A junker..
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 2,721
Likes: 243
From: NC
The only barn find I've had was a 1960 Sears Allstate. Paid the guy a six pack of beer for it. Finally gave it to a friend when I moved from that area who turned it into a mailbox holder.
Sometimes I wish I had kept it.
Sometimes I wish I had kept it.
Road Captain
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 529
Likes: 13
From: wi
What a story ... life just isn't fair sometimes. What a cheek of the first buyer, he must have struggled to keep a straight face until he was half way down the road.
Not quite in the same league but I was offered a 2003 V-ROD that had spent its entire life sat on carpet in a central heated apartment. Rich guy bought it, got the shop to remove the battery and fluids, and then had it as an ornament.
Died, widow did not know what to do with it. Apart from flipping it fast, I could not muster up any enthusiasm for it at all.
It does make you wonder sometimes what other worlds some people live in.
But why a V-ROD? Hardly the most emblematic H-D. Instant loss investment. Some people just have no taste I am afraid. I mean, even a VROD owner would have suggested a better collectible for the same money.
Not quite in the same league but I was offered a 2003 V-ROD that had spent its entire life sat on carpet in a central heated apartment. Rich guy bought it, got the shop to remove the battery and fluids, and then had it as an ornament.
Died, widow did not know what to do with it. Apart from flipping it fast, I could not muster up any enthusiasm for it at all.
It does make you wonder sometimes what other worlds some people live in.
But why a V-ROD? Hardly the most emblematic H-D. Instant loss investment. Some people just have no taste I am afraid. I mean, even a VROD owner would have suggested a better collectible for the same money.
My ex-wife works for MoCo, so I've been in and around all the plants around Milwaukee several times. In the cafeteria of the Product Development Center, they have a Night Rod hanging on the wall as well as a few other bikes, but the Night Rod is the one I remember. Beautiful machine, just not an iconic Harley.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 9,333
Likes: 3,883
From: Upstate New York
Speaking of V-rod ornaments....
My ex-wife works for MoCo, so I've been in and around all the plants around Milwaukee several times. In the cafeteria of the Product Development Center, they have a Night Rod hanging on the wall as well as a few other bikes, but the Night Rod is the one I remember. Beautiful machine, just not an iconic Harley.
My ex-wife works for MoCo, so I've been in and around all the plants around Milwaukee several times. In the cafeteria of the Product Development Center, they have a Night Rod hanging on the wall as well as a few other bikes, but the Night Rod is the one I remember. Beautiful machine, just not an iconic Harley.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 10,135
Likes: 4,797
From: Sandpoint, Idaho
Speaking of V-rod ornaments....
My ex-wife works for MoCo, so I've been in and around all the plants around Milwaukee several times. In the cafeteria of the Product Development Center, they have a Night Rod hanging on the wall as well as a few other bikes, but the Night Rod is the one I remember. Beautiful machine, just not an iconic Harley.
My ex-wife works for MoCo, so I've been in and around all the plants around Milwaukee several times. In the cafeteria of the Product Development Center, they have a Night Rod hanging on the wall as well as a few other bikes, but the Night Rod is the one I remember. Beautiful machine, just not an iconic Harley.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 2,583
Likes: 115
From: Boston, MA
These old barn finds are rapidly becoming a thing of the past. I mean that they are there but with afp, American F@@king pickers, they simply jack the prices up to beyond reasonable numbers.
The recent swap meets that have the older guys with the older parts have confirmed this to me. If they ever bought a digital camera and an eBay account they could be in a pretty profitable business. They're trying to sell to us guys looking for a good used part and not a museum quality n.o.s. part.
Please look at Craigslist and ebay. A slab-side Shovelhead in good condition is not worth $15k. It ain't. Maybe some day but not today. Panhead prices for stock paint bikes are high but not for chops from back in the day.
Rant over.
Tom
The recent swap meets that have the older guys with the older parts have confirmed this to me. If they ever bought a digital camera and an eBay account they could be in a pretty profitable business. They're trying to sell to us guys looking for a good used part and not a museum quality n.o.s. part.
Please look at Craigslist and ebay. A slab-side Shovelhead in good condition is not worth $15k. It ain't. Maybe some day but not today. Panhead prices for stock paint bikes are high but not for chops from back in the day.
Rant over.
Tom
Banned
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 760
Likes: 3
From: NYC
Originally Posted by Tee⋁14550228
These old barn finds are rapidly becoming a thing of the past ... They're trying to sell to us guys looking for a good used part and not a museum quality n.o.s. part.
Who on earth pays them?
A slab-side Shovelhead in good condition is not worth $15k. It ain't. Maybe some day but not today.
Funnily enough, the Japanese have a perverse appreciation for AMF generation Harleys. I think the appeal is that you *have* to tinker with them. They live in a society which is just so perfectly ordered, tidy and reliable that a few of them just love old Americana just because it leaks and breaks down and needs to be maintained. I cannot work out whether it's a way of "sticking it to the man" or some unfulfilled needs to be practically involved in their chosen hobby. I've seen some amazing YT videos of older stuff still on the road too.
I'd say the next generation of "barnfinds" are going to be early Evo baggers. Some of them, especially high mileage ones, are starting to drop to a price where folks can't/won't be bothered to sell them and just leave them at the back of the garage. There'll be enough bits to ensure another 100 years of running them!
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 3,830
Likes: 302
From: Lorain Ohio
I like my V rod.....it just doesn't have that Harley V twin sound that so many HD fans want....it's big in Europe though, that's where the big aftermarket tuners for it are.
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Banned
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 760
Likes: 3
From: NYC
Yes, I guess it fits in with the European "streetfighter" scene, which has it's own history rooted in sticking big fast Japanese engines in old chopper frames.
Is it a "young man's" versus "old geezer" divide?
Here's another golden oldie being coaxed into life. These videos, and the involvement it shows, just blow me away. Now you know where all your barnfinds have gone. There, and Scandinavia.
Is it a "young man's" versus "old geezer" divide?
Here's another golden oldie being coaxed into life. These videos, and the involvement it shows, just blow me away. Now you know where all your barnfinds have gone. There, and Scandinavia.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 10,135
Likes: 4,797
From: Sandpoint, Idaho
[QUOTE=Lucky Luke;14550891]Yes, I guess it fits in with the European "streetfighter" scene, which has it's own history rooted in sticking big fast Japanese engines in old chopper frames.
Is it a "young man's" versus "old geezer" divide?
Here's another golden oldie being coaxed into life. These videos, and the involvement it shows, just blow me away. Now you know where all your barnfinds have gone. There, and Scandinavia.(quote)
You got that right, I looked at buying a wishbone Pan back about 1989. The guy that had it for sale wanted me to buy it real bad because the last 3 he had built and sold had went to Japan. I passed on it sorry to say.
Is it a "young man's" versus "old geezer" divide?
Here's another golden oldie being coaxed into life. These videos, and the involvement it shows, just blow me away. Now you know where all your barnfinds have gone. There, and Scandinavia.(quote)
You got that right, I looked at buying a wishbone Pan back about 1989. The guy that had it for sale wanted me to buy it real bad because the last 3 he had built and sold had went to Japan. I passed on it sorry to say.