A moment of silence for 459

[franknsr]

...man, this just makes me incredibly sad....
https://www.ebay.com/itm/99-Excelsior-Henderson-Engine-Motor/183911833705?fits=Make%3AExcelsior-Henderson&hash=item2ad1ffe069:g:OQcAAOSwIehdSdBD

[Donkey Hotey]

Yeah, that one has been broken up for parts for a few years now (look at his other listings—misspelled ‘excelsior’). It was in some kind of accident and wasn’t in the best of shape before that.

I almost bought that bike maybe five years ago. It had a dent in the tank, and some other unique things—like the grips and passenger floorboards, in addition to the location—that gave it away.

It was 2,000 miles away and fall was falling rapidly. I was going to get to Indianapolis in the evening on Halloween. I was going to have to load it and then tow back with a wet, snowy storm closing in on the middle of the country. All of that so I’d have a Super X I wouldn’t feel bad about customizing. I backed out at the last minute and apologized profusely. He obviously found another buyer and the bike met its fate.

The only silver lining is that I bought a bunch of parts from that bike that fixed up two of my others. I still don’t like seeing them parted out.

[Berlin Bob]

Yeh  I don,t like seeing them parted out either... but I could not help buying Randy Sasse's  engine off of him when he parted out 1457...by the time I contacted him he had already sold the frame !!!   ...so now ,I have rebuilt it , and it is up on ebay for sale   nothing more I can do to preserve the bikes ... I was sad that he passed before I could ask him more questions about the bike ...it's not right buying a frame that does not match... I could buy the frame only now, but it is stripped of everything, not even the forks...bare..can you imagine the cost to bring it back alive

[smoke]

Don't forget about #1457 too...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2000-Excelsior-Henderson-Engine-REBUILT-1457/254554578271?hash=item3b44a29d5f:g:dJoAAOSwTkVd~llq

[franknsr]

Old topic, I know, but I'm all about keeping track of our bikes. Quite a while ago we used to update the registry with bikes that were in stock at dealers so we knew where each one was. Now maybe we should keep track of parted bikes like 1457 and 459. Minimally they should come off the registry, or maybe those bikes should have a black banner behind them or a pair of angle wings around them or something like that. ;-)

If this idea gains any traction someone will also need to make the call on how to handle bikes that folks saved by mix-matching engines and frames.

I'm not out to make a bunch of work for anyone, so I'm willing to help however I can. If the keepers of the list would like some help, I'm all in.

[Donkey Hotey]

That sounds like it could be useful. I have no control or power over the layout of this site but, I would like to see a third sub topic created:

• Technical
• Non-Technical
• Provenance (or registry or whatever)

I have a hard time keeping track of what I have personally done to each of my bikes. I also barely remember the stories told to me by previous owners. "Oh yeah, he told me this bike came from outer Slombovia and that's back when Jimbo Pumpernickel was doing transmission updates."

What I would like to see is owners posting anything they want to share about their bike: a running diary. A typical discussion might look like:



1525 2000 Red / Oyster Super X:
Bought it new in late July 2000 from House of Motorcycles in San Diego California. Bought it in the crate so anything wrong with it can be blamed on Belle Plaine or me. Bought all of the accessories new because I really wanted a Jennie.

Changed the oil yesterday. Used a super-wombat oil filter and Wesson oil (100% vegetable).

Scratched the front fender. Touched it up with a red crayon and clear paint.

Oil pump bushing replaced with nylon version at 6,215 miles. Oil changed to aged Neatsfoot and a coffee filter.

Dropped the bike today. Replacing the left clutch lever, mirror and front fender with a NOS one from EHPARTS.NET. Thanks Mike!



Sell the bike and the new owner will know what was known, what is known, what has been done, etc. They can continue to maintain the history or not. Do it at your own discretion. Don't like the idea? Don't do it. If it's written down, it's too easy to be lost or separated from the motorcycle.

[franknsr]

I like it. You had me at coffee filter. I wouldn't even mind uploading copies of receipts of work done ,if that is an option, as proof that updates really happened. That might prevent some huckster from trying to inflate the value of a bike he is selling by saying "All updates done" which on rare occasion really means - I've changed the oil and the former owner said something about the transmission being updated and I am unaware of any other updates.

Again, not looking to create work for anyone but I'm happy to give my time each week to help separate the chaff from the wheat.

[Donkey Hotey]

Yeah, you could attach and upload any images of the work done, receipts or anything else you wanted. It would be your thread.

We don't really need anything to get this started except to do it for our own motorcycle(s). If the idea took off, the threads could be moved to a new subheading later. I personally wouldn't mind if others had comments in each of the threads, as long as they were related to that bike (staying on-topic, no different than any other).

I openly wonder what the downsides to this could be? What if a new owner claims the updates were done and then a transmission locks up. And the former owner came here and deleted all claims they previously made? We're looking at this as a very informal thing but, would a court see this as some sort of makeshift Carfax or somehow a legal record?