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America's Ultimate Barn Find

2K views 21 replies 13 participants last post by  Moogs 
#1 ·
For all of you ole boy and girl Motorcycle and Old Car Enthusiasts this one is for you. Please put a Bath Towel over your Keyboard before viewing because after seeing some of the old Motorcycles you just cannot help but drool. I saved each of these 8 videos and am going to burn them to a DVD.

http://www.coolestone.com/media/3728/America's-Ultimate-Barn-Find/

Enjoy. :)
 
#6 ·
You are welcome. It is all about the sharing. My heart was going pitter patter seeing some of those grand old bikes being rolled out and after a little work start up and run just for a minute. You just do not see vid clips like this every day. It makes you want to do nothing but rescue these old treasures and preserve them for all time for others to see and enjoy even if you do not restore them back to factory original just to park them in a huge museum and have huge signs posted telling all about them. It is all about the nostalgia and the ambiance of the era.

If you do not have it already go find "Download Helper" an read all about it then install it if you so choose. I have some great old videos like this saved to my hard drive I need to burn off to DVD. :D
 
#7 · (Edited)
Chuck,

That's probably your best post to date... :D

A couple of things:

1. I found it quite amazing at how many bikes actually started up and ran. I imagine that there was probably a little behind the scenes work on the bikes between them wheeling them out of the garage and magically cutting to the scene where they kicked the bikes over and they seemingly started right up. ;) Judging by the way all of them smoked when they started up, the old guy looks to have had the sense to squirt some oil in all the cylinders before he packed them up.

2. I actually find this whole phenomenon rather sad in a way. Here is a guy who collected all this stuff his whole life, and undoubtedly had fun doing it, but then he dies and all these rich guys are going to sub-divide and pick over his remains. I mean it's good that all these rare machines are going to be preserved, but it somehow seems that it would have been more fitting if the guy had left some kind of trust and all the stuff could have been sort of cleaned up, the original patina preserved, and the whole collection in its entirety put on display in its own museum. It's sad to see it all parted out.

I find the whole hoarder thing strange... Of course I probabaly hang on to way too much myself.
 
#8 ·
Chuck,

That's probably your best post to date... :D

A couple of things:

1. I found it quite amazing at how many bikes actually started up and ran. I imagine that there was probably a little behind the scenes work on the bikes between them wheeling them out of the garage and magically cutting to the scene where they kicked the bikes over and they seemingly started right up. ;) Judging by the way all of them smoked when they started up, the old guy looks to have had the sense to squirt some oil in all the cylinders before he packed them up.

2. I actually find this whole phenomenon rather sad in a way. Here is a guy who collected all this stuff his whole life, and undoubtedly had fun doing it, but then he dies and all these rich guys are going to sub-divide and pick over his remains. I mean it's good that all these rare machines are going to be preserved, but it somehow seems that it would have been more fitting if the guy had left some kind of trust and all the stuff could have been sort of cleaned up, the original patina preserved, and the whole collection in its entirety put on display in its own museum. It's sad to see it all parted out.

I find the whole hoarder thing strange... Of course I probably hang on to way too much myself.
I can agree with your feelings on this and as they plainly said they did a little bit of work before trying to start them then only ran them for like 30 seconds to one minute then shut them down. As I said above though: "It is all about the nostalgia and the ambiance of the era". Yes it is sad but exciting at the same time. How many other old barns are across America just like this.
 
#11 ·
I looked up the auction results and they pulled in about $4 million with the Flying Merkel bringing in a little over $200K and the Veritas just under that mark.

Makes you wonder what is hiding in some of the old barns and buildings that you ride by on a Saturday afternoon.
 
#15 ·
#18 ·
The guy in starting the bikes and narrating the video is Dale Walksler. He owns The Wheels Through Time M/C Museum in Maggie Valley NC. If you ever go to the Dragon or ride the Blue Ridge Parkway it is not to be missed! They call it the museum that runs because all day long when Dale is there he will pull out a bike (just like the ones in the video) and start it in the building. Sometimes he will ride them around the yard. Very cool guy.
 
#19 ·
The only "preserved" bike I know of personally that's in a guys garage is a friend of mine from the High School days, one of the best riders I ever knew. A guy that seemed to add about 10HP on any bike he threw a leg over. Well, he got married and his wife made him promise to never ride a bike again. My brother who's been in "the business" ever since he was kid knew of a 57 James we could buy for $50. Well, we just gave it to him one day and he still has that bike and plans to restore it when he retires in a year or so. he's been getting parts over the years... including some he got in Ireland so it will be a fun project for him, after having the bike for 40 years.
 
#20 ·
Thanks for posting this video.You gave me an excuse to avoid yard work on a great mild winter day.My wife has just reminded me of somethings that need to get done around here!I think I will watch this again right now while it is fresh in my mind and save the chores for another day.
 
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