Harley Davidson

[PuroBrat]

:0

 

[Josh]

Here ya go PB:

 

[PuroBrat]

Man I had some fun on that bike. :love:

But the Harley I got for my first bike was a lot nicer than this Italian Wonder.

 

[Josh]

Slick indeed, it's a pity it was scrapped. But I imagine with some research you could find another to restore somewhat affordably. But, it's not the same nostalgic feel.

 

[PuroBrat]

Yeah, I let my sister know how displeased I was with her over that. Oh well, nothing to do about it now. I just could not get into restoring one like it. It wouldn't be the same.

 

[Josh]

My first car is in storage for this very reason.

 

[PuroBrat]

My first car was a 64 Plymouth Valiant, and it went through two teenagers and we drove the wheels right off of it. When it was retired to scrap there was 3/4 turn of play in the steering wheel, and the slant 6 engene had been canabalized for my 73 Duster. That engene was still running strong at that point with over 300,000 miles on it.

First car I bought with my own money was a 67 Pontiac Tempest that I truly do wish I still had. Memories, pressed between the pages of my mind...

 

[CoventryCat86]

Oh no, don't get me going down memory lane with cars. :0

I have learned NOT to get wrapped up in restorations as you always wind up have way too much money, time, aggrevation, etc. that it is usually worth (case in point, my '86 Jag :0 )

To me, the key is to find a car that someone ELSE restored that he (or his estate ) has to get rid of and you will save yourself a heck of a lot of money and most importantly TIME!!

For instance, I was at a Jaugar Show a few weeks ago and there was a guy there with a beautiful 1975 XJ6 Coupe. The coupes are highly desirable as they only made them for three years. This car had undergone a complete, prefessional restoration at a cost of between $50,000.00 & $60,000.00. The owner passed away and his estete sold the car for $18,000.00. Now granted, if the estate had held out, they could have gotten $25,000.00 for it but the bottom line is NO WAY in the world could you EVER get the money back on that car.

If you are that nostalgic about a certain car that was either your first car or has been in the family, great BUT remember you will usually wind up putting way more into it than it will ever be worth.

A friend on mine who owns a body shop tells me that when people bring a car to him that he wants them to "restore" he advises them to sell it for whatever he can get for it, use that money to buy a plane ticket to southern California and find what ever you want which will be RUST FREE and drive it home (or ship it for $800.00). Now you people down south or out west may not have any comprehension how improtant that is but here in the northeast, we have pretty much nothing but rust buckets

My BMW & my Jaguar are both from California and have NO RUST Once the cancer starts, it's hard to stop it but with a California car, it usually has never started.

Restoration is a LONG, EXPENSIVE, gut wrenching process which I just as soon avoid in the future whether it be a motorcycle, car, boat, etc.

 

[Josh]

I have learned NOT to get wrapped up in restorations as you always wind up have way too much money, time, aggrevation, etc. that it is usually worth

You're dead on with the CC, there aren't but a handful of cars that you can restore and get their value out of. But in my case, I'm doing something a little different. My first car was/is a '94 Ford Thunderbird, and it's still in perfect condition, with the exception of the transmission. When that went, and with gas and my insurance the way it was, I found it cheaper to buy a newer Cavalier, and I've been driving that around for some time. I couldn't bring myself to sell the T-Bird though, as I couldn't have gotten a whole lot for it (even though cosmetically in great shape, the tranny was dead and the engine wasn't too far behind), and I knew I'd always regret it.

So I'll have her locked up for another year, and then start overhauling the drive train. In about two years, she'll peak at right around a little less than 800HP, and be able to drop the horsepower to 250 for casual driving at the push of a button. I only have one more flaw my system to get worked out, and then I'll start the fun.

 

[PuroBrat]

I have never tried to restore a Bike or a Car. But I can see where the cost could get very steep, to the point of not being worth it. However, for me, I would want to make it Mechanically sound but still look and smell like it did when I was driving it, otherwise the Memories would be weakened. Even down to the beer and weed smells :0