This site is Dedicated to the average biker,
 who may not have the latest & greatest bike to ride. 
 

Hello Folks;
There are 2 driving forces behind the creation of this website - and I'm sure they are both very familiar to you.

A few years ago, I went to the local Suzuki Dealer to get parts for my 1972 Suzuki TS185.  After just a few minutes inquiring about parts for my older bike, I began to feel very uncomfortable - the dealership had very little interest in me, since my bike was older.  I felt like the lowest guy on the totem pole.

I often hear this same story again and again from other folks - Dealers simply do not want to hassle with customers that have older bikes - and it clearly shows when you visit them.  If you're not ready to upgrade to a new motorcycle or 4-wheeler, you become an "idiot in the way", in their opinion.

Vintage motorcycles are a work of art - even the ones that are in rough condition, even ones that are only 10, 20, 30+ years old, they're magnificent.  

UPDATE:  Just a quick update - the interesting stuff is below....  Keeping mind, I'm just writing out load, but I have something very valuable to the general vintage bike enthusiast - I'm just not sure how to make it available yet (it's actually 2 things).   I'll get back to that in a minute, but first, this is related.  When I first wrote the notes on this page, I was referring to vintage bikes (Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawaski, Hodaka, and other similar manufacturers), as 10, 20, 30+ years old (at that time, I didn't consider bikes from the 80 as Vintage).  Now I'm putting the "40+" in the comments.  We can almost place a 50 in there, (for the Japanese Mfr's anyway), since Honda started selling American units in the late 1958/59 (hey, that has been 50 years - remember, I'm just zipping away on the keyboard - but I have something to say below). 

The bikes we admire are getting older, just like everything else that is dear to us.  There are still lots of vintage bikes & parts out there.  Until the recent fiscal Year 2007/2008, the year in which the most motorcycles were sold, was 1975.   More units were sold in 1975, in both the U.S. and Worldwide,  than year any year previous or since - except for this recent year - and the recent record motorcycle sales are a result of a National crisis  - that crises being both; the record Growth Rate & Peak Price of world fuel prices.  Combined motorcycle sales in the U.S. (all manufacturers of motorcycles, combined),  started showing increasing signs of life in 1969, and boomed through the early 1970's, peaking in '75, with the following years being very healthy as well.

Exposing the Ultimate Restoration Secret:  
"Find any vintage motorcycle part, even the Rare & Unusual,
in quick order". 
Quick Order, meaning from 1 to 24 hours, and including the occasional exception of 2-3 days (compare that to how long you've spent just searching for selected parts).   Owners of new bikes regularly spend more time than that, just shopping the different Dealerships for a part).  So, locating your desparately needed part, within 2-3 days can be considered quick order.

Here's a couple interesting points:
First, how rare an item is, often is not the deciding factor in how quickly an item is located (at least, as our system approaches it).  A bigger factor than scarcity, is simply the random direction my system decides to start it's search.  One system is automated, one is manual - both are very efficient in their own respects.    

Here's an example of what happened when I first got the systems going.  For example, I needed a New (NOS) 1970 Kawasaki 350 F5 Left Rear Shock.  I usually searched for "used" parts because new parts, for me at least, were just too expensive.  But make no mistake, even on those occasions where quality is King,  there is no system more effective, or faster in locating Vintage Hard-to-Find/Rare Parts.  In this particular F5 350 case, I started the process late in the day on the West Coast.  Most people, at least outside the West Coast  and going East, were leaving their jobs, driving home, or just getting home (basically bad timing, when I needed and answer fast).  I came in early (6:00 am Pacific, 9:00 am on the East Coast), and by 6:30 I had the part located and paid for out of the State of West Virigina.

Similarly, I needed a complete NOS Set of 1973 Honda SL350 Exhaust. I needed the left & right sides and I needed both headers and the mufflers.  Every Dealer and NOS Parts House I called told me the same thing,  the parts are no longer available, from anyone.  Absolutely no encouragement from anyone, just a jester of annoyance that I was even searching for a set.  Even more insulting, I called a fellow out of Vintage Cycle Trader (by the way, I don't blame him, we've all had a bad or two - and I really enjoy reading that magazine), but I asked this guy if he had a Set of 1972 SL350 Exhaust, he sad exactly this "NO, not for you, or the other 50 Idiots that call hear looking for them".  Although his response bothered me,  it somewhat confirmed my feelings about the other people being annoyed.  And that's just for me asking, you wood think since he was in the business of vintage parts, he would've had some sympathy for my in my pursuit (not all people were this way, some were truly helpful), but the ones that JOLT your emotions and shake you up are the ones you remember.  Since I was ignorant,  that a sense of irritation existed among a few Dealers, was caught off guard & those guys pretty much told me the ways things were and sent me along.  By the way, to show my system was not a fluke or luck, I the system in use again.  Within 45 minutes, I got a call from a company in the Northeast US.  The caller  was an older gentleman,  very knowledgeble on Vintage Honda bikes, although he hadn't service them in years.  His first question to me was, how did I know he had a set of NOS '72 SL350 exhaust in his off-site warehouse?  I've enjoyed hearing that question time and again since, by both Businesses and various People who might have parts.   SEE HINT BELOW, After You Read This: (but first a reminder, 5-10 of you, at no cash profit to me, will have these 2 systems turned over to you. If you're remotely interested in finding parts for restorations, email me at the link below.   Any donations you might consider, would be accepted and used for costs of maintaining & improving this website. The Vintage Motorcycle enthusiasts, weather they are from the Americas or Austrailia....weather they've been lucky enough to own a pristine 1969 CB750 or they just picked up a 1978 KL250 to save fuel commuting - you all deserve better.  Time and again, customers needing parts or service, are turned away at Dealerships.  Not to put the Dealers down, they're sitting on expensive, they need to sell those new bikes to stay in business, not hassel with a one time purchase of a part they most likely won't be able to get.  Furthermore, since newer bikes can be diagnosed for problems quickly with new computer testing systems, neither the Dealer or the Mechanic want to get tied up hasseling with a antiquated motorcycle, it ties their shop up while the mechanic laboriously stumbles through settings, specifications and measurments that he is being forced to manually look up in a manufacturers shop manual.  You may have not been told directly of their dis-interest, but have you ever called a Dealer and asked if they could schedule your bike in, and they tell you it will be 60 days out - to me, that's telling me "don't bother.  Not to beat up on the Dealer, but that's one of the first places a first time restorer (or simply a person who needs a few parts to get their bike running to save on gas) - the reality is, if you do go to a Dealer and you're not fully prepared, by knowing exactly what you need (which helps demand respect and composure in your search) - you're going to have a very disappointing day.  If you don't have a serial number, but you show up and want to buy parts for an older bike - stand by, you'll soon receive a clear look of annoyance.  It causes extra shop costs when parts are incorrectly ordered, and returned. Expreinced bikers are often incorrect, or hard pressed to identify the exact year and don't where to start. 

HINT:  Over the last 5 years for or so (I've been restoring bikes for about 10 years),  time & again, when a part was located and I hooked up with the customer to arrange payment and shipping,  customers always ask with excited curiosity, "How Did I Know we had this Part" and predictive things like "I knew someone was going to need this, that's why I never disposed of it, if you would have asked anyone else in this warehouse, they would have told you no - so how did you know I had one".  

CONSIDER THIS:  Curiosity is about the autom mated system I used is pretty much a waste of energy.  When considering the make-up of the automated system I use, one would realize that a  good computer person, savy to everything that availble to him, could construct 40 different systems that mechanically do what mine does, and all 40 of his would probably be more efficeint than mine.  However, because of his in-experience in this market place, it would be impossible for him to engineer into the system, the subtle but critical Intelligence pieces  that make the process work, full circle.   Not sure what the best term is, but there are 7 pieces of "Intelligence" engineered into the system that makes it work.  HERE's ONE:   It doesn't matter if I know -or- if I didn't know if they have the part - what's critical and 1 of 7 things that have to occur in a quick cycle to retain a sense of ergency (I'm giving away too many discoveries here), is the person  needs to "know" in his mind that I not only need that particular part shipped today, but I know without question that the person has it.   To be clear here, it's not a simple game of accuasasion - over the years, you've probably learned that someone had a item that everyone pretty much understood was probably on the rare side - you were probably even interested enough to approched them and unsuccesfully made an offer.  So, you found out they had it, but it didn't get you that item, did it!  Even if you had a good moral reason why you should have it, rather than a 3rd party she was considering giving it to - you still didn't get it, did you?   I bet you could even think of personal experiences where you wanted something - and you find that additional money will not even convince the person to part with it - you even take an additional step and offer a bit more and you're declined - you even feel offended, as if the playing rules aren't fair.

Well, at times I found myself totally committed to restoring selected rare motorcycles to their original 100% showroom condition.  Failing to find critical pieces, or finding them and not being able to secure them (especially from someone who didn't realize they had them until I pointed them out, and until that point they didn't really care if they had them, but one thing was for sure, they owned them, it's been indicated they're and I need them, and there is no way they will be traded me, they just to rare and nice to have now - sounds stupid, even on my part to show too much interest - but those thing used to happen).  So, at some point, a total dedicated person, beyond all other things personal or professional, starts to hold up and think - he starts to get smart.

Up late nights re-thinking though conversations and reliving experiences that failed to get parts, frustrated me weeks on end.   It's kind of crazing, like the Trekkees that dedicate themselves to StarTrek, they are serious at what they do.  After months of starting to hate the idea of restoring a bike I originally desparately want ed to keep, I almost gave up - In one day, the 2 systems I have in place were developed in one day.  Working solutions just started falling into place.  Like a frustrated computer programmer, solutions finally hit him.

I found:

  The are legitmate and accepted ways, to approach and make an offer for something you need, that leaves only 2 possibles decisions for the person - both favorable to you. 

1.    They will either lose interest (at least to a point that they're open to taking a fair offer)

2,     More often, they'll be convinced with out any reservation that it need to get traded to us ASAP, and truly feels this is were it needs to be.

3. Although no formal business connection yet - anyone  targeted on the receiving side generally feels a sence of oligation to profssionally follow-up the same day. 

4.  Customer follow-up is critical.  After three days, it hard to re-establish the sence of ergency, obligation to follow through,

Two things the system is Not.

1.  It is not any type of trading or listing service, or hotline service. It's our own inhouse private system.  We specifically target businesses and people.

2.  Clearly, if are part does not exist - it will not create it for you.  We don't claim to communicate with everyone, however, I can frame it as deciminated through sevral levels until a person the the items i located - arriving at the owners destination, directly specificlly to her/him -with a message from me that ultimately asks her to call me asap.

Customer Counts, as of 10/13/2008:

NOW DAYS - People Still Searh Relentlassly
I understand, some folks out their, will look for a part for 1 month, and maybe still not find it.  Or, you need a CDI that's not available anymore (or the dealer can get one, but it's $485), so folks monitor sites like eBay nightly for weeks on end, only to lose out to another ebay that has  I learned a lot of lessons and tricks in motorcycle restoration along the way, but nothing more valuable than being able to regularly locate rare NOS (New-Old-Stock) parts (or at least, very nice parts) in minutes - and always by the next day. 

Take for example, a NOS set of 1972 Honda SL350 Exhaust I located (extremely rare these days) - complete left & right sides (both Headers and Pipes)!   Although I just sat back and waited, it took only 2 hours to locate these!  Anyone who is interested in the dealership who had these old parts, send me an email at the link below.  The dealership, which serviced a metropolitan area of several million people, and leftover Honda stock from the late 1960's and early 1970's because the used to support the large Police Force in that area, before changing manufacturers.  I'm sure this older fellow neither has the interest or the need to promote or sell this old stock (terested in advertising   someone is interested, email me below.

, while I sat back and waited for a U.S. Dealer to call.  I got a call from a Dealer in

In 1998, I restored 1970 Kawasaki Bighorn - the Buckskin colored one.  I covered every detail in making that bike shows room perfect, as if it came off a Dealer Floor in 1970.  Yes, it had all the chrome parts that were discontinued on later models, it had the original 

For the average person, parts can be extremely hard to find.- and almost impossible for the average person just getting involved in a restoration or repair job.

Extra Help for you:  Of  course,  some parts are extremely hard to find, and we may not have it in stock at the time you call.   Since we are dedicated to taking care of customers with older motorcycles, we will go a step further and refer you to companies that may have your part in stock (other companies that specialize in used/vintage parts).  This goes against established business practices (referring customers to a competitor), so PLEASE keep us in mind next time you need a part.

More tools to help you with your bike: Another driving force behind the website is Motorcycle Identification.  A couple years back, I had a Yamaha engine that I couldn't identify.  I called a Yamaha dealership and spoke to their manager - and gave him the engine serial number and asked if he could identify the engine for me - I also told him I would be ordering parts for it, if I could figure out what it was.  I told him that I believed it was a bike from the 1970's.  Well, he was clearly irritated with my request and in a disgusted way he told me that the engine serial number wouldn't determine the Model and Year of the bike - he simply did not want to be bothered with my "un-reasonable" request.

To solve this problem, of motorcycle identification, we have invested 2 years of gathering up photo's and serial numbers of Yamaha motorcycles - take a look at our Yamaha site - it's FREE.  By the way, the engine number on the bike I was trying to identify was 351-102514, which clearly translates to a 1973 RD350.

We also have a free Tech-Support discussion area, where you can seek help.  Just post whatever question you might have.  Others with more experience will often post answers to your questions in the discussion area - so check back often to get answers.

So......this site was built to help the average motorcycle enthusiast that may not have the latest & greatest bike to ride - we're here to help and provide support.

Thanks,
Joe