Advice please - Norton Dominator

[dave55]

Also .....Insurance springs to mind, would your bike be covered if left outside............would your insurance cover you if his got nicked from your shed and owner wants paying for it ?

[Greybeard]

dave55, insurance hadn't occurred to me; bugger!

[Sluggo]

I have told people to part out their projects and buy a completed bike as it will save them money in the long run 
But most have some sentimental (real or imaginary)reason to want to proceed 

John

I agree with everything you said except for the quote above,  Progress payments are standard in the vintage bike repair and resto trade.  Have everything in writing!   It may seem over the top to do that, but believe me, down the road you will be glad you did if things go bad.  MAKE the owner sign the repair order, estimates and or billings.  This clears you if a dispute arises later.
A reasonable explanation about WHY should be acceptable and if not run, dont walk away as you just dodged a bullet.
If the person is fair they actually SHOULD appreciate your diligence and professionalism and I am famous for having "Good Buddy" deals go south so I speak from experience.

Now,,, the above statement about parting out a classic,    NO , NO NO Nein, Nyet, Yok!, NEVER, NO NO NO NO!

There are literally TONS and TONS of orphan parts out there, DO NOT PART OUT a Classic under any circumstances!  Numbers matching or factory matched bikes are fewer and fewer, and It drives me literally mad to have collected parts for 10-15 and 20 years to restore or rebuild a basket case only to see some F**King Idiot parting out a better example on ebay.  Way too many idiots doing that.  I have bought up barns full of old bikes to save them from scrappers and fly by night ebay flippers who just want to part them out in the misguided notion they make more than selling it as a whole project or basket case.

Unless its a late model Ducati,,, those bring serious coin even down to the screws and hardware.   Some morons rationalize they are doing the community a favor by providing parts.  BULL PUCKEY!  I can point you right now to warehouses FULL of parts,, I have 3 40 foot shipping containers packed full right here.  (I did NOT part out those bikes and been BUILDING those parts INTO bikes.

If you cant manage the project then sell it on to another true enthusiast who will, But dont part out classics.

and if someone needs to see a spread sheet on why parting out a classic does not add up, let me know.

Math,, its Brutal.

[Black Sheep]

Ah yes, my pet hate. In the publication Real Classic there is a contributor who goes by the name of Odgie who happily takes  good, standard classic bikes and strips and hacks them into varieties of ratbike, selling the standard bits on eBay. Now, if he were to take orphaned bits and build a ratbike fair enough, but a good, unmnolested standard machine? I fear I will not be renewing my subscription. End of rant.

[Sluggo]

Ah good, at least someone agrees.  I know of 2 local shops that back in the day were known to swap out good parts on your bike in for service for poor quality repops, Certain Lucas lenses are still hard to source and your bike would come back with a generic copy.  Same with other stuff.  One of the guys also did a lot of HD stuff and karma killed him dead.  A grinding wheel exploded in his shop and pierced his heart. Initially the investigation was gunshot.  The list of suspects encompassed most of the MC community so the cops were relieved it was death by misfortune.  Cant say anyone misses that pr*ck.(nary a tear was shed)

There is currently a 57 BSA being parted by a guy in Texas, shame as it looked like it might have been a nice bike.  Theres a lot of ebay sellers parting classics as well.  I got yelled at by some of the members when I pointed out a Norton P11 being parted out on another forum.  Those are far too rare to part out.

I have saved a number of bikes from chopper-dom as well, traded them well over the value to save them.  My 1966 T120C Triumph was simarily saved. I was upfront with the owner of how rare and valuable it was. He was happy to trade. (Win-win) Also my 1965 TR6SC same deal. 

We have a local guy known as "Trader Dave" and his son TD jr,, known as "Killer of cool bikes"  that guy has NEVER completed a project except to slap something together to sell. Most of the time just parts them out.
It is depressing to see him at a swap meet (Auto jumble) buying up parts and before I even arrive home he has the same parts at grossly inflated prices on ebay.  Nothing wrong with capitalism, but to troll a local swap meet for ebay merchandise at gross markups is sketchy at best and considered bad taste.

I will admit to material needs myself,, but I draw a serious line about certain conduct.  Trader Dave is so well known theres dozens of stories about him locally but one of the most telling is the local BMW Airheads barley therapy group who took a vote and said he should be killed and buried. None of them would ever actually follow thru, but the concept that SOMEONE should was passed without objection.

"Killer of cool bikes!"  Many lament they wished he would just get into real estate or Beanie Babies.  Sorry,, rant mode now off. carry on.

[coater87]

 Speaking of this,

 I no longer see M.B.Transits on E-Bay.

[dave55]

Hes still there coater, looks to have changed his user name recently to Classic Brit Parts or something similar, you will recognise his adds when you see the price 

[chaterlea25]

Hi All,
Nowhere did I suggest parting out matching number original bikes

The "things" I suggested to part out could not be described as "classics" or were in any way original
Best description would be POS 

I have spent the last 13 years tracking down and in some cases going to extraordinary lengths to replicate damaged
and missing parts for the project that I take my user name from on here and other forums

In most cases nowadays  my work is repairing and making /modifying parts for other peoples restoration projects
Its much more mentally rewarding to be able to turn around smaller mini projects in a shorter time frame
Having complete restoration projects sitting around for long periods is head wrecking

John

[Rex]

Ah yes, my pet hate. In the publication Real Classic there is a contributor who goes by the name of Odgie who happily takes  good, standard classic bikes and strips and hacks them into varieties of ratbike, selling the standard bits on eBay. Now, if he were to take orphaned bits and build a ratbike fair enough, but a good, unmnolested standard machine? I fear I will not be renewing my subscription. End of rant.

He's a weird one alright. On FB he started ranting at me as I said I didn't like some new H*nda factory custom (it was the subject under discussion) and how I was stuck in some rivet-counters time-warp etc etc. All tripe, I just didn't like that bike, or indeed the tripe he serves up generally.
He's muellering the Be-Jesus out of some poor A65 at the moment....

[cyclobutch]

Ah yes, my pet hate. In the publication Real Classic there is a contributor who goes by the name of Odgie who happily takes  good, standard classic bikes and strips and hacks them into varieties of ratbike, selling the standard bits on eBay. Now, if he were to take orphaned bits and build a ratbike fair enough, but a good, unmnolested standard machine? I fear I will not be renewing my subscription. End of rant.

He's a weird one alright. On FB he started ranting at me as I said I didn't like some new H*nda factory custom (it was the subject under discussion) and how I was stuck in some rivet-counters time-warp etc etc. All tripe, I just didn't like that bike, or indeed the tripe he serves up generally.
He's muellering the Be-Jesus out of some poor A65 at the moment....

I presume that it is this bloke ...? I'd not heard of him before.

http://www.odgie.com/

[Sluggo]

I had never heard of him either, and quite sure he has never heard of me.  But that was an interesting site.
Entertaining but seems he managed to race a lot and interesting history.  But repeatedly advocates the benefit of sniffing glue so that explains a great deal.

[Black Sheep]

That's the one. He repeatedly sacrifices safety for style (in my opinion). I have written to Real Classic with my concerns and indeed they published my letter - but no response from Odgie. However in the latest issue when there were some very pointed comments about, putting it politely, unadventurous and conservative motorcyclists who should read no further. That would be me I reckon. Each to their own I suppose.     

[Sluggo]

Trust me you are not the first to complain or point out that guys issues. I am certain he has been hearing it all his life and actually thrives on doing what aggravates others.

Never met the guy or heard of him before know but have known a lot of others just like him.
In fair disclosure I have at times been a wee bit over the top myself.  When I think people are a bit too conservative I have (Ahem,,, ) been known to poke the bear as they say.
I try to reign it in but some people are too stodgy NOT to have some fun riling them up.

But let me give you an example of a local guy who strongly resembles your Odgie over there.  I used to be good friends with this local version (Jeff K) but after a while he became so unhinged and irrational it went from being entertaining and fun to be genuinely painful and unpleasant.

Jeff K was in our Norton club and the most decidedly unconventional.  Openly challenging any sort of authority, advocated anarchy and was just generally weird.   All sorts of pranks and adventures but the one I found most amusing is we have one guy who is wound so tight he is off the charts controlling, OCD and generally unpleasant. He does have some talents and skills but of course no one can compare or is as superior as he is.  So one day (Ill call him G).  G rants about Jeffs bike which of course is ratty, leaks oil and is a rat bike.  This is a regular thing and he complains about it for even existing.   Jeff one day went out to a fabric store and purchased Tartan plaid fabric and some contact adhesive.   He covered the bikes fenders, tank and side covers in this plaid.  Looked kinda cool in many peoples opinion.

So then Jeff makes a point of parking RIGHT next to Gs immaculate Norton of course which just enrages G.  Everyone has a good laugh of course.  The more angry G got, the more Jeff enjoyed it.   Some years back on Brit Iron there is a guy who works in Japan and while visiting here in the US as well as riding his motorcycle he rarely gets to enjoy he went on a outing with our club.  He wrote on Brit Iron about this scruffy madman who rode like a lunatic on a Tartan plaid norton while smoking some funny cigarettes clenched in his jaw while at speed.  He said between the oil smoke and the smell of that wacky tobaccy it was quite an experience.   We all knew exactly who he was talking about.  (Jeff rolled his own ciggys and they were 50% tobacco and 50% medical grade pot). 

So, yep,, I know that type quite well. Complaining about them does no good.  Look up
"Oppositional defiance" 

[coater87]

 Huh,

 That guy has been wrecking bikes for a long time.