# Destroyers of the past, present and future



## bobcycles

Seems like epidemic proportions now.

More and more I see rare and complete original survivor bicycles, Excellent originals in fact, blown apart for profit....scattered across the universe.

As collectors in need of parts, do we A) Boycott these sellers?   or B) Bite the bullet and encourage their deeds by patronizing them?

Recently a beautiful original BC model, a very rare late 30's Prewar Schwinn was slain and scattered  on ebay....I believe the auctions are still running.   Bicycle Chop Shops on ebay........disgusting.

Have I ever parted a bicycle out?  Sure.....very rough housepainted, common low end ladies models, or rusty parts bikes...

One seller in particular in Southern California continuing the pursuit of giving So Cal collectors a bad name is this bad person Ebay seller ID
jonesjj20132013.   I've watched this animals buying and selling practices.   He purposely buys complete and nice original bicycles for the soul purpose of blowing them apart and back on ebay for profit.   Comes from the Armpit known as Santa Ana.......chop shop paradise in So Calif. figures.   He bought an outstanding original red Phantom a couple of months back only to wrench it in to oblivion.    Probably the most egregious offender in the slaughtering of bicycle history, but there are others.

There SHOULD be a stigma attached to you if that's your only goal in the bike hobby.

Again, this goes for those who ruin the rare or nice original examples, not the rest of us who will part out rough bikes or partials.

What's the consensus?


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## vintage2wheel

I know what your talking about bob. I offered to buy the bike complete twice to go with my red BC and the green BC but he would not do it. 
It's a shame. 


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## rockabillyjay

Preach it, Bob!!

I agree..parting complete original nice boys bikes SUCKS..I too have tried to buy bikes scattered on ebay as a whole...sellers that do that want none of that..only $$$$$


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## TheSaint

Everyone should takes turns in "winning" his Auctions then saying it's an Emergency that you cannot pay. 
Keep his Auctions on the Fritz with many many high bidders.  

s


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## Rusty2wheels

I know what seller you are talking about.  It is sad to see an original paint bike stripped like that.  I see the same thing with vintage original paint motorcycles. The parts usually bring a lot more than what the complete bikes bring. It just sucks that they are destroying a part of history...


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## 37fleetwood

bobcycles said:


> Seems like epidemic proportions now.
> 
> More and more I see rare and complete original survivor bicycles, Excellent originals in fact, blown apart for profit....scattered across the universe.
> 
> As collectors in need of parts, do we A) Boycott these sellers?   or B) Bite the bullet and encourage their deeds by patronizing them?
> 
> Recently a beautiful original BC model, a very rare late 30's Prewar Schwinn was slain and scattered  on ebay....I believe the auctions are still running.   Bicycle Chop Shops on ebay........disgusting.
> 
> Have I ever parted a bicycle out?  Sure.....very rough housepainted, common low end ladies models, or rusty parts bikes...
> 
> One seller in particular in Southern California continuing the pursuit of giving So Cal collectors a bad name is this bad person Ebay seller ID
> jonesjj20132013.   I've watched this animals buying and selling practices.   He purposely buys complete and nice original bicycles for the soul purpose of blowing them apart and back on ebay for profit.   Comes from the Armpit known as Santa Ana.......chop shop paradise in So Calif. figures.   He bought an outstanding original red Phantom a couple of months back only to wrench it in to oblivion.    Probably the most egregious offender in the slaughtering of bicycle history, but there are others.
> 
> There SHOULD be a stigma attached to you if that's your only goal in the bike hobby.
> 
> Again, this goes for those who ruin the rare or nice original examples, not the rest of us who will part out rough bikes or partials.
> 
> What's the consensus?




there used to be another guy in Southern Cali who had a reputation for parting nice bikes... I hear he's become an advocate for saving nice bikes now.


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## bobdenver1961

It kills me also. There is one seller who posts a photo in his auction of what the bike looked like before he stripped it down. Most are beautiful and turned into a pile of parts.

Bob


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## RustyK

That Excelsior was a great bike with great paint and perfect patina. Now people can build up bikes with mismatched paint and patina parts, those will look sweeeeet.


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## bikewhorder

I saw the bike I believe your referring to earlier today and it really bummed me out.  Its just wrong.


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## prewarbikes4sale

*It is a shame*

But until people pay the sum value of parts for a Bike you are beating a dead Horse.


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## Hubs-n-Spokes

People can stop buying bicycles that need parts and it will stop. I will only buy complete bicycles now though I have bought my share of projects in the past.


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## 37fleetwood

it's not the projects, it's the idiots buying parts off of a nice original to put on their Partridge Family bike rather than stepping up and buying the bike and selling the piece of crap they're building!


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## Hubs-n-Spokes

37fleetwood said:


> it's not the projects, it's the idiots buying parts off of a nice original to put on their Partridge Family bike rather than stepping up and buying the bike and selling the piece of crap they're building!



You make an excellent point. I think the stupidest thing I ever saw was the purchase of a complete, (and I do mean complete with original bill of sale and order form) Schwinn from the original owner's daughter only to have the tank and a few other parts removed to make another bike "complete". It didn't make any sense then and it still doesn't. That bicycle was such a rarity among Schwinns being 100% original AND documented as well! A piece of history gone for no good reason at all.


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## 37fleetwood

Hubs-n-Spokes said:


> You make an excellent point. I think the stupidest thing I ever saw was the purchase of a complete, (and I do mean complete with original bill of sale and order form) Schwinn from the original owner's daughter only to have the tank and a few other parts removed to make another bike "complete". It didn't make any sense then and it still doesn't. That bicycle was such a rarity among Schwinns being 100% original AND documented as well! A piece of history gone for no good reason at all.




and then the cobbled together piece of crap is passed off as an original!
the old saying still holds true, there's no honor among Schwinn guys!


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## scrubbinrims

Let's not pounce on the Schwinn guys, just that there is more inventory out there in circulation.
I don't do projects or incomplete bikes anymore unless it is RARE, but it took years to get to this point and there is always going to be fresh crop of newcomers that will learn the hobby's life lessons the hard way.
Piecemeal is ultimately more expensive, but there is a payment plan.
Chris


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## bike

*I would always prefer to sell it whole*

but in the end (.) I needs mah munnies.


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi

Hubs-n-Spokes said:


> You make an excellent point. I think the stupidest thing I ever saw was the purchase of a complete, (and I do mean complete with original bill of sale and order form) Schwinn from the original owner's daughter only to have the tank and a few other parts removed to make another bike "complete". It didn't make any sense then and it still doesn't. That bicycle was such a rarity among Schwinns being 100% original AND documented as well! A piece of history gone for no good reason at all.




Doyou have a picture?.. What dumbass would do that?


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## slick

You boys don't get it. It's a schwinn. There are how many thousands of them?????? Who cares.  And hasn't the so-cal schwinn mafia been doing this for the past umpteen years? How many of those LA Schwinns are factory correct bikes anyway? Id bet my yearly income that damn near all of them have been upgraded at some point. Dual drums, crossbrace speedos, pogo seats, etc. ....


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## slick

Until guys bite the bullet and buy the fullout deluxe bike, this will continue to happen. My question is, what's so bad about a bare bones bike without a tank or accessories if it's in a rare color? In my opinion, that is a much rarer, kooler bike because I guarantee there are less in that color, and bare bones like that is the bastard bike that got left behind at the store until the regular avetage joe schmoe bought it. Not the business man with the spoiled son for christmas.


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## schwinnbikebobb

I agree that the people who buy the parts can't afford to throw down a big chunk of money at one time but can spend the money on parts a little at a time. It does end up costing more but the only way a lot can do it.  It amazes me how many people on here can pay $800 and up on a bike without a second thought. I don't think the vast majority can do that. I have parted out some common girls bikes and some lightweights that had wrong parts but have not done any boys unless they were to far gone to save. But of course they were just Schwinns and you can't swing a dead cat and not hit 2 or 3 of them!


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi

schwinnbikebobb said:


> I agree that the people who buy the parts can't afford to throw down a big chunk of money at one time but can spend the money on parts a little at a time. It does end up costing more but the only way a lot can do it.  It amazes me how many people on here can pay $800 and up on a bike without a second thought. I don't think the vast majority can do that. I have parted out some common girls bikes and some lightweights that had wrong parts but have not done any boys unless they were to far gone to save. But of course they were just Schwinns and you can't swing a dead cat and not hit 2 or 3 of them!




True about the cat maybe in yer neck of the woods... In 1904 I've only seen not counting rides maybe 7 old bicycles of any type down here. I know they are out there just not here anymore. Lol.. Yes im counting mine and tims autos.. So that's five...


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## fordmike65

Obi-Wan Schwinnobi said:


> True about the cat maybe in yer neck of the woods... In 1904 I've only seen not counting rides maybe 7 old bicycles of any type down here. I know they are out there just not here anymore. Lol.. Yes im counting mine and tims autos.. So that's five...




Figured there'd be alot more old bikes around being "1904" and all


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi

fordmike65 said:


> Figured there'd be alot more old bikes around being "1904" and all




SD =1904... Saw it on gangland lol


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## cyclingday

I was also bummed to see what appeared to be a super nice original condition BC model blown apart for scrapes.
My thoughts were to see if I could buy the bike whole, but by the time I saw the auctions, each item had quite a bit of activity on them. I figured the owner was going to get what he wanted out of the bike, so it was a lost cause.
I'm not familiar with this seller ID.
Is this a new handle for the notorious parts guy from Santa Ana?


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## jkent

Man that auction made me so angry......


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi

jkent said:


> Man that auction made me so angry......




The current auction?


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## bikecrazy

The black Excelsior being parted out as we speak is out of New York. The seller states that he rode the bike for a while before posting the componants on Ebay.What a beautiful bike that must have been.The hanging tank is listed and has a very unusual paint design. I can see why this has so many people upset.


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## Nickinator

Recently there was a beautiful, original paint boy's ballooner parted out here on CABE, and Nick and I were sick the whole day (or two) about it. Maybe one of the nicest orig paint bikes I've seen. It wasn't a super rare bike, but was a complete deluxe, equipped bike, and one in that shape should never have been torn apart. And plenty of people here were glad to pick it apart! 

That same person tried to buy a bike from us, but mysteriously lost interest when I pointedly asked if he planned to part it out. And more than once we have refused to sell a bike to someone we knew was going to part it out. Even tho we sure could use the extra $, we can't in good conscience strip it and destroy it forever.

I have no issue with parting out incomplete or poor condition bikes, or even a pieced together restored bike, but there are plenty of ways to make money on bikes and fund your hobby or business, other than tearing apart really nice original bikes and sending them to the 4 winds forever...especially when there have been many times people have stepped up to buy the bike complete, for good money, as in the aforementioned bike. 

I personally lose all respect for people who would part out such a well cared for and preserved part of history, and I choose not deal with them. 

Darcie


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi

bikecrazy said:


> The black Excelsior being parted out as we speak is out of New York. The seller states that he rode the bike for a while before posting the componants on Ebay.What a beautiful bike that must have been.The hanging tank is listed and has a very unusual paint design. I can see why this has so many people upset.




That's how BC is painted


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi

I hope people ain't this dumb... 433 bux for the rims!?!?!?!?!


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## tbone

I don't sell anything... 

But what if one complete helps restore multiple others? So in actuality you are making more completes. Doesn't sound that bad.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2


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## MarkG

I disagree with the break one up to complete a few other in need. The one complete is correct in year, paint shade, and weathering.
An assembled from pieces bike may be repainted to color match and incorrect parts for the year on manufacture.


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## tbone

MarkG said:


> I disagree with the break one up to complete a few other in need. The one complete is correct in year, paint shade, and weathering.
> An assembled from pieces bike may be repainted to color match and incorrect parts for the year on manufacture.




ill give you the weathering... but everything else *could be* a perfect match.

if it were me everyhting would remain intact, complete etc etc, but that is not the world we live in. it all comes down to what someone else commented, it is up to the buyers. if there is no market for it then no one would do it. 

i dont think this trend will ever stop


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## Boris

If I have a worthy complete original paint bike to sell, I set the price at close to the sum of all parts. If it doesn't sell right away, I'll hang onto it as long as I have to, before I see it parted out. I did once part out a complete original girls Monark, but the guilt of doing so made me vow never to do it again. Also in my past, I've bought parts from bikes that I've known were complete originals, and I have taken the vow to never do that again either. I do sell loose parts, but never from complete original bikes no matter what the gender. This is the Confessional isn't it.


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## bobcycles

*Nice ORIGINALS........was the thread*

Seems like some got off mark.  Post regarded parting out nice original paint, complete originals.
Not the act of parting out bikes in general.
Many complete rough shape bikes have helped to build other projects.

I also think exceptions can be made with super common basic models. Blue ladies 50's hornets/dx models for instance....seems to be millions of those out there...


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## oldwhizzer

*Schwinn BC*

The Black Prewar Schwinn That is being parted out on Ebay now was at Memorylane Show 2 Times with no takers. The person selling it has been selling off his collection.. It will be interesting to see what the parts bring at the end??Looks like more than he was asking..


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## cyclingday

I contacted him earlier in the week, and he said that he had listed it twice for $1,650 with no takers.
I never saw those listings, otherwise I would have snagged it for sure.
He said that once the decision to part it out was made, it was too late to purchase it in a bundle.

Hopefully, enough of us bail out on the prospect of trying to win all of the actions, and somebody can at least get all of the paint parts to keep this beauty together.


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## bike

*2924 call it 3k after fees*

would anyone have paid that for the bike? And not done yet.

1937 PREWAR SCHWINN EXCELSIOR MENS 26 INCH FRAME WITH ORIGINAL BLACK PAINT


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi

bike said:


> would anyone have paid that for the bike? And not done yet.
> 
> 1937 PREWAR SCHWINN EXCELSIOR MENS 26 INCH FRAME WITH ORIGINAL BLACK PAINT




I won light!


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## bike

*That parter gave ^^^^ you a rush and happiness!*

viva de parter!


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## walter branche

*me*

i part ,therfore---I AM,worldwide distribution of bikes and parts ,,velocipede ventures ,, /walter branche


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## cyclingday

It's hard to argue with the math.
The guy tried to sell it twice for $1,650 with no luck, so he parts it out and nets $3,000
It is a shame to see a nice original bike destroyed, but like the song says.  What's love got to do with it?


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## Sped Man

If someone is planning on stripping a mint or rust bucket Elgin Twinbar 60, please contact me! I need parts! I can't help it.


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## vincev

Dave Marko said:


> If I have a worthy complete original paint bike to sell, I set the price at close to the sum of all parts. If it doesn't sell right away, I'll hang onto it as long as I have to, before I see it parted out. I did once part out a complete original girls Monark, but the guilt of doing so made me vow never to do it again. Also in my past, I've bought parts from bikes that I've known were complete originals, and I have taken the vow to never do that again either. I do sell loose parts, but never from complete original bikes no matter what the gender. This is the Confessional isn't it.




Dave,you are forgiven.Say 3 Hail Mary's and 2 Our Fathers


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## Champy

*Math*



cyclingday said:


> It's hard to argue with the math.
> The guy tried to sell it twice for $1,650 with no luck, so he parts it out and nets $3,000
> It is a shame to see a nice original bike destroyed, but like the song says.  What's love got to do with it?




Its not about the math.  If you are making a business from parting out history, you are wrong.  How about getting a real job.  One that doesn't involve destroying history.  Just because you cant sell your pre war whatever for the sum of its parts is no excuse for parting something that can never be assembled again.  It lasted 75 years in one piece and your greed is not a good enough reason to tear it apart.  Would you cut a Monet in strips to make a buck.  If your reason is the all mighty dollar, please go away.  You are killing this 'hobby'.


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## videoranger

"If your reason is the all mighty dollar, please go away. You are killing this 'hobby'"
I agree!


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## cyclingday

You guys are preaching to the choir. I agree whole hardedly!

 You need to voice your frustration to the guy that demolished the BC.

 If you want to save history, then be prepared to step up when a nice bike comes up for sale, because if the guy can get twice for it in pieces, then that is probably exactly what he's going to do. No matter who the seller is.
Once you've decided to sell something, then the love for it has waned, and you're likely to get rid of it any way you can.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I'd just as soon as give a guy the bike because he loves it, than to sell it in pieces for the almighty dollar. It's all about the bike with me. The owners are just a bunch of Knuckleheads.


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## prewarbikes4sale

*2 Sides to the coin*

I Agree. I have my Ranger on Ebay Original paint but I guess pieced together with a repainted & distressed tank. I have been low balled on the bike and am considering parting it out. I guess I am in the ":clear" because it was pieced together. I think it is a shame to part it out but a 1200.00 fee to keep it together is just not reasonable. The bike is available off Ebay for 2900.00 plus shipping 3% for PayPal  should anyone like to buy it. Free delivery to MLC with a 500.00 deposit.  Mike  *Sold*


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