Each one of those bikes has a story behind it; some probably more interesting than the rest, but nevertheless...

A few of the pics would look good framed and hung up, especially this one IMO

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b...ps5e44f1ec.jpg

 

http://dcclassiccycles.dynamitedave.com/graveyard.html

 

file photo

 

Was that during the Honda tax era?

 

My dreams of finding an old bike and building a bobber has taken on a new sense of urgency. Thanks for the boost-great pics

 

 

Yes when the market was being flooded with low cost bikes. The Japanese government was keeping the Yen artificially devalued.

You don't think their government also tries to defend their market?

 

I came across this bike last year in Garrison, NY. The guy rode it to the little restaurant we were eating in.
It's a 1917 model. He had a neighbor who had the bike for years but wouldn't sell it, but agreed to let him know
first if he ever did decide to sell it. Well, the neighbor passed away and his widow told him to just get it out of the
shed. He gave her $300 for it.

 

I'm sure they would, but back then I didn't think Japanese bikes were really competing for the same market - Japanese crusiers of the day were far different compared to today when there is a far greater effort to copy HD products.......and they still don't measure up to the real thing, just cheaper.

 

HD must have had a decent argument to get Congress to add a tariff to 750 cc and above.

They had crated brand new bikes at least 4 years old in full warehouses after.

Funny, but when I first got my 1986, HD parts were cheaper than the Honda parts at the time.