How I got started down the road on collecting old bikes.

[squeedals]

Thought I would post some history on how I got hooked on old bikes......fairly new at the hobby, but totally immersed. Up in the barn were two old bikes that had been there for at least the 10 years I've lived here. I didn't pay much attention to them until last June when the wife and I decided to have a yard sale. I brought them down from the loft and one, a 1967 Schwinn Panther, was is remarkable condition. The other was a 1941 Wards Hawthorne, complete but very rough. I restored the Hawthorn and rode the Panther to work all summer.......and the Wards... when I got it done. At that point, I had so much fun riding and restoring, I decided to look on eBay at old bikes.......well that was mistake. I now own six and I am just about done restoring a 1956 JC Higgins Jet Flow! The Western Flyer I just bought (see pics on a earlier post here) is original and in great condition and will leave it alone, as I do when they are in good shape. This hobby is very addictive to say the least and I consider these old bikes, works of art and I think anyone here would agree. This site is great as the information and collective knowledge is priceless. It's too bad the summer is almost over as I love riding them to work and my crew can't wait to see my latest acquisition. I even got one of the guys looking at bikes from his childhood era......so the addiction is apparently contagious!!

I'm not sure why I love these old bikes.......but I've collected old cars for 40 years and sold my last one last year, a beautiful 1946 Ford Super Deluxe....and the garage is empty of old cars........but I have to say......these old bikes fill the spot quite nicely and take up a whole lot less room!

Don

 

[Elgin Baylor]

I hear ya brother, I'm strung out too.

 

[Larmo63]

Welcome to Bicycle Addicts Anonymous....

Let's all welcome Don to our meeting, (collective) Hiiii Donnnn..... "I'm Don and I'm a bike addict"

 

[Wayne Adam]

Hey Don...Sounds like my story..

Hi Don,

I had to respond to your post. I have always been a fan and part time collector of old bikes,
but I, just like you have been restoring and collecting vintage cars for 40 years, I'll bet you are about 57 years old like me.
Anyway, one day a couple of years ago, I just got totally burned out with the whole car resto & collecting. I sold everything except my 25Th anniversary Corvette.
My wife actually loves that car. Anyway, after restoring cars forn 40 years, restoring bikes is a piece of cake. I now have 25 bikes. Some original very nice, some restored,
and several waiting their turn. It is so less stressful and way more relaxing to completely restore a bike as opposed to a car.

So... Welcome to the club!...It is the safest addiction on the planet !..........Wayne

 

[squeedals]

Hi Wayne, I'm 59......and I am where you are in life on the ease of restoring old bikes. I can take one apart, strip one down, repaint and put back together in the time it used to take to do one fender on a car........

The wife calls me a "bike horder" ..........and I guess I am.

 

[spook1s]

Remember when you said they take up less room than a car? Wait til you have 30 or 40 of them you have to deal with!!

 

[squeedals]

Well...........I have a huge 4 bay garage......so 30 or 40 will only take up maybe a third of the space......so this could get out of hand real easy like

 

[slick]

Yes they are VERY addicting! I started out with a 50's Monark rocket sportser, moved up to a 1948 schwinn B-6 which I thought was the ultimate bike at the time, and now I have 2 shelby airflows and a Hiawatha arrow along with another 30+ bikes all stuffed into an extra bedroom in my house fully carpeted and climate controlled. Ya, my bikes are living the good life but they all do get ridden though.

 

[squeedals]

Man.......keeping the bikes in the house would go over like a turd in a punch bowl with the wife......I'll keep em in th garage.

 

[lobsterboyx]

"Im danny - i have a serious problem"

i used to ride mountain bikes when i was younger, i loved the feeling, exploration and fun that it gave me, when i was 17 i shattered my right forearm in to many, many pieces and had to have some massive reconstruction. it took awhile for me to get back on the bike, but when i did, i no longer wanted to ride off road, i thought that cruising would be the next best thing. my interest in history, classic cars and anything old brought me to have a few classic cars, so the bicycles were the next best thing. they dont take up a ton of room, they are cheaper than cars and they can be just as deluxe. my girlfriend and i still love the fun and exploration and between us we have around 24 bikes - the newest being from 1960, and the oldest is from 1897.

lately ive been thinking about thinning the herd, but we'll see. - theres always deals around the corner.