amca swap meet!

Well it’s the end of July so that means the Wauseon Swap meet is going on! It one of my favorite shows that I go to, it’s a working vacation for Josh and me. The week before was the normal; stuffing the trailer full of old parts and loading my 26ft trailer with bikes. One last thing to check is our hotel rooms, if you remember Josh and I would stay at bed and breakfast in the honeymoon suite. Josh call two days before the show only to find out the bed and breakfast had been sold and was now just a house. Now this is a big deal for me, I hate the heat and camping out side, I’m sorry I’ve gotten to a point in my life when I like ac when I sleep not to mention a shower. Lucky we found a hotel about 30 minutes away and scored the last room they had! So this year we thought it would be cool to take some bikes down to ride, Josh brought his EVO chop and I took my old shovel “Super Fake” along with 3 Harleys for sale and 4 old dirt bikes. A kid that works for my named Kyle begged me to go down and help, offering to work for free. Now I love free help as much as the next guy but Kyle’s nick name is half pint around the shop and that’s not because he drinks. Kyle’s got a lot of heart but he can get distracted very easily but his a young kid in his early 20’s. So being as I couldn’t fit 4 dirt bikes in my trailer, I let him drive a truck down and camp at the event ( I did offer to let him sleep at the hotel with us but he didn’t want to). We left early Thursday morning, we had a convoy driving down, there were 4 trucks loaded with motorcycles and parts for the swap meet, it was a smooth ride down and drove almost straight thought, only stopping at a great little breakfast joint on highway 20. The roads are smoother down in Ohio, Michigan roads can break your back riding down them. Highway 20 is a long country road that is just north of the fairgrounds where the swap is at. After eating and stopping for gas it was around noon when we got to the meet. Venders were already set up and selling. They looked as though they had been there a few days before us. It didn’t matter, we got the trailers where we wanted them and started to unpack. It takes all day to set the parts booth and the bike booth. Customers were digging thought boxes as Josh unloaded them. Sales were off to a good start. I had just sat down to have a beer when two guys walked past my bike booth, one looked over and said “hey look at that wide glide!” he asked the year and I told him 85. He looked the paint set over and said “these tanks are off a 86” I replied “yes but there are in good shape.” The man asked how much? I said “5500 takes it,” he looked at his friend and said “pay him”. I was stunned; I asked do you want to hear it run? He said “it just needs to run long enough to make it to my booth.” Josh came down and helped me get it running; the guy was on his phone taking; so I asked his buddy (who was paying me) who is this guy? He just laughed and said “he is a collector he has a nice 86 but needs a paint set, he’s only buying it for the paint”. Now I couldn’t believe it and was thinking man I was at the right place at the right time, it normally doesn’t go that easy! The rest of the day was quit at the bike booth, just a lot of friends stopping by, drinking a beer or two and sharing stories from the past year. That’s one of my favorite parts is just seeing old friends I only get to see at Wauseon. A lot of them come a lot further than we do, some as far away as California. Josh was at the parts booth he was selling parts left and right, making deals with guys; he was in his element. At the end of day we jumped on the bikes and headed for the hotel. It was getting dark and we hadn’t had dinner yet, but the ride there was made up for it, the roads were amazing, it was all farm land around us and the weather was perfect for riding. As we got to the hotel I seen Ron Finch pull in, turns out him and his daughter, Karen, were staying there too. Josh and I jumped in the Finch mobile and we all headed out looking for a place to eat. Country roads and farm land is cool but after dark there is nowhere to eat, we ended up back in Wauseon in a Wendy’s parking lot eating cheese burgers at midnight. The food sucked but it was a lot of laughs. The next day wasn’t much better as we sat down to have the complimentary breakfast we watch the rain start to come down. It was 10 miles riding down the smoothest wet roads, but hey we looked cool! The swap was in full swing when we arrived, Kyle was doing his best to sell parts, luckily terry was there to give him a hand. It rained off and on the rest of the day but that didn’t stop people from coming out. Bikes sale were slow that day but Josh was having a great day in the parts department. We left a little early that day to have a good dinner; it made for a good night. On the way in the next day Kyle called and had a guy wanted to buy all the dirt bikes, so I haggled with the guy on the phone and it paid for breakfast. It continued to rain most of the day, I had to get back home, Sunday morning we had a bike run leaving the shop. I was lying in my trailer, while Josh and Kyle loaded up what little parts we had left (Josh sold most everything), when I heard someone say “is this bike for sale?” I looked up to see a man and his wife in the back of my trailer. “I yelled back yeah it is” and the dickering began. Now the shovelhead ran great when we left the shop but Saturday morning, as I am showing the guy the starter clutch gear went out. After a while of kicking and trying the electric start, the bike finally came to life. The man took it but at a cheaper price than I wanted but hey what the hell it’s not like it ran perfect. I wanted it to be a perfect trip I.E. I sell all the bikes. Talking with this guy I found out he sells bikes over in Europe, I asked if a 1975 FLH would be of any use. The FL started and ran perfect and he had to have it. Only thing was I had to drive an hour south to deliver it to him. With Kyle and Josh following we drove all the way to Grand Rapids Ohio, a cool little town next to a river. It didn’t take long to get the bike unloaded and get paid. We stopped in a little bar and had burgers and beers before heading back home. It was a late night but it was fun and I think this was our best year in Wauseon. We sold a ton of parts and bikes. We headed for home with a pocket full of cash ready to buy the next score.