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I was working a Boy Scout brat fry last summer and one of my "old guy" friends pulls up. He says "I have a JC Higgins Header bike, come by later" so, I did. He says "Fix it for me, I'll pay accordingly" so, I walked it home and proceeded to tear it apart. I cleaned it up with "new tires" and some polish (grease too). I brought it back and he said "Great. You can have it." I was speechless. It sat around until I started throwing stuff on it (two-speed, lights,bag,siren...) and here it sits.
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i was doing my daily scroll through craigslist and i see a mid to late 20's indian, no price but that didnt matter. i try to reply to the ad but there is no contact information, personal or through craigslist. i end up posting a wanted ad in the bike section looking for the person selling the indian. kept my fingers crossed and waited weeks checking my email daily hoping for a response. i ended up giving up and pretty much forgetting about it. a few months later i get an email from the guy and he still had the bike. he said he was on craigslist looking for a road bike for himself and saw my want ad. i ended meeting him and buying the bike. its funny because he couldnt understand why no one emailed him about the bike.
 
i was doing my daily scroll through craigslist and i see a mid to late 20's indian, no price but that didnt matter. i try to reply to the ad but there is no contact information, personal or through craigslist. i end up posting a wanted ad in the bike section looking for the person selling the indian. kept my fingers crossed and waited weeks checking my email daily hoping for a response. i ended up giving up and pretty much forgetting about it. a few months later i get an email from the guy and he still had the bike. he said he was on craigslist looking for a road bike for himself and saw my want ad. i ended meeting him and buying the bike. its funny because he couldnt understand why no one emailed him about the bike.
It was meant to be...------Cowboy
 
Okay, You guys are letting this Post cool down. Here`s a story of mine...and then maybe another if I have time.
This happened just last week- but was a continued story from almost 30 years ago.
I`ve been listing some stuff for sale on the Cabe- some also on Zebay . I store my bikes at the farm where I was raised about a 100 miles from where I live now.
One bike that I had on my list to bring back was an Iver Johnson Truss Bike that I bought from an old black man 27-28 years ago. I hung it in the barn and have never touched it since. The original tip on the bike came to me from a good friend who also collected bikes. He was a great guy, Wilber Tindle. He had just found and restored (in his own way) a Nice and complete Mercury Pacemaker- World`s Fair Bike that he found in a neighboring town, and I had gone to see it and visit with him and his wife. All of the sudden, his voice got quiet, almost in a whisper he said," for years I`ve heard a story about an old black man in Goldsboro who rides an OLD Iver Johnson around town." He said, "You`re closer- try to find it." That was the end of the clue and his voice went back to regular tone. This was his "Ghost bike"- the Bike Story you`ve heard forever but cannot find.
Now, it sounds amazing,(but I was good at this) and on my very next trip to Goldsboro, maybe a month later- I spotted an old black man coming out of the Post Office. He was riding an old bike- I wish now that I had paid more attention to that one, too. It was a 40s bike. I struck up a conversation with him about old bikes and finally he said that he was the one that had the Iver Johnson. I asked him if he`d let me look at it. He was hesitant but agreed. I took him home, putting his bike in back of my pickup. He was a quiet little man, over 70 I`d say and did not seem to understand the interest that I had in old bicycles. He lived in a very run down section of town, his house was several rooms, but I only went into the back of the house. I told him that my friend had told me of his bike. "Well, Here it is..." And it was, was painted in Black House Paint--- an Iver Johnson Truss Bike with Fenders, Badge, Rat Trap rack on the back--His Old Rider! I was excited! I had found Wilber`s Ghost Bike, with very little trouble. Now this is the part that gets hazey in my memory. I bought the Bike- paid $250 for it and hung it in the barn for almost 30 years. When I went out there last week and pulled it out to sell- I remembered it as a nice bike that would need some cleanup. Well, imagine my surprise when at last it reached the daylight. The Frame had been broken (center of the downtube) and brazed back together, with additional brazing where the Truss Bridge meets the seat post. Other parts had been replaced through the years.
It threw me for a minute... I had paid a fair price for this bike so many years ago. I got a little worried then that I was getting "that old timer`s disease".
I finally decided that I must have wanted to help that Nice Old Gentleman, and even though his bike was rough- it was "The Ghost Bike"- and I had found it.
But I can`t believe that I forgot about it. I don`t think that I ever mentioned finding it to my friend Wilber. I`m sure the money helped that Old Man out.
And I`m content with what I paid. Many times our purchases have helped the people who owned those things. I`m not looking for a cookie for what I did, but it is a good memory------------Cowboy
 
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Another Story, even farther back... maybe 35 years ago. Ha, ha, ha... Yes, and I can tell you about the Civil War , too.
I first started messing with old cars and parts- and would travel around to different towns and hit the old Junk Yards, metal salvage companies, etc.
I went by this place on several occasions but finally decided to stop and ask if they`d let me look around. I had a small bike collection too at the time, maybe 8-10 bikes, all rough as found. Had a Phantom Rider- miss that Bike...
I parked out in front - the guys house was in front of the junk yard. I went around to the back of the house. A gruff little man burst out of the back door, and said my car was parked in the wrong place. He was maybe 70, but was a tough, muscular little guy- and was tan like old weathered leather- his chest poked out like Popeye. He asked me what I wanted. I told him that I liked old bikes, and car parts and pedal cars- and asked him if I could look around. He calmed right down- and said yes, he had some old bikes around. So, first I moved my car, then went exploring. His yard was maybe 12-15 acres. I probably was there a couple of hours. I found a nice little Champion Pedal Car (missing a wheel) and a Boy`s Columbia Goodyear Highway Patrol Bike (no tank or rack- but had the knee action and nice paint on the frame). I took those things back up to the house. He said $10 on the little car, and $5 on the bicycle. I paid him and thanked him and started to leave. He said, "there`s another Old Bicycle over there" and pointed behind me . I looked but didn`t see an old Bike.
I looked and saw only a large pile of glass windows with aluminum frames leaning up against some pine trees. I looked at him with questioning eyes. He said " It`s behind those windows- under them..." So, I carefully started stacking those safely over to one side. For the longest time, I still couldn`t see it. Finally, it appeared.
I had never seen anything like this bike in person-- I remember my exact words when I finally stood it up, "Damn , The BATBIKE !!!" It was rough and missing pieces, but it was a "35-36 BLUEBIRD". I think I had seen that original ad from the Sears Catalog- so I knew what it was. It still had the Elgin Tag on the front. But keep in mind that there was no Internet- No books on Bikes that I had found at that time. I just liked Old Bikes- didn`t realize that people paid big money for them. Well the Old Guy sold me that bike for $5 , too. But I didn`t really know what I had. Old Bluebird was rough, tank was almost broken in two in front of the seat, had wrong seat, missing rear fender and rack and cover for the battery box. Cleaned up, it was a pretty blue gray color. I kept it for a couple or more years, knew by then that it had some value- but what about condition?
I met a guy in Charlotte at the Auto Fair who traveled down to look at it. He talked the bike down bad... and we finally got together at $300. I later found out that he resold it the same week for $1500, to one of the BIG BICYCLE BOYS up North. Who cares? He bought the bike that day- but he didn`t buy the memory... So, I have owned a Bluebird. And Yes, I got slickered- I`ll tell you the truth every time. God, it was fun finding that though!----Cowboy
It was the first old bicycle that I ever sold...
 
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Another Story- Somebody Else Post one- Once the Bike is gone- the story is the Treasure you keep... and it can be and should be shared. Nobody knows these Stories...
Twenty years ago, had to deliver a piece of furniture with the company van, way out --fifty mile delivery. There was a little Junk Yard that I knew of only a couple of miles further down the road- but it would be lucky if the guy was there. I finished my delivery and decided to check it out- as it was so close. I had bought old bikes from this guy before and when he found something, he would save it for me. Well, luckily - He was there! He was a tough Old Bird, "Mr. White" and tough with his prices sometimes. I asked him if he`d found me anything. He told me to follow him. In one of his sheds, laying in the middle of the floor was a Twin Bar Elgin 20 - no wheels, painted black. I was interested, but already had two at the time. How Much? He gave me a price that was just a hair higher than what I thought it was worth to me- I knew what I had in my pocket. He was like the guy at the fair who can guess your weight- he knew what I had in my pocket too. So, I said, let me think about it and asked him if I could look around. He said okay. I got back on the back of his little acre lot and there was a frame with a seat on it laying on top of the pile. I laid it over to the side. I said, 'How about this old frame?" "Five Bucks."----I said, " I`ll take them both." I was a happy little joker that day when I left his place. Later, I put wheels on the Elgin- and it made a nice bike. The Frame was for a Schwinn Excelsior Cantilever Deluxe Autocycle with Floating Saddle- no leather left. The seat was later sand blasted and brought $390 on Ebay. That was many years ago, came in good at the time. The frame I finally sold recently- it did well too. It`s like finding money laying on the ground... God Bless,---Cowboy
 
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