Sam Elliot

Every wonder what kind of bike Sam Elliot would ride? As I do most Saturday mornings, I was searching the net for bikes for sale. The last few weeks I had seen this generator Shovel for sale. Now I normally would call about that right away, but this bike had been for sale for almost a year; something must be wrong with it right? Well me being me, I called on the bike anyways. A man answered the phone and later that night Josh and I loaded up in our hippy van and headed north to the bike. The ride was beautiful the sun was low on the Michigan country side, farmers fields lined the sides of the roads. When I got to the house, I knocked at the door and was stunned by who answered. Now it was wasn’t really Sam but walk, talk, look, and maybe even kick my ass like Sam Elliot, this guy did; he said his name was Scarecrow. He showed us the bike, a cool gen shovel motor in ridged frame, but it was built back in 90s so the tanks and rear fender were a little dated, but still a cool bike. We got to talking over the bike and I finally asked if I ran? Scarecrow pumped the gas, turned the key and gave it a kick. That chop fired to life, he jumped on her and was down the road jamming gears, the bike ran great. After dickering for a bit, I scored the old scoot for $3000.00. Scarecrow and his wife Sunshine were super nice people; we talked and laughed for quite awhile. The ride home was one of excitement, Josh had ideas running though his head of a chopper build using this bike has a base, the sun was just setting over the farm fields of Michigan and I could not have been happier with the bike. It’s always a great day when I can score a generator shovel. (It’s still for sale) Vern was an old customer of the mine, over the years he had been in and out buying hot rod parts for his shovels and twin cams over the years. Vern stopped in one day while he was out riding looking at parts, he asked me if I knew of a good mechanic for a panhead he had. I said no but I buy them, Vern said come on over. Once at his house, his pan was sitting on a lift and was the cleanest pan I had ever seen. I could see that Ron Finch had painted it at some point, the frame was re-worked by him too; it was goosed necked. The front fender had his round bar for mounts and so did the fork stops. This was a cool old chopper much like others we’ve had in the past. The bike was beautiful, but I couldn’t hear it run, I asked if Vern had any parts to go with it, he lead me out side to two sheds filled with old shovel and pan engine cases, stuff he had blown up drag racing over the years. Vern then took me above his garage and it was filled with old transmissions and different parts he had taken off bikes over the years. We made a deal on all the parts and bike for $9000.00. It took two trips to get everything, and the timing couldn’t have been better, the Wauseon swap was the next weekend, and I knew I could move most of the parts down there. With the van loaded down, a trailer and my truck and trailer, Josh and I hauled two truckloads along with two trailers full of parts and bikes to the Wauseon swap meet. The bike didn’t sell at the swap meet but sold a lot of parts and we learned a lot of new things about parts and things like always check and see if the fence is open before you climb to the top of it, only to fall over to the other side (Ryna). Once back home in Michigan, we dusted off the pan and put it in the shop, it sold right away for $8500.00. The parts and sale of the chop made the effort profitable and provided many people the opportunity to get their much needed parts. It even got the stuff out of Vern’s so he could pursue more current projects. Good news for everybody! As I’ve said so many times, “talk to people,” especially if you have the finances to purchase. Find out what they have, what they plan to do with their treasures and make them an offer to buy. Not every purchase is a homerun but if you have the time and a little patience you’ll find that it’s, not only fun but, can be can be profitable to “Turn and Burn”. If you ever want to sell some of your old parts, or bikes, give us a call at the shop we are always buying!!

the smoke out

The road to the “Smoke out” is a long and winding one, coming from Detroit Mi, sounds fun as hell doesn’t it? Well that’s what we thought at least. For weeks Josh and I had been working like crazy at the shop, and at my bar getting ready to leave. For as long as my wife and I have been married (12 years now), I had never taken 8 days off in a roll, that’s not something I did. Stay and work, that’s what I always say, you can relax when you’re dead! But I do love North Carolina, the mountains roads windee and long, not to mention the views. So we rode and like years past we started in the rain, which didn’t last too long, just all day off and on. As nice as Ohio is, it seem determined to claim an EVO. Josh’s 94 dyna was the first to start acting up when his coil came loses and started arcing on the frame. He just grabbed it and kept on riding into what looked like a tornado. We finally spotted a camp site on the side of the road and the people there had a nut and bolt, he was back on the road, but the bike would cut at 3000 RPM. So he limp’d it down the highway to Lima Ohio and found a hotel for the night. The next day we spent some a few hours at Lima Ohio Harley Davidson and I cannot say enough good things about them, not other did they open early for us; they had a ton of parts in stock for an EVO motor. What it turned out to be was a short in the harness, but while Josh was working on his bike I couldn’t help but poke around at the bikes. I found a 1991 FXR completely bone stock from 91’. Try as I might we just couldn’t make a deal on the scooter. On the road again and things seem to be going great, until my battery blow-up going down the road, along with my ignition, coil, head light, tail light and speed-o . No big deal, just stuck on the side of high-way and no way to move the bike. As luck would have it, a guy driving down the road with a trailer seen us and stopped to help out. He was cool enough to take us to a nearby bike shop, O.D.’s Cycle Shop. These guys were awesome, not only did they stay late to help diagnose the problem; they helped us install everything on the bike. The owner was a wiz, one of those guys that have been doing it forever. Without a blink of eye he had that new ignition in and timed. Josh asked him how do you the bikes all in time, he just looked at him and hit the starter button; the bike came straight to life. We jumped back on the highway, riding like the wind, and made some great time. Now that all the bikers were running great, there was nothing stopping us, we made it all the way to middle of Kentucky in only a few hours. While riding though North Carolina, on our way to the “Smoke Out” we stopped at Wheels Though Time where we met Dale Walksler of the hit TV show “What’s in the Barn” and owner of the Wheels Though Time museum. He was such as nice guy; I didn’t even make it in the door before he had me on a Panhead that raced at the “Jack pine run” in Lansing Michigan. Dale’s museum is amazing, and like me he loves old parts along with vintage motorcycles; it wasn’t long before Josh and I were digging though some old trailer, looking at parts and trying to strike a deal. Rockingham is a little over 4 hour ride from Maggie Valley, there’s really no straight shot and it’s a lot of highway riding. After getting lost and ending up in South Carolina, we eventually end up just outside of Charlotte before the rain came down…again. We spend about two hours under an over past hoping it would stop, but to no luck. So we rode, rode down the highway in the rain at about 40 MPH, just looking for a place to stop for the night and dry out. After another few hours of riding in the morning, we finally made it to the green leaf hotel. When we had pulled up I was a little un-easy as it looked like we had pulled in to a golf course, thoughts ran through my head that we may not get to have much fun and would have to stay in at night. After walking to the front door I was not disappointed, guys were still passed out from the night before, and beer cans filled the lobby. We through our stuff in the room and jumped back onto the bikes as quick as we got off them; we were Smoke Out bound. Motorcycles as far as I could see and the sounds of drag racing filled the air; The Smoke Out was in full swing. After watching the races for awhile we made our way over to Ron Harries of Chop Docs Chopper’s booth were we had some soda pops and looked at parts. After walking though the swap meet and checking out the wall of death, it was getting late. We made our way back to the hotel for more drinks and food. The night time was nothing short of a Biker “B” flick movie standing around the bikes enjoying the night, people ran through the hotel partying a talking motorcycles all night. As much as The Smoke Out is fun I think the best part is hanging with like minded people that enjoy motorcycle riding and building them, not for fame or to get on T.V. but to say “yeah I built that”. As morning came again I could see all the fun that had happened the night before, beer cans filled the yard, guys passed out in the lobby, toilet paper strong over bikes; it had been a good night for sure. The ride home, bikes of all kinds, filled the highways. The road was long and guiding us to where we would lay our head that night, as much as my head was hurting, I wasn’t ready to go home. We had been to so many places and met some of the coolest people, seen things that I have only every read about in books and magazines. How could I just go back?? But I was ready to get back to the shop and work on finding new bikes and vintage parts. That’s part of the life I love, building and riding is fun and cool but I love the hunt, bringing the old to the surface so it can be used again. I’ve made a good business out of it over the years, and it’s kept me going.

Sportsters SUCK!! Or that’s what most guys riding their fully dressed Bagger would say. Sure it wouldn’t be my first choice to jump on and ride out to California, but they are great bike to chop up, or beat the hell out of doing some city riding. The Sportster is a great power plant for anyone building a chopper, they are cheap and reliable, even I hate to admit it but, these bikes seem to run forever, they are inexpensive to modify and are pretty comfortable with very few changes to the factory geometry. Just last week we found this cool 1996 rigid Sporty project with a Harley springer front end; online. I called the guy right away. Matt had started building the bike some time back and just lost interest in it. He ended up bringing it down to the shop for $1200.00. Wasting no time, Josh put it on the lift and started taking the springer off and swapping it for a narrow glide we had lying around. While he was at it, I had him change the wheels. Matt had some 130/90-16 front and rear on it and just wouldn’t work with a narrow glide. He put a Fatboy wheel out back and an old Shovelhead 19” up front the bike was starting to take some shape. We found a pipe in the pile of parts that came with the Chop, and while it didn’t look like the coolest pipe in the world it did give the bike a look, good or bad, but added some personality to an otherwise common looking Sporty. We sold that old springer online for $1250.00 bucks and with a few other parts that came with it, we made just about $1500.00 just from the parts. So I was feeling pretty good on having a roller Sporty Chop hanging around the shop. While at the Sins of Steel Show I decided to do a burn out in my 68 Cadillac, not my best decision, the old girl didn’t hold up to it. The rear end gave out so I was in need of a car. My buddy Joe had a nice old 95’ Camaro that he wanted to get rid of. Now I’m not the biggest fan of that year Camaro but with a 383 stroker, built transmission and a tall rear end I thought this might be fun. So I traded Joe that sporty chop for the car and some cash. Now I have a nice 1995 Camaro for sale, only drive to church on Sundays and it gets great gas mileage, if anyone is looking. As many bikes as we find online or people bringing them to the shop, sometimes you find them when you’re not even looking, I got a call from a friend of mine named Corky last winter. Corky’s dad had passed a while ago. I knew his father for some time and had some really great times with him, I also knew how much he and his son, Corky, had worked on bikes together over the years. When Corky called, he was trying to help his mom out and was selling his dads old parts off. We made a deal on all the parts; I got Josh and my buddy Terry to come help me move all the stuff. While we digging though some cool old chopper parts, which included some Ron finch parts I hadn’t seen in years, I noticed some trailers out back. What I found in them was some of the coolest trikes I’ve ever seen all were old shovelheads but one was crazier than the rest it was called the Rickshaw. This crazy trike was a Panhead wishbone frame front half with some rake to it and a Servi-Car back half. The motor was Generator Shovelhead Motor, the trans was a 4 speed. It looked like something Finch would have made back in the days of old. Corky told us all how his dad built the bike in the garage and took it to a few shows around the area. We are still not sure what to do with this bike. I think it is one of those bikes that are ”biker lore”, the ones you hear stories about sitting at an ol’ bar, with a gray beard, hearing about days gone by. Like a lost David Mann painting.

Winter can get very tuff in the motorcycle business, no one ever thinks about their bike when there’s two feet of snow on the ground. But I hate to close because you never know when someone will come in and buy a motor or with a bike for sale. This day was no different, in fact we really didn’t haven’t have any customers in at all until “old 8-ball” walked in trying to sell me a Harley sign. I had remembered that 8-ball had a 59’ Pan Chopper he built back in 69’. Talking with 8-ball I found out he was trying to raise money for some medical bills. I told him I really didn’t want the sign but I’d really like to have that old panhead. Well 8-ball had to go home and think about it over night. When 8-ball called me the next day, I couldn’t get to his house fast enough. The pan was cooler then I remembered. The frame was molded with a Wassail gas tank, a long narrow springer, 19’ front wheel with mini drum. The frame was an original wishbone with the side car loops cut off. The whole thing had been molded back in the heyday of choppers. 8-ball was telling how he had the best chrome in the world done on his bike “Pontiac Motors Chroming”, and how he had made most of the parts on the bike; in the shop and would sneak them out at the end of the day. It reminded me of a Johnny Cash song “one piece at a time”. He had rebuilt the motor to factory specs and with all original Harley parts. It was one of the coolest stories I had ever heard. He went on to tell us how it used to have a King Queen seat on it, but when the wife left so did the seat. He told us how he had finished the bike in 71 on Daytona Beach FL, during Bike Week. It sounded like something from a David Mann painting. 8-ball went on talking and I just sat there savoring every word. Josh was in heaven hearing all the old biker stories; that kid lives for that sort of thing. He told us he was sad to sell the old chop but he couldn’t kick it anymore and it was, as he put it, “a young man’s bike”. This is about the point where I say what I paid for the bike, well old 8-ball asked me to keep that between us. A real biker to the end, he doesn’t like people know his business. We were so happy to have the bike at shop but bummed it was winter. I couldn’t wait to fire that old pan up. I had visions in my head, jamming down the road with my old lady, Sandy, on the back living the dream, but she has her own damn bike so that’ll never happen. The first thing we had to do was change that damn seat. Winter turned into summer and we just kept working. We ended up setting up at the Lowbrow Moto Swap in Ohio. What a great time, tons of cool old parts, and the guys at Lowbrow were awesome, super nice, and the show was great. While I was there I found a guy with a brown King Queen seat! Well after some dickering I scored it for $150.00 bucks. We got the seat home and Josh started mounting it up, it didn’t come out to bad. Summer came again and the shop got really busy, Josh started an online store (EBay store: Boomers Bike Shop), and that old pan just sat in the shop. Every one loved to stop by and see it in the shop, winter came again and it was one of the worst years in the bike shop business. As much as it killed me I had to finally let that panhead dream go and pass it on to someone else. I had my buddy terry got it running and Josh put it on the web. Tons of people called and sent emails but the bike ended up staying in Michigan. Bob saw the bike online and came into the store to see it. After a few minutes he had to have it. Bob said it reminded him of bikes he had seen when he was a kid growing up in Detroit. After some dickering I sold the pan to Bob for ?????? ( got to keep our word to old 8-ball), I was sad to see it go but happy it was going to someone that was going to keep it the way it is now like a time capsule of cooler days gone by. I never like to miss a swap meet even if it’s a small one. I recently drug josh to this little church swap meet. I had to show Josh I was crazy like a fox and I ended up proving that, I sold $40 bucks worth of parts and bought up $5500 in parts and bikes. I started talking to some people and I found a barn fresh 66 XLCH with Morris magneto still in it, this thing was cool. Pat, the owner of the bike, said he had the bike for the 40 some years. Pat was showing Josh how to fire the old girl up; he said it’ll start between 2 and 50 kicks. Pat must have ridden that old bike a lot, because on the second kick that old girl fired right up. We got it back to the shop, Josh was excited to get it home, and he’s already got a long and low “digger” project in his head. I scored that old bike for only 500.00 bucks, the good lord was looking out for me that day. The other bike was a 1997 Fatboy we call it the “Howling Wolf”. Again check out the paint. This one might be around for awhile Josh wants to put something together and I think this would be a great bike to do something with, stay tuned for the next issue.