Bikes in crates

[Scout63]

I don’t get these auctions of bikes still in crates.  Sort of the same as ultra low mileage bikes.  Assemble or ride it and you kill the value.  Even more silly (to me) if the bike isn’t particularly interesting or rare. Just sayin...

[JJ]

What good is any motorcycle that you can't start up...RIDE...and enjoy it...as it was meant to be...(???)

I guess some people just like to look at them as a static work of art...and I get that...but RIDING is much more fun!

[twowheeladdict]

What good is any motorcycle that you can't start up...RIDE...and enjoy it...as it was meant to be...(???)

I guess some people just like to look at them as a static work of art...and I get that...but RIDING is much more fun!

That's why you buy two of the same.  Best of both worlds.   

[LowRyter]

Bikes in crates are seldom uncrated and are another collector or museum piece.   Seaba Station has an old Triumph in a crate half opened. 

[Turin]

I'd hope the crate is half open... Who'd want to stare at a box?  I couldn't own a Schrodinger's motorcycle, too nerve racking.

[Dr. Enzo Toma]

Motorcycles that are still in the crate but shipped with brake fluid and batteries in place often have considerable damage from that. Some things aren't "shelf stable".

[Big_Jim59]

I was working a classic bike auction that a buddy of mine was sponsoring. There was a BSA Gold Star in the original crate. They had pictures of the bike inside using one of those camera scopes.  Other than that it was just a big old dirty box and not a motorcycle. It's worse than a static museum display. At least in a museum you can see the bike.

[John A]

I’d un crate it, trade the crate for whiskey or cigars. The reason I’d want one in a crate is to keep the shop rat’s from getting their grubby little hands on it. Some shops don’t use their mechanics for assembling new bikes .

[larrys]

In 1978 I made side money uncrating Hondas for New England Cycle Sales in Groton, CT. Got paid a flat rate per bike. They came with the battery dry, not in the bike, no oil in the engine, handlebars and front wheel not on the bike. CB750's paid $38, good money for an hours work then. A CB360 was $26, okay but not great.
Larry

[Moparnut72]

When I lived back that way I patronized Ralph Strong Motorcycles. Ralph was a great guy as were his employees. One of them, I don't remember his name, was one of the founders of the Connecticut Motorcycle Association fighting anti-motorcycle legislation.
kk

[larrys]

 Yeah I hung out at Ralph Strong's in the middle '70's early '80's. Everybody there was an enthusiast. Doug Williams the parts manager is still alive and retired. Mark Shepard the service manager is still alive. Richard "Whitey" Irons the parts counter guy is still riding, has a Rob North framed Bonneville that is to die for. Ralph retired and sold the place to some car dealer guys in '82. They ran the place into insolvency in three years...
You would be talking about "Pappy" Pittsley. Pappy had a heart attack and died in 1975 while on the side of the road talking to a cop who had pulled him over for riding without a helmet. Pappy was one of the founders of the CMA. CT's helmet law was struck from State statutes in '75 or '76 not sure which year mostly from CMA's efforts.
Larry

[Moparnut72]

Yup, Pappy. I wound up in the Army in 1968. I rode back from Denver in '69 on my new R75 and had to have them put a tire on it. They were happy to see the bike as they were pretty rare. It was the first one in Denver. Pappy refused to wear a helmet and lobbied against the law for years. It was repealed at one point with the help of Rufus Rose a congressman from the area. Rufus was a biker also and rode his bike to "work" in Hartford. The year or two prior Rufus and Pappy were instrumental in getting the legislature to vote to repeal the law. The then governor vetoed it and with Pappy, Rufus and the CMA worked to get the governor voted out in the next election. Demonstrated that a smaller group with a passion can get things done.

I was in the shop one day to get something for my Yamaha. A guy was complaining that the piston he had just gotten didn't even go into the cylinder that the shop had bored previously. Either the cylinder was bored to a different size or he got the wrong piston. It was for a Bultaco so who knows. He wanted to know what they could do about. Ralph calmly reached under the counter and handed him a big hammer. Everyone in the shop got a good laugh out of it. Ralph told him to come back the next day that it would be taken care of. Ralph called me the Yamaha Kid until I bought a used BMW from him. That was his bike of choice.

Thanks for your updates.
kk

[larrys]

To tie this drift back to the original thread, Ralph Strong bought three Triumph TRD's in crates from the Canadian Postal Service in the early '70's. They were Army model Triumph's based on a '49 rigid framed civilian model but with an odd little 500cc flathead twin engine. The Canadians had plans to use them for rural mail carriers but never put them in service. Ralph assembled and sold all three. The history I heard was one got wrecked, one was built into a chopper(saw that one) and the third disappeared. My ex brother-in-law now owns the third one. We found it in a car collector's barn in Moodus, CT in the middle '80's.
Larry

[Ncdan]

At the WSPD we used Honda cb900c for our police bikes. We had a fleet of 14 and utilized them from 1982 until 1989.
In 1984 we bought 6 1982s still in the crate that Honda of WS could not sell.
This was because the Reagan tariffs to save Harley Davison added 800.00 per bike to any motorcycle 750cc and above. It was a good deal for the city as they were half the price of the Police Electra Glide in 1984.

[Route140]

This was on display at the British Meet in Lancaster, MA last September

[Dr. Enzo Toma]

This was on display at the British Meet in Lancaster, MA last September

That's pretty funny. Any award for most correct bike?