# Give the guy a heart attack.. wants to sell Hiawatha Arrow tank over on RRB.



## jpromo (May 6, 2013)

Hope it's not in poor taste to give a heads up on this. Show him what bike collecting is all about: http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=75&t=72220


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## Gary Mc (May 7, 2013)

Somebody needs to give him a heads up before he destroys that bike.


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## 55tbird (May 7, 2013)

*I'm working on it*

Trying to save it!  Mike


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## partsguy (May 7, 2013)

Heaven forbid a guy customize and hot rod a classic anything that they actually own and belongs to them to do what they want with...


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## Gary Mc (May 7, 2013)

classicfan1 said:


> Heaven forbid a guy customize and hot rod a classic anything that they actually own and belongs to them to do what they want with...




That's not what I'm saying, it is his to do with as he pleases.  All I'm saying is make sure he understands how valuable that bike is because a lot of those guys have no clue, before it gets destroyed.  Then his decision to make with full knowledge of what he could probably get for the bike or the sum of the parts & how much money he is tossing away by turning it into an irretrievable custom.


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## partsguy (May 7, 2013)

No problem with informing him, but when I read his post, he was selling the tank (the most desirable piece I would assume, tanks always are) since he didn't need it. I don't there is anything wrong with customizing something a little on the rare side. A couple of locals here customized a Chrysler Airflow and a Packard, both look stunning!


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## scrubbinrims (May 7, 2013)

On one hand, I can respect that one's own bike is his/hers to do with, but on the other hand, rare/special bicycles as this do not deserve to have a hand mixer welded to it or skulls permanently attached for some build off or boardwalk display.
There are plenty of interesting dumpster bikes for this purpose.
Chris


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## Gary Mc (May 7, 2013)

scrubbinrims said:


> On one hand, I can respect that one's own bike is his/hers to do with, but on the other hand, rare/special bicycles as this do not deserve to have a hand mixer welded to it or skulls permanently attached for some build off or boardwalk display.
> There are plenty of interesting dumpster bikes for this purpose.
> Chris




I agree Chris.  I PM'd the guy on RRB with enough info to let him know customizing this bike might not be the best decision, I mean he did not even know what it was to begin with & he only has 4 posts on RRB.  Hopefully he'll rethink it & put the bike up for sale.  I'll post what I hear back.  It would really be ashamed to see a guy make a truly atrocious financial decision not even knowing he has made it by customizing this one.


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## RustyK (May 7, 2013)

scrubbinrims said:


> On one hand, I can respect that one's own bike is his/hers to do with, but on the other hand, rare/special bicycles as this do not deserve to have a hand mixer welded to it or skulls permanently attached for some build off or boardwalk display.
> There are plenty of interesting dumpster bikes for this purpose.
> Chris




Hear, hear! I'd kill for an Arrow, or trade many lesser bikes for it. There is no lack of undesireable bikes out there.


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## fordmike65 (May 7, 2013)

I heard about this bike from Danny(losterboyx) this past weekend. He contacted the builder, but seems he's determined to build this up as a custom. At least he gave up the tank. I don't even wanna know what he let it go for...


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## Stinky_Sullivan (May 7, 2013)

There are plenty of good bare frames out there he could use without breaking up that set. There are fewer and fewer of those bikes. It's a shame to see one turned into a custom that he'd never be able to return to original condition because he sold off the most hard to get parts.


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## Gary Mc (May 7, 2013)

He just posted "tank is sold" so not going back together now.


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## Gary Mc (May 7, 2013)

*Hiawatha Arrow sold mostly intact to a CABE member*



fordmike65 said:


> I heard about this bike from Danny(losterboyx) this past weekend. He contacted the builder, but seems he's determined to build this up as a custom. At least he gave up the tank. I don't even wanna know what he let it go for...




Heard back from RRBer. This 1938 (I think) Hiawatha Arrow is being sold mostly intact to include frame, fork, and tank.  The present owner had 4 posts on RRB only and told me he was new to bikes and had NO idea what he had and was about to split up & customize.  He does now & thus his decision to sell it to another CABE member who also took the time to contact him & let him know what he had.  I know who got it but I'll let them discuss it if they want to. 

Really surprised Slick hasn't weighed in on this one yet.


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## babyjesus (May 7, 2013)

Gary Mc said:


> Heard back from RRBer. This 1938 (I think) Hiawatha Arrow is being sold mostly intact to include frame, fork, and tank.  The present owner had 4 posts on RRB only and told me he was new to bikes and had NO idea what he had and was about to split up & customize.  He does now & thus his decision to sell it to another CABE member who also took the time to contact him & let him know what he had.  I know who got it but I'll let them discuss it if they want to.
> 
> Really surprised Slick hasn't weighed in on this one yet.




well thats the first bit of good news in this thread - that was getting scary.


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## bikewhorder (May 7, 2013)

Damn, I would've loved to see one of those bikes with skulls and mixer blades welded to it.


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## Nickinator (May 7, 2013)

who ever owns it, I could really use that tank....


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## bricycle (May 7, 2013)

Glad another "Goodie" was saved!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!


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## 55tbird (May 7, 2013)

*Bike will be saved*

I am the lucky guy who jumped on this right away. Seller is going to rat rod a shelby airflow frame with shock ease fork instead, which I traded with some cash and other parts.  Mike


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## Gary Mc (May 7, 2013)

55tbird said:


> I am the lucky guy who jumped on this right away. Seller is going to rat rod a shelby airflow frame with shock ease fork instead, which I traded with some cash and other parts.  Mike




Congratulation Mike!!!!!  Really glad you jumped on it & got it.


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## 1959firearrow (May 7, 2013)

I don't know if you guys read the rules for RRBO8 but in no way could this frame have been ruined if he stuck with a traditional build. You're not allowed to mod the frames in any way this year or else you get bumped into the anything goes class. Just saying it probably would have been mostly bolt on stuff, nothing irreversible. Very cool bike indeed. Glad to see it went to someone who really wanted it.


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## bricycle (May 7, 2013)

55tbird said:


> I am the lucky guy who jumped on this right away. Seller is going to rat rod a shelby airflow frame with shock ease fork instead, which I traded with some cash and other parts.  Mike




Mike you have my deepest gratitude. That was one bike that shouldn't have been broken up....phew!


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## Oldnut (May 7, 2013)

Phew is right another one saved.


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## slick (May 9, 2013)

Glad this one was saved. Sucks that i missed it. I really need a Arrow tank right now for my restoration i'm doing.

I try to stay off RRB's as much as possible for this reason. Most of those guys don't respect originality. Glad he didn't start to cut up that tank or weld some skull heads to it or something to make it a "rat".


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## Iverider (May 10, 2013)

Another one saved...for now. Let the fight continue! Education is great, and good on everyone who recognized this bike before it was too late. Imagine for a minute how many old bikes are STILL melted down because scrappers don't know their value (to us). Scary.


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## partsguy (May 10, 2013)

This is NOT "saved". "Saved" is when a classic is literally SAVED from the jaws of death that is the scrap crusher. This would have lived either way as a cool and one-of-a-kind custom, or as an expensivly restored original.


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## jpromo (May 10, 2013)

slick said:


> I try to stay off RRB's as much as possible for this reason. Most of those guys don't respect originality. Glad he didn't start to cut up that tank or weld some skull heads to it or something to make it a "rat".




You know, I actually would disagree here. I am over there almost as much as here and they really do have a great appreciation of patina and preserving original paint/integrity of a bicycle if it's something worth its salt. Generally the vintage bikes that are heavily customized are dime-a-dozen frames and parts.

I think this was just somebody new to the hobby who came up with a holy grail which just looked like a normal cup in his eyes.


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