bobcycles
Riding a '38 Autocycle Deluxe
Here's a good one.. Long time collector friend from Chicago sent me an email a few years ago
regarding a 41 Autocycle appearing at an upcoming estate sale locally here in LA. I'm on it. Show up at 5 AM...
maybe a dozen people in line with one guy 1st in line, sleeping bag, crashed by the gate.
We all get in... the sleeper was a local collector I met some months prior on an ebay deal local pu.
We were the only 2 people interested in the bike. Literally the antiquer crowd looked right past it.
It was a showdown sort of auction sitch with me and the ebay guy. The Estate sale guy said he
had brought it to the house from a client who was an A-list hollywood celeb attorney and had
owned it for 30 years. Later he told me the client had other old bikes he would be liquidating...
we exchanged info, nothing came of it. I ended up outbidding the ebay guy and bought it
for restored Phantom money. The restoration was phenomenal, NOS EA buttons. Don't
think I ever saw those before on an autocycle console or even loose! Bike is currently in a
new happy home, not mine, but verrrrrrry unusual finding any vintage bikes here in the Los Angeles
area of that level. The restoration on it was a mind blower...aside from chainguard pins that were
a bit short on the 'feet' which I addressed, the bike was dead on.
Footnote: Had the ebay sleeping guy not been there, I'm betting the bike would have been had for
1000 bux if that. takes 2 to wango tango.
regarding a 41 Autocycle appearing at an upcoming estate sale locally here in LA. I'm on it. Show up at 5 AM...
maybe a dozen people in line with one guy 1st in line, sleeping bag, crashed by the gate.
We all get in... the sleeper was a local collector I met some months prior on an ebay deal local pu.
We were the only 2 people interested in the bike. Literally the antiquer crowd looked right past it.
It was a showdown sort of auction sitch with me and the ebay guy. The Estate sale guy said he
had brought it to the house from a client who was an A-list hollywood celeb attorney and had
owned it for 30 years. Later he told me the client had other old bikes he would be liquidating...
we exchanged info, nothing came of it. I ended up outbidding the ebay guy and bought it
for restored Phantom money. The restoration was phenomenal, NOS EA buttons. Don't
think I ever saw those before on an autocycle console or even loose! Bike is currently in a
new happy home, not mine, but verrrrrrry unusual finding any vintage bikes here in the Los Angeles
area of that level. The restoration on it was a mind blower...aside from chainguard pins that were
a bit short on the 'feet' which I addressed, the bike was dead on.
Footnote: Had the ebay sleeping guy not been there, I'm betting the bike would have been had for
1000 bux if that. takes 2 to wango tango.
