Bye-Bye Baby
It wasn't for sale, but last weekend I sold my chopper.
My friend Jenny had organized a family bike event that was being held in conjunction with a bicycle-themed art exhibition at the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba in Brandon. My friends, Colin, Brian, and I had brought a number of our custom bikes out to the event. We were letting folks try them out, riding around the block.
Halfway through the afternoon, a former teacher of my friend, Teyana, took my chopper out for a spin. When he got back, I asked him what he thought of it. He said, "Wow, it changed my life." Then he asked me how much money I want to sell it to him.
That's nothing new to me, I've had lots of people ask that, so I gave him my standard reply, "It's not really for sale, but I'll sell any of my bikes for a thousand bucks a piece." To my surprise he immediately said, "Sold!" And I could see he was serious.
Wow, nobody had ever called my bluff on that before. Usually the "sticker-shock" brings an end any ideas of buying the chopper, but not for this guy. He really wanted this bike. I found myself in the difficult position of having to decide if I was really willing to part with my baby.
I built this chopper in 1999 and have been riding if for the past seven years. I even boxed it up & flew it down with me to Indiana when I moved there for three years. It measures over eight feet long, and has a completely custom double tear-drop frame and three-foot long forks. The vintage headlamp has been retrofitted with four blue LEDs. The vintage T-shifter links to a three-speed internally geared Shimano hub. I laced the rear wheel with a beautiful three leading, three trailing spoke pattern. It has a 16-inch wheel on the front, and a 26-inch wheel on the rear with a two-inch wide completely slick tire mounted on it.
After much consideration I decided that the offer was too good to pass up, and I sold it. I can always build another one, and that's half the fun anyhow.
RICK
My friend Jenny had organized a family bike event that was being held in conjunction with a bicycle-themed art exhibition at the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba in Brandon. My friends, Colin, Brian, and I had brought a number of our custom bikes out to the event. We were letting folks try them out, riding around the block.
Halfway through the afternoon, a former teacher of my friend, Teyana, took my chopper out for a spin. When he got back, I asked him what he thought of it. He said, "Wow, it changed my life." Then he asked me how much money I want to sell it to him.
That's nothing new to me, I've had lots of people ask that, so I gave him my standard reply, "It's not really for sale, but I'll sell any of my bikes for a thousand bucks a piece." To my surprise he immediately said, "Sold!" And I could see he was serious.
Wow, nobody had ever called my bluff on that before. Usually the "sticker-shock" brings an end any ideas of buying the chopper, but not for this guy. He really wanted this bike. I found myself in the difficult position of having to decide if I was really willing to part with my baby.
I built this chopper in 1999 and have been riding if for the past seven years. I even boxed it up & flew it down with me to Indiana when I moved there for three years. It measures over eight feet long, and has a completely custom double tear-drop frame and three-foot long forks. The vintage headlamp has been retrofitted with four blue LEDs. The vintage T-shifter links to a three-speed internally geared Shimano hub. I laced the rear wheel with a beautiful three leading, three trailing spoke pattern. It has a 16-inch wheel on the front, and a 26-inch wheel on the rear with a two-inch wide completely slick tire mounted on it.
After much consideration I decided that the offer was too good to pass up, and I sold it. I can always build another one, and that's half the fun anyhow.
RICK
posted by Rick at 6:44 pm
1 Comments:
Hi Rick, I couldn't find your email addy in my book, so I'm posting here. I found a bike you'd want to know about, if you don't already.
http://www.konabikes.co.uk/2008/africa-bike/africabike-20-30.php
Pedal-powered social consciousness. I love it!!
IndianaTim
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