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Part Not Tested

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I get the opinions so far and in all honesty there are a couple of thoughts I had not considered. Being Polish I have a thick head and sometimes it takes some pushing to get something into it.
You have a good head on you shoulders... better than a lot of folks have on their forks.
 
In all my years in the hobby and bicycles I've acquired, I don't remember trying to get a horn or light to work... actually, all in my collection have batteries removed.
I have rewired several with period correct conduit and the particular electrical component being correct is important, working simply isn't.
If working is important to you as a potential buyer of something I am selling, expect to tinker with it because I haven't.
Chris
 
Face it. Anything electrical or mechanical can have a little problem or a big problem. Might just need a good cleaning. When buying used vintage or antique parts, better be prepared to do a once over, even if seller says "perfect condition", because it usually ain't. Just part of the nature of what we all love and collect !
 
After 45 years of being around antique motorcycles, classic cars etc. I understand there will be electrical problems. I also know on a large item such as those there could be gremlins you will never solve. I guess I feel bicycle horns and lights should be easy to see if they work or not. I know when I get one and sell it I try to jump ahead of the question "Does it work"? and give it a quick simple test. I agree, many times they don't but at least I can say I tried and I got nothing out of it or I did. Hope I didn't offend anyone here with my initial post, if I did it was not intentional and I apologize. We have a great bunch of people here, thanks.
 
Part of what drew me to this hobby was my dad collecting bikes when I was a kid, and my favorite ones were the ones with the horns/horn tanks. When I got into collecting, I wanted all my horns (and lights) to work.

Between upgrading my collection to better, more desirable bikes, and the fact that I take the batteries out for storage, and I don't ride them that much anyway, it just got to the point where it wasn't worth bothering with anymore. Now when I buy an accessory that runs off batteries, I'm more concerned if it's correct for my bike than if it works.

These old lights don't always have bulbs and even if they do, they might not be any good. I'm not going to search for a bulb so I can try it. I'm also not going to bother putting batteries in something to try it, just to take them back out again, or go buy batteries that I don't have on hand. Nor will I try to figure out how to make something work, that takes obsolete batteries (like a teacup light that runs off a battery can)

If I sell something as untested, it's because I honestly haven't tested it, and don't care to go through the hassle of doing so.
Some people, like me, don't care if its tested, untested, working or not working, we just want the part to complete a bike. Some of this stuff is hard to find in any condition. If you must have a part that's guaranteed to work, you're going to spend a lot more time searching for it.
 
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