The internet is a powerful thing

The internet is a powerful thing. Ten or better years ago I would of called you a dumb ass if you told me I would be selling bikes off the internet. But now I can’t get Josh to list the stuff fast enough. And its funny how Instagram, Facebook seem to be the place to buy and sell now-a-days. Josh keeps trying to grow our social media present so he is always taking pictures of the bikes we buy. He took a pic of the 67 FLH and my phone blow up! People were calling like crazy! I was excited, I thought man we really got something here. As many of you know that read the article, I love hot rods almost as much as bikes. A man named Jason called me with a trade that really got me thinking. It was a 1930 Model pickup, it was all chopped and sat low; it had a Ford Flat Head V-8 Motor, 3 speed manual Trans and a factory Model A rear end. It had the Factory wide 5 wheels all the way around. It was a hell of a machine. Jason came down to my shop to check out the bike. It was a ruff bike but perfect for a chopper project, which is why he wanted it. The only problem he had was that he had just bought the car for 12,000 Bucks!! And I was only asking $6500.00 for the bike. The math wasn’t there for him but it looked good to me. I never try and screw anyone. I want everyone to walk away from the table happy. Jason had told me that he wanted the bike to build a chopper, and he wanted me to throw in my Fab Kevin hard tail frame in on the deal. I wanted to the car bad but that was a gift to me and I wasn’t going to trade a gift off; that would just bug me. But I said “hey I got another frame, I could try and see if I can get Kevin to build me another one.” I got one the phone and Kevin being Kevin said “no problem Boomer Just bring it out and I’ll get right on it.” He such an awesome friend and an amazing fabricator, Jason was stoked! Only one problem I had not seen the car in person yet. I told Jason that Josh and I would bring the bike out to him with my car trailer, that way I could see the car before me traded. So one morning we loaded up the bike and hit the road, the sun was just coming up when Josh and I hit my favorite truck stop on M15. It’s a little gas station that sells all kinds of homemade sandwiches and fresh cheeses. When we walked out the sun hit the field and the American Flag was blowing in the wind just right josh had to snap a pic. It was about another 1 hour from there until we pulled down this dirt road. I was following my GPS (which I don’t really trust them, what happen to a paper map??) it turned us down a small dirt road that was king of hilly, a sign stood by the road saying “Sunny Hills Subdivision” only there was no houses anywhere. The sign was old and kind of run down. This was starting to look like a bad horror movie but as we got to the last hill we could see one house to the right off into the woods. It had two garages, one connected to the house and the other was on the other side of the drive way. After sitting in the car for a min trying to figure out if we were at the right place Jason came out and waved us into the detached garage. The garage was nice and warm it had a super cool bar right by the front door that was all made of reclaimed wood. There was a panhead on the lift, pictures of bikes everywhere all over the walls; there was even a copy of the Horse mag hanging up!! Jason had owed a few bikes over the years included a Detroit Bro’s chopper! He had bought the panhead in a box to start making a chopper out of it. The tank had just come back from paint and I got to say was a cool chop! I was digging it but it was not the reason I was there. Jason started to tell me about the chopped Model A saying that he was on Ebay one night and thought “man that looks fun”. A few days later the car was in his drive way. But after getting it he wanted to build another bike so it was time for the car to go. I can understand that Hot rods are fun but nothing feels freer than being on two wheels. I asked Jason what was up with the sign by the road, he laughed and said that he used to live down in Detroit but just wanted to get a way, so he found this house that a builder built as a spec home for the sub; as time when on (and Jason got some extra cash) he would buy the other lots that lead out to the road until he owned all the land to the road. He left the sign up at the found because he thought it looked cool and it would throw people off. Jason stated the car for me and drove it up on to my trailer. I was very happy with the deal it was a really steel hot rod. I had it parked in Joshes garage for two days, I was talking with a friend about the bike deal and the car, and well he had to have it. He came right over to Joshes house with a trailer. I never even got to drive the damn thing but hell easy come easy go.

The Search

I look at a ton of bikes in the search of cool old Harleys, but not every bike I look at is a 10. Like a bad night out at the bar, you see some bikes that you would cut your arm off to get away from, you don’t want wake it up, you just want to get out of there. So how bad can a 10 second drag bike look? I got a call from Uncle Joe, I grab josh one morning and headed north. Uncle Joe lived way out in the country about an hour from us. As I was looking for the house Josh look up and said “Man that looks like a old bikers house!” the house was a bit run down and there was trash all over. A 73 Chevy pickup truck was in the drive way, and a falling down fence was next to the garage. Low and behold that was the house I was looking for. I sent Josh to the door; I was already not really impressed; nothing seem to jump out at me. The truck was hit on the front end and the yard was a mess. Josh knocked on the door and…no answer. I yelled from the car knock again! Well that second time did the trick, Uncle Joe slowly opened the door with no shirt on, and Josh said no pants either. Josh explained why we were here and Joe just said “I’ll see ya in the garage” shutting the door behind him. Now it was at this point josh was getting a bit frustrated, but I just kept telling him “hey it’s a 10 second drag bike.” Joe Opened the garage door and started to roll bikes out of his garage. The first was a custom Goldwing that didn’t look bad at all, the next bike was the drag bike. I had walked back to my car so I didn’t see the bike until it was out in the day light. Truth be told I don’t think seeing it in the dark would of helped any. The bike had a car wheel on the back, a frame that look as if any metal that was laying around Joes house was used to make the bike. The front end was a Honda 450 front end, according to Joe. It had a huge dresser seat mount to a spring system and another solo seat mounted on the rear fender. The air filter was squished down, so I asked Joe “was the bike laid over?” Uncle Joe looked at me and said “no it’s so my leg will fit.’ Everything Joe had told me on the phone was hard to see, “it’s a 10 second bike” and “it does wheels from there to here.” Well where is there to here? Needless to say I passed on this one but if anyone out there is looking for a 10 second drag bike, I can send you out to Uncle Joes house, and all it will cost you is $4000.00. Joe was nice a guys a little out there but hey I think we are all a little out there to love riding something that can kill us in a min. But the wind in my hair and the sun on my back will always give me a sense of freedom that I just can’t live without. Even though that didn’t work out I had a guy bring me down a shovelhead from Clair Mi. He had taken apart a shovelhead to build a chopper, but he fell on hard time. Adam had read about me in the mag, how I am always buying shovelheads! I was happy to help. Adam gave me a great deal on the parts, and I think I made a new friend. Not every bike I look at is a ten but most of the time I do ok but that’s the name of the game, if it was easy everyone would do it.