell them at a price much higher then what a set of reproduction grips would normally bring.  It would seem that the seller has his reason for being vague in the description!!  I hope that I am mistaken, but I do not think that he will revise his description to make it absolutely clear to all that these grips are reproductions.  They may be very good repro's, but repro's none the less.  They should be selling at repro prices and not at almost original prices.
Remember BUYER BEWARE!!!


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## Freqman1 (Jul 19, 2018)

Is this the seller?   stearman_325   http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...0001&campid=5335809022&icep_item=323348534613


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## Whitey1736 (Jul 19, 2018)

Yes that is the seller.  Thanks HuffmanBill for making the effort to get the post updated.  Its one thing to mislead someone without intention but this seller seems quite aware.  I doubt he will update his post based on his response to you.  It seems as if he has at least 10 sets though? ... if I read into that.  

Anyways, when I asked on the original listing if they were NOS, this was his response: "They are reproductions created from a flawless NOS original and color matched to an original grip dated 12 July 1943. Molded in rigid plastic as original in the exact original color. "  

followed up by: "It’s probably worth mentioning that these were made by a professional shop with all the proper equipment and all the best materials. They weren’t made by some collector in his basement or garage. These parts are perfect in shape, size, finish and color. "

He does seem to have a good ebay rating though.


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## HUFFMANBILL (Jul 19, 2018)

The ebay rating does not amount to a hill of beans in situations like this.  I went through the first six pages of his transactions and most were purchases.  Of the ones that were sales all seemed to be for old MOPAR car stuff.  The fact remains that this guy has been informed that his listing needs to be revised and clarified so that no doubt exists regarding the fact that these grips, no matter how well they are made, are in fact reproductions, nothing more - nothing less.  It was his choice to over pay to have them made and as for me I don't want to be tricked into overpaying for repro's so he can make his money back.  I would suspect that others in this forum would feel the same way that I do.  Also,  don't get me wrong, there is a place in our hobby for good reproductions, especially when the originals are so difficult to locate and in many instances sooooo expensive.  My beef is that in situations like this the potential buyer should have a right to know, by way of a clearly written and honest description, what they may be buying!


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## HUFFMANBILL (Jul 20, 2018)

Well, it looks like the second set of the repro. grips went for $168.50 plus shipping.  With all due respect to GPWPAT ( I trust his grandfather saw and loved his restoration) that is unbelievable!  I will give the buyer the benefit of the doubt and assume that because of the vague description he was under the impression that the Grips were original?  If that is what reproduction grips will bring now, no matter how well they are made, then I will have to seriously think about listing a couple sets of my originals at $400.00 a set! HaHa, just kidding, none of my originals are for sale. However, you do get the point.


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## Freqman1 (Jul 21, 2018)

I messaged the seller as well and told him I thought it was misleading not to indicate that these are reproductions. Got the explanation that reproduction implies some cheap crap made in someones basement story. Obviously he has never seen any of John's stuff. Got a feeling it will take one disgruntled seller to get him to see the light and label these for what they are. If these are truly that good then say something like "reproductions made to exacting standards at great cost and accurate in every aspect". V/r Shawn


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## HUFFMANBILL (Jul 21, 2018)

Freqman1 said:


> I messaged the seller as well and told him I thought it was misleading not to indicate that these are reproductions. Got the explanation that reproduction implies some cheap crap made in someones basement story. Obviously he has never seen any of John's stuff. Got a feeling it will take one disgruntled seller to get him to see the light and label these for what they are. If these are truly that good then say something like "reproductions made to exacting standards at great cost and accurate in every aspect". V/r Shawn




That is basically the same reply I received.  His excuse for not listing these grips as reproductions because that would imply cheaply made in some ones basement is '' ONE BIG LOAD OF CRAP'' and a very transparent excuse for not clearly describing them as reproductions.  He is playing on the emotions of the buyer that wants to believe they must be original because the description does not say otherwise.  Good for you Freqman1, and thank you for trying to get this guy to do the right thing!


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## HUFFMANBILL (Jul 28, 2018)

For anyone interested.  The 3rd set of Recent manufactured G519 handlebar grips have been listed by stearman_325.  See ebay listing #323370285081.  He has increased the starting bid to $65.00 and most importantly has made no attempt to clarify the description.  It is the same as the previous two listings.  Make no mistake, if you plan to bid, these are recent manufacture reproduction grips.  They are well made, but reproductions none the less.  Bid accordingly.


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