Where are these guys?

[Yellowhand]

I can almost guarantee you that somewhere out there are a bunch of old farts with garages and sheds full of OEM minibike parts and tooling to make frames and fenders...

These guys used to work for the minibike companies back in the 60's and 70's, and when the plug was pulled on the production of our favorite brands, they loaded up all the parts and tooling and carted it off to their garages and sheds...

And now, every evening, these old, retired farts sit together out in their garages drinking cheap beer and telling stories about the good old days...while surrounded by piles of pristine parts.

Why do I believe this?

Because sometimes in the evenings I'll go over to an old buddies garage and have a beer...and marvel at all the old Cushman parts and tools they squirreled away over the years...

We're looking to trade Eagle parts for OEM minibike stuff...anybody know where these guys are?

 

[joshhoward]

I wish i did! I love to hang out with Old timers. They have the best storys. The parts are great, but i tell you what. The stories are priceless :thumbsup:.

I just went last week with a friend to go look at a couple 67 Toro,s. My buddy ended up buying a 66 425 from him. I pissed my buddy off, because i talked with the old timer for 2-1/2 hour about the old days. I couldnt help it. He had some great racing stories with one of his Toros's, and others about the 30s-50s booze, broads, illegal gambling. Great stuff. :thumbsup:

 

[ogygopsis]

They're out there Yellowhand. They fall into three categories; none of which are good news to restorers like us. The first is the guy who thinks he's sitting on a gold mine and will never sell anything because he is afraid that its value may go even higher and he would not want take a chance on selling it for ONLY 25 times what he bought it for. The second is the guy who has fallen in love with a pile of parts that have somehow come to symbolize his youth. He'll sit and look at them and remember back to younger, happier, and more productive days and it gives him a good feeling. He too will never part with any of his past. And the third guy. Yep, someday he's gonna get rid of all this stuff. Just you wait and see by golly! But first "when I get time" I'm gonna sort through it and see if there's anything that I want to keep. Of course that day never comes. I've met all three Yellowhand. I've known all three. And all three are bullshitters and a pain in the ass. But there is a good news and a bad news to all of this. The good news is that eventually they die and their stuff does get sold. The bad news is that their widows sell it to the junk man for ten cents a pound. The chances of a fellow being in the right place at the right time to pick up one of these hoards if infinitesimally small. That's what made me realize from the get go that to do complete, ground up, factory original restorations on my Fox Campus Bikes was going to require fabricating each individual component from scratch. An expensive way to go but for me it's worth it. OLD DUDES RULE !.....Ogy