Subject: Was Rubber, now what
Author: Prusnek
Date: Oct 28, 2004, 10:08 PM
Post ID: 1717784768
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2004 11:08:35 -0700 From: "GuyW" <guy-@cox.net> Subject: Re: Was Rubber "But then, what bike company does care about the vintage rider? |
Guzzi booth to bounce on the new bikes, see if they made my ass look
big. A salesman scurried up, and started to give me the talk, which I
was much interested in. While he paused for a breath, I started waxing
poetically about the neat old Ambassador I had just finished restoring.
He said, "Buy a new one" and immediately turned on his heel and walked
away. Hmph! To them it's just old shit, they can't sell them and make
money, so why even bother? You'd think they'd be interested in the
history of the stuff they're selling.
| None? BMW maybe??" |
every BMW. I have a friend who had a Nimbus, he said that parts were
available, although they were in Denmark. To Moto Guzzi dealer credit,
there are a few guys out there (Joe Eish, MG Cycles and others) who
maintain a stock of parts for these goofy old loopframes. I think they
do this on their own initiative without factory support.
When Moto Guzzi was in Atlanta, I made an effort to sell them the
decals I make for the vintage crowd; I was met with less than an
enthusiastic 'No'.
| The now-bankrupt "new" Indian?? :o) (the one we classic Injun aficionados called Undian) They tried mightily to claim the rich history of the Indian Motocycle Company...mostly because they wanted to fleece the gullible who needed to buy baubles, and their mc was nothing but an aftermarket HD in drag.... |
we promptly dubbed 'the souffle head' since the head covers looked like
you could bake in them, or use for a jello mold. They used S&S motors in
the beginning because I think they were legally bound to bring a bike to
market in so many years after buying the license. The previous
pretenders got as far as a wooden indian mockup motorcycle and a bunch
of jackets and t-shirts.
A company called Kiwi Indian just came out with a Chief replica,
pretty faithful to the originals, parts interchange and everything. Kick
start only. One has been road tested back and forth across the country
several times with no problems. This is a real tribute to all the little
aftermarket guys who have come up with the sheetmetal, tanks, and
everything else for these old machines. You can see the engine here:
http://www.kiwi-indian.com/engine/engine.htm
| Matter of fact, most of them threaten, intimidate and sue the repop folks into buying licenses from them....it's only about the $$.... |
couldn't do that unless I signed a waiver and in addition I had to turn
around, crouch down low and say "copyright Harley Davidson" real quick
after each fart. He said they had the sound patented.
John Prusnek
http://myweb.core.com/photos/spajohn@raex.com/