Sidevalve45
Hero Member
- #1
Thread Owner
Looks like the pickers are close to the Mississippi ?
I dig that Von Dutch bike. The tank on it looks like it's from an old Honda 305 Superhawk and frame of an old BMW with a VW engine? Did Von Dutch build that bike or just do the pinstripe art on it?Yup it's right on the river. Also the home of Buffalo Bill for awhile and a number of river boat pilots from long ago.
Interesting! I like watching that show. Only bike I have now is a relic state 1964 Honda C200 90cc. Known as the 'Baby Dream' I look at it from time to time and ask my self what I should do with it. Restore it?, Resto-Mod it? or just leave it as it is?. It has a good title and the motor is free, plus it clicks threw all four gears. Over the years I've had Kawasaki's, BSA's, Honda,s and only one HD a '73 Super Glide. I keep thinking I should buy a 650 KLR some time just to catch a breeze.Hello Tamrock,
He built it himself from what I gather using a Harley XA frame which was a horizontally opposed twin and shaft drive like a BMW. I have a neighbor down the road that built one of these only he used a Moto Guzzi frame.
Sidevalve45
This is the day I brought it home. I just pushed it in the shed after I took this pic. Got on the www and looked at seats and front fender as the plastic is for the most all poor shape (re-pop is about all I could find for parts). The muffler is worth the $150. I payed for it. It had two busted fins on the head and I did go ahead and get a good, no broken fins head on ebay for $40. so, it cost me $190. to this point. I will most likely let is sit like it is and hold it for an item to barter with, as I have thrown that out on a dickering deal with a fella who has a whole field of old relics from old tractors, autos, hit-miss engines to wrecked airplanes. He was interested, but we never got around to talking any possible exchanges as I didn't see anything in his junk I should try and deal with at that time, plus the he's a shrewd dude. I'll just keep it in the homeboy bank account for now. Mama has not the eye to calculate that particular account of mine.Leave it as is with a minor resto. You don't want to babysit a 100 point bike. Make her look good from 20 feet with a low cost cleanup and possibly some paint work.
Sounds like a plan to me. I've messed around with cars and when I was younger I had a Honda 90. If a person is going to restore a car or bike looks don't really have a whole lot to do with the starting point. Even if that bike looked a whole lot worse it would require the same amount of time and money to fix it as it would in that condition. The main thing is the original parts and the condition of them. After seeing that I think I would leave it original unless I were going to do a really nice restoration. Nice bike.
That's how it is these days. Making things all pretty and new seems to not be the trend anymore. I had a old Colt woodsman when I was a young fella and it wasn't all that bad condition and only had an average bit of holster wear. In the mid 70's I had the local gunsmith buff the nicks and [re]blued the gun. By the early 80's as I went to sell it the first interested buyer said the gun is a screwed up mess, because it's been buffed of all the original machine turnings and finish. I said what you talking about? This gun is now beautiful. That's when I first learned and understood that original state on things like it must be preserved in order to hold a good value in some cases. Indeed original condition is a one time affair.Yup I'd have to agree. As the saying goes it's only original once and you can't go back. In the vintage Harley and Indian motorcycle world original paint unmolested bikes are worth a fortune. Think north of $40,000 easily with the right bike.
Sidevalve45