the tinker
Cruisin' on my Bluebird
I hate selling bikes and parts
Would like to keep them all. I have sold everyone of these parts pictured in the last year except one fork.
. Since the fall I have sold well over 20 complete bikes from my collection.
Some were projects that have been setting too long. For the most part I have been just downsizing a bit.
I will share with you some of the bikes I have sold recently and a few things about them. Also I want to talk about honesty in selling bikes.
This bike was a Monark basket case that I bought a few years back from a fellow that was an auto-bodyman. I bought two bikes from him that he completely tore apart and never finished.
Hated to part with this one. Straight as could be. It was missing the saddle but unbelievably still had the colored plastic lens for the train light. I told the person I sold it to it had wrong crank installed.Sometimes when folks are trying to beat you up on the asking price it's tempting not to tell them those small details........... Selling and asking price was either ??? or ??? It was sold at the end of the swap to a fellow that tried to get me to lower the price all morning. Him working on me got kinda tiring.....
Hope he got it back on the road as he told me he would....
This Manton and Smith I took a real beating on. Selling price was $100 as I was rolling up to go home[best time to buy bikes at a swap] It had a locking fork [ no key] and no other faults whatsoever. I switched out the saddle before selling it. Buyer got a real deal.
This J.C. Higgins I bought from a fellow collector who very much regrets selling it ., especially so cheaply. I am selling it back to him for what I paid him for it. He is one happy fellow.
This X53 just sold. Had to locate some missing parts...the light is always a big one for this bike. Took this photo the day I got the missing light in the mail. Couldn't wait to see what it looked like with it back on. That's the fun part of this hobby. Locating all those little hard to find items.
. Really would have liked to keep this one.....so little time..... This Murray went last night......love that rack....
This gold Higgins [above] sold too. This bike's tank and light were really clean...but the hard to find taillight / turn signal /brake light was badly rusted out.???? After owning this bike many years it only dawned on me last night as to why.???? the fellow I bought this bike from had two of these exact bikes...... I think he switched the light out with a rusted one from his other bike before I bought this one.....never telling me mine was all rusty .
I sold this Jet Flow....
Years ago , when I bought it I could not take it with me that day. When I purchased the bike the tank was off for inspection and the inside was 100% rust-free and perfect . Later when I picked up the bike at his house the seller had re- installed the tank.Nice Guy ....It wasn't until sometime later after removing the tank I discovered he had switched tanks. The tank that is on the bike now is ok. but it is not the same perfect one, that looked like it never had batteries in it that I originally seen on day of purchase. The seller had cleverly switched tanks.
The Columbia below I bought from a fellow Caber for a $100. A super deal.... I just sold it to another Caber for a $100. Less the headlight and pedals.... with a locking springer and handbrake, it's still a super deal. I would like to thank fellow Caber "Gasbag" for selling me this bike that I have passed along.
Below are three bikes I just sold to a fellow Caber. The Excelsior[shown on left] was bought by me from the estate of the owner and was in pieces scattered about his basement and crawl space. The saddle is obviously incorrect but I believe the bike is right. The rack came out of that basement and seemed to me a good fit at the time.
The Monak/ Elgin [on right] I bought from a deceased member of our club years ago who said it was all original to the best of his knowledge .he was an old timer that really knew his bikes. Only the bars and light have been changed by me. Some debate currently about this bike here on the Cabe.
The 49 higgins [ far right ] came to me with a bent truss-rod type fork that I switched out for a springer. [good example of how bikes get other than original parts] When I decided to sell the bike I re- installed and straightened out the original fork rather to sell a counter-fit. The red Monark / Elgin behind it is also gone.
This Shelby below also is finding a new home. It's going back to it's hometown of Shelby Ohio !
That my friends is the world of bike collecting! Sometimes things don't go the way we would like them but all in all life is like that. This hobby has lots of characters and I have no complaints. It is what it is and it is lots of fun!! Keep enjoying your bikes as they are sold and re-sold , parted and then put back together. That's the way this hobby is. Enjoy! All these bikes went this last year....
Would like to keep them all. I have sold everyone of these parts pictured in the last year except one fork.
Some were projects that have been setting too long. For the most part I have been just downsizing a bit.
I will share with you some of the bikes I have sold recently and a few things about them. Also I want to talk about honesty in selling bikes.
This bike was a Monark basket case that I bought a few years back from a fellow that was an auto-bodyman. I bought two bikes from him that he completely tore apart and never finished.
Hated to part with this one. Straight as could be. It was missing the saddle but unbelievably still had the colored plastic lens for the train light. I told the person I sold it to it had wrong crank installed.Sometimes when folks are trying to beat you up on the asking price it's tempting not to tell them those small details........... Selling and asking price was either ??? or ??? It was sold at the end of the swap to a fellow that tried to get me to lower the price all morning. Him working on me got kinda tiring.....
Hope he got it back on the road as he told me he would....
This Manton and Smith I took a real beating on.
Selling price was $100 as I was rolling up to go home[best time to buy bikes at a swap] It had a locking fork [ no key] and no other faults whatsoever. I switched out the saddle before selling it. Buyer got a real deal.This J.C. Higgins I bought from a fellow collector who very much regrets selling it ., especially so cheaply. I am selling it back to him for what I paid him for it. He is one happy fellow.
This X53 just sold. Had to locate some missing parts...the light is always a big one for this bike. Took this photo the day I got the missing light in the mail. Couldn't wait to see what it looked like with it back on. That's the fun part of this hobby. Locating all those little hard to find items.
This Murray went last night......love that rack....This gold Higgins [above] sold too. This bike's tank and light were really clean...but the hard to find taillight / turn signal /brake light was badly rusted out.???? After owning this bike many years it only dawned on me last night as to why.???? the fellow I bought this bike from had two of these exact bikes...... I think he switched the light out with a rusted one from his other bike before I bought this one.....never telling me mine was all rusty .
I sold this Jet Flow....
....It wasn't until sometime later after removing the tank I discovered he had switched tanks. The tank that is on the bike now is ok. but it is not the same perfect one, that looked like it never had batteries in it that I originally seen on day of purchase. The seller had cleverly switched tanks. The Columbia below I bought from a fellow Caber for a $100. A super deal.... I just sold it to another Caber for a $100. Less the headlight and pedals.... with a locking springer and handbrake, it's still a super deal. I would like to thank fellow Caber "Gasbag" for selling me this bike that I have passed along.
Below are three bikes I just sold to a fellow Caber. The Excelsior[shown on left] was bought by me from the estate of the owner and was in pieces scattered about his basement and crawl space. The saddle is obviously incorrect but I believe the bike is right. The rack came out of that basement and seemed to me a good fit at the time.
The Monak/ Elgin [on right] I bought from a deceased member of our club years ago who said it was all original to the best of his knowledge .he was an old timer that really knew his bikes. Only the bars and light have been changed by me. Some debate currently about this bike here on the Cabe.
The 49 higgins [ far right ] came to me with a bent truss-rod type fork that I switched out for a springer. [good example of how bikes get other than original parts] When I decided to sell the bike I re- installed and straightened out the original fork rather to sell a counter-fit. The red Monark / Elgin behind it is also gone.
This Shelby below also is finding a new home. It's going back to it's hometown of Shelby Ohio !
That my friends is the world of bike collecting! Sometimes things don't go the way we would like them but all in all life is like that. This hobby has lots of characters and I have no complaints. It is what it is and it is lots of fun!!
Keep enjoying your bikes as they are sold and re-sold , parted and then put back together. That's the way this hobby is. Enjoy! All these bikes went this last year....
Last edited:
