softails and leather wallets

By the time you read this issue, spring will be here and it’s time to get back to buying and selling! Maybe even do a make-over. I love EVO’s as I’ve said before. I never pass at a chance to buy one, if you read the article (which I hope you do!!) then you know. I love buying old hot rods almost as much as I love buying old bikes (I got a 40 chevy with a big block we are doing right now, if you guys want to see it let me know and I’ll see if I can’t get a picture in the mag). One day a guy that I had bought some cars from in the past called me. He had a guy that was selling two Evo Softails. As much as I tired he wouldn’t give me the guys number. I believe he was trying to make a deal though me so that he could make a little money too ( in case you’re wondering, I do pay finder’s fees or trade for parts, I’m all about everyone making a little.) So being that I couldn’t get the guys name or number, with the bikes for sale; I said what I would pay and went on with my day. The next day I get a call from another guy, he was a painter out of Lapeer MI, he asked “are you the guy that buys bikes”?? I said “yeah if they are a good deal”. Sadly he had sold one of them but was ready to sell the other one. We haggled a little, arm wrestled, than a price was reached so I had him bring it up to the shop. When this cat arrived at the shop I finally got to take a look at the bike. What it was, was a 1995 Heritage Softail. The bike has some cool parts on it but most of it was ugly to say the least. I’m sure it looked like someone’s dream bike, but not mine. Our Internet guru, Shovelhead Joe, has been helping Josh and I around the shop, when he got the shop that after noon. Joe started to bounce ideas off me about what to do with the bike. Joe convinced me to let him take it home and play with it (persuasive little son of gun!!). Problem here is, Joe does my Ebay store; so he has been allowed into my secret layer and knows everything I have! Joe wasted no time striping down the bike taking the saddlebags off, along with the sissy bar, stock exhaust, turn signals and few other parts. With the bike striped down Joe and I made a plan. I had bought some softail parts a few weeks earlier. One of the parts was a brand new set of Hooker Headers Long Shots exhaust. Josh had tried to sell them on line a few times with no luck, now I knew right where they needed to go. Joe ordered a new lowering kit for the front and the back (of course though the shop). Most of the time at the shop we put apes on our projects, I don’t know why; I just think they look cool. But this time I thought beach bars would fit much better. The whole bike as taking on the co-low look, and I was loving it! Joe had his buddy lace up a 21 front wheel, and my buddy Jeff Hill (of Hills Hot Rods) laid some paint on a FL front fender, that finished up the Softail. The Softail was looking great; I was ready to get it online for sale. Josh took the bike and shot it. He really did a good job because my phone was ring later that night. A guy named Chris called me right away; he worked for the county and had just gotten out the air force the year before. I talked to Chris for quite a while. He told me how he was a single father taking care of his daughter, he didn’t have much money right now but was waiting to get his taxes in. When I was talking with him I got a sense of Chris and I got a good vibe. I told Chris to come get his bike when he could. Chris stayed true to his word and came in to see me two weeks later, with the cash, and I couldn’t have been happier. The bike looked awesome and ran great and it couldn’t have gone to a better person. One fun thing about writing this article is getting to talk to people that read it. My-self nor Josh is a writer and we don’t pretend to be. But every time we get a phone or an email, I get excited; not because I feel like a “star” or something like that. But because I like hear people read what we write. We never really get any feedback so it’s nice to know some people like it. One guy that called us made leather wallets. He said his name was Billy and he was Fogman Leather! He made Josh and I some Killer Wallets and I got a cool koozie for some cold soda pops! Billy really hooked us up and we love them man!!!! Killer work!!!