How to Score at the Swapmeet

Don't you hate going to a cycle swap only to find all the good parts snatched up quickly. Well, with this guy its ok because he appears to be grabbing all the cheesy mid 70s chopper junk and hopefully leaving behind the Bates solos seats and p-pads along with the Flanders risers! Though I would have to admit competing with a dude who runs a permed afro and striped leisure slacks while riding a rectangle skateboard might be slightly more interesting?












For all you Harley super sleuths, the above two articles by Randy Smith (from early 70s Choppers Magazines) will better help you navigate the local m/c swapmeets in search of treasured parts! You'll have to add a zero digital to all the prices Randy is quoting to equate with today's values.

Rigid Shovel & Pan

First of all, these bikes are not amazing customs but I like the side-by-side comparison of the shovel motor to pan motor and wishbone frame to straight tubed frame. The dual wideglides with brake set-up on opposite sides is interesting as well. (A reader was nice enough to send me a 1975 Street Chopper Magazine for posts and this picture was inside)

Meatball's Shindig

Frontman Jeff "Meatball" Tulinius belts out the New Wave hits during the "Smiling Face Down" set!


Nice original Harley RL Flathead. I think Mason would have drooled over that muffler set-up.


Here's a neat generator shovel! The small seat and two-to-one pipes were pretty cool as well as the old bayonet zip tied back by the rear passenger peg!


I spoke with Turkey quite a while about his bike here and its cool to see he fabricated the bars, sissybar, cut down ammo/battery box, as well as shot the metalflake paint himself. Those "Bud Ekins" pipes and trials tire up front are pretty sweet! Nice job Turk!


Pictured here is Scott's cone shovelhead alongside Scotty's Triumph. The shovel has an amazing paintjob and some rather cool parts, including a ratchet top shifter and very rare AEE triangle headlight with the blue plastic among other things! Check out Scotty's super skinny rear fender on that trumpet; very cool indeed!


The Turk riding away!


Scotty rides away as I try to decipher the lettering on his helmet.

Armond's Amazing Knucklehead

I know Max had some awesome pictures of this bike on 4Q a couple of months ago so here's one article out of the first issue of Easyrider for anyone who wanted to know more about this amazing custom!

Revell Grease 2 1/25 Scale Triumph & BSA Combo Model Kit

I believe both of these models are 1960s issue that were reissued in this late 70s kit. (picture from Ebay)


The Espanol version is twice as cool! (picture from Ebay!)

Identifying Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs Poster

I saw this poster on Ebay and thought it was kind of random as it appears to be put out by the Fuzz in order for citizens to identify Cycle Gangs. It seems like the identification would be fairly obvious though with the club name on the back in HUGE letters but who knows!(last time I checked this poster was up over $100 with an hour or so left to bid)

P-pad = Frame Pad 4 Sporty Drag

I like the alternative use of this p-pad for providing a bit of comfort to the crouched over drag racer! (from an early 70s Big Bike Mag)

Detailing the Triumph

Check out the chromed frame as well as the short, velocity style header pipes that give this trumpet the reversed head look!


Very cool tank scalloping in the shape of water droplets! The horizontally pleated solo seat and p-pad are king as well!


Tank scooping and a seat fashioned with buttons make this swingarm trumpet a unique show contender. (all pictures above from a 1961 Car Craft Magazine)

Swedish Wild One Poster

This poster is up on Ebay right now but thought the image was pretty cool even though the guy at left doesn't look a thing like Brando!

Cool Panhead

A nice sanitary panhead with high risers coming out of the springer rear legs; very cool! (from an early 70s Big Bike Mag)

A Couple O' Trumpets

How cool is this husband and wife combo with matching swingarm pre-unit triumph customs? (from a mid 60s Modern Cycle magazine)

The "Life Cycle" - Tom Medley

This cool little cartoon comes out of the same 1952 Cycle Magazine with the Hillclimb cover a few posts below. I dug the drawings and I think you might as well!

Stryper - Soldiers Under Command Album - 1985

Albums don't get any better than this one in my opinion! This one's got it all with killer lyrics, screaming vocals, and blazing guitars, not to mention the stretched 80's Van on the cover (in full A-team glory)! (LP photo of the Japanese pressing)

"OL' 79" Decal

Here's a cool original Palo Alto waterslide decal on my license holder tube from Sam Arena. Great old artwork!

Triumph Pre-unit Swingarm - Jeffries Paint

Here's a great original 1958 photo from the Hot Rod & Custom Chronicle from the Hot Rod Magazine photo shoot! Those U-shaped Flanders risers are pretty darn nifty!


Here's the shot that ended up on the 1958 Hot Rod Magazine cover!


Black & Whites from the original article!

Wild Pan

Too bad the resolution on this photo is so crappy but this Pan has really nice and simple lines and is super narrow as well! (from the Wild Angels Movie!)

WR Racer w/ Nifty Spring Shields

I'm curious if these spring shields serve the function of making this front end temporarily rigid for a race or if they were simply used to protect the springs from dirt? If anybody knows I'd be curious! (from the Motorcycle Racing Hall of Fame website)

Ed Roth's Bike Truck Bike

I'm not sure if this is the actual Roth Bike Truck Triumph or a copy. I heard the original may have been one of two sweepstakes bikes Larry Howard built, the first being the Glitter Cycle and the second being this bike that Roth used to build the Truck around. For comparison with an photo from the 60s type in "Bike Truck" under the search window in the upper left to see a picture from an earlier post! (photo taken by Max Wedge at the Detroit Autorama. Thanks Max for the photo ID!)


Another shot of Max's as posted on the Jockey Journal!