OC_Rolling_Art
Riding my double-diamond C-Model. Yes, I said it.
This can be about vintage bicycles, cars, furniture, anything collectible or historically significant really.
This is my confession. I'll go first...
In an effort to cleanse my soul, I come to you with palms facing up, expressionless and with great humility - for I have regretted a decision I made as a young, naive enthusiast ever since I figured out what I had done. The very first "show quality" balloon tire bike I built was a wanna-be postwar Schwinn "Panther/Autocycle". I cobbled parts together and built this Panther-Stein using a postwar straightbar frame, painted S2s wheels I laced with the biggest spokes you have ever seen on ND rear and Schwinn front hubs, locking springer, Sweetheart setup, and a Phantom front fender for good measure. Since it was to be a show bike, my first batch of parts went to a plater (long defunct Saturn Plating) in Long Beach for some triple chrome. It was 1981 and I was 17 years old.
The centerpiece of the bike was a beautiful prewar smooth tank I purchased from Larry of Recycled Cycles in Newport Beach. It was a glossy NOS tank in a deep robin's egg blue with a teardrop shaped cream pinstripe on both sides (in the shape of a two-tone Mead Ranger tank). Not a single scratch on it anywhere. The price was $37.50, about $5.00 more than other tanks he had for sale. I eagerly took it home. Did I say NOS?
I had been inspired by uber polished and painted machines put out by the Pedal Pusher, painted by the likes of John Weider. I was hooked on the look. I thought I was doing the right thing, making the proper next step. I had saved my money and spent about $140 on parts and maybe another $85 in plating and thought I was the shiiiite as I was putting it together later.
The main problem I had at the time (besides not being a post-war embossed tank or trying to build an actual Schwinn model) was that the pleasing blue color of the tank did not fit with the black and cream paint job I was planning, so it went in the box of parts I dropped off at the plater!
Oh the horror!!! $%&!?+% !!!
When I matured a bit I began to actually burn calories thinking about the horrific mistake I had made, which has lasted to the present day. I have long since learned to appreciate original paint anything, even a trash can, and learned my own lesson the hard way. I have often thought about the tank in all of it's glory, images only in my mind, now fleeting. I am guessing that today if kept under wrap all these years it would be the single finest tank in that color scheme on the planet. Oh well. I rode it proudly for many years, and did show the bike on several occasions in the '80's, and brought home two trophies with it.
There, I said it. What is your biggest regret? What piece of history did you erase or utterly destroy? Accidentally? On purpose? What rare bike part did you sell without knowing what it was first? I am all ears because I can't be the only one!
What is the skeleton in your closet?
This is my confession. I'll go first...
In an effort to cleanse my soul, I come to you with palms facing up, expressionless and with great humility - for I have regretted a decision I made as a young, naive enthusiast ever since I figured out what I had done. The very first "show quality" balloon tire bike I built was a wanna-be postwar Schwinn "Panther/Autocycle". I cobbled parts together and built this Panther-Stein using a postwar straightbar frame, painted S2s wheels I laced with the biggest spokes you have ever seen on ND rear and Schwinn front hubs, locking springer, Sweetheart setup, and a Phantom front fender for good measure. Since it was to be a show bike, my first batch of parts went to a plater (long defunct Saturn Plating) in Long Beach for some triple chrome. It was 1981 and I was 17 years old.
The centerpiece of the bike was a beautiful prewar smooth tank I purchased from Larry of Recycled Cycles in Newport Beach. It was a glossy NOS tank in a deep robin's egg blue with a teardrop shaped cream pinstripe on both sides (in the shape of a two-tone Mead Ranger tank). Not a single scratch on it anywhere. The price was $37.50, about $5.00 more than other tanks he had for sale. I eagerly took it home. Did I say NOS?
I had been inspired by uber polished and painted machines put out by the Pedal Pusher, painted by the likes of John Weider. I was hooked on the look. I thought I was doing the right thing, making the proper next step. I had saved my money and spent about $140 on parts and maybe another $85 in plating and thought I was the shiiiite as I was putting it together later.
The main problem I had at the time (besides not being a post-war embossed tank or trying to build an actual Schwinn model) was that the pleasing blue color of the tank did not fit with the black and cream paint job I was planning, so it went in the box of parts I dropped off at the plater!
Oh the horror!!! $%&!?+% !!!
When I matured a bit I began to actually burn calories thinking about the horrific mistake I had made, which has lasted to the present day. I have long since learned to appreciate original paint anything, even a trash can, and learned my own lesson the hard way. I have often thought about the tank in all of it's glory, images only in my mind, now fleeting. I am guessing that today if kept under wrap all these years it would be the single finest tank in that color scheme on the planet. Oh well. I rode it proudly for many years, and did show the bike on several occasions in the '80's, and brought home two trophies with it.
There, I said it. What is your biggest regret? What piece of history did you erase or utterly destroy? Accidentally? On purpose? What rare bike part did you sell without knowing what it was first? I am all ears because I can't be the only one!
What is the skeleton in your closet?
this is a cardinal sin , let me call the pope and put in a good word for you 
