RE: [CR]re: wrap or unwrap, that is the question..

(Example: History:Ted Ernst)

In-Reply-To: <002001c6c234$272df8d0$6401a8c0@oemcomputer>
From: "R.S. Broderick" <rsb000@hotmail.com>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: RE: [CR]re: wrap or unwrap, that is the question..
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 18:52:34 -0500
cc: chasds@mindspring.com

Charles,

I must say that I whole heartedly agree with what I believe to be your very pragmatic approach to the whole ride-it-or-don't-ride-it conundrum regarding the Raleigh International currently listed for sale on eBay. That said, your example of those NOS Masis that John Barron sold a while back posing a slightly different concern from your perspective wherein "...losing that much money to ride a NOS bike a few times would trouble me", serves to underscore the relativity of the whole matter. How many among us think absolutely nothing about (...or at least are not seriously dissuaded from) spending $30,000 or $40,000 or even $50,000 or more for a brand new automobile whose value is to an even greater degree seriously depreciated in actual dollar terms (...although not necessarily percentage terms) the minute we drive it off the dealer lot?

Realizing that the specifics of the story I am about to relate do not involve cycling per se, nevertheless, I firmly believe that it is well suited to illustrate my point. I remember a conversation that I had a few years back with gentleman who had been flogging his Tipo 61 Maserati Birdcage (...with historic racing pedigree, fair market value being somewhere around $1.5 to $2.0 million USD) around SIR at the annual vintage races back in Seattle. While most of us drove our vehicles around the track with great enthusiasm, we were still mindful of not putting ourselves in a position so as to unnecessarily imperil our rolling treasures. On the other hand, this gentleman was more than a bit aggressive in pushing his beautiful Birdcage around the course in hot pursuit of a 1963 factory alloy bodied Corvette Stingray owned by Vic Edelbrock Jr. Eventually, the unthinkable happened wherein he managed to shunt the Maserati into a guard railing, spinning it around twice before sliding across the track and slamming back-assward into the catch fence near the official's tower. Beyond the obvious damage to the exterior body panels, all of the delicate tube framing along the driver's side and the back of the car was seriously damaged as a result of the accident. When I caught up with him later on in the pits, he was almost nonchalant about the whole incident. Not quite understanding his overly calm demeanor (...personally, I would have been in tears had I been in his shoes), I pressed him regarding his unflappable manner. And that is when he said something to me that I will never forget. In effect, his position was that the provenance and therefore the true value of his vehicle lay in its serial numbers and that any and everything else on the car could be replaced, refurbished, or simply built again from scratch given the financial incentive and wherewithal - so why not enjoy it to the fullest extent by putting it to use as originally intended?

Getting back to the Raleigh that started this whole thread, your statement that "...whoever bought that International should build it up and ride it. TheĀ…(financial)...loss is modest, but the enjoyment considerable" is absolutely spot on - only so long as the purchaser's economic paradigm approximates that of your own. Those whose fiscal wherewithal differs, however, may not share your perspective - just as you view as untenable the prospect of taking a recently purchased NOS Masi and turning its cranks in anger.

Robert "I would say that Albert Einstein was relatively smart" Broderick ...the "Frozen Flatlands" of South Dakota

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>From: "c. andrews" <chasds@mindspring.com>

>To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>

>Subject: [CR]re: wrap or unwrap, that is the question..

>Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 12:34:26 -0700

>

>Ed wrote:

>

>That's why at some point, I'd open a bottle of

>Chateauneuf-du-Pape, put some Bill Evans on the CD player,

>and open that bad boy and put it together. Then, I'd go for

>a Christmas-morning-type ride (after sobering up, of

>course). And I wouldn't regret the consequent drop in value

>one iota, nor what I'd paid for the experience.

>

>Ed Granger

>Lancaster, PA, USA

>One NOS bike in my collection my size, and not yet sure of

>its destiny

>

>*******

>

>Seems to me doing this with that Raleigh is not a big deal.

>If you pay $1600 for it, (including shipping), save all the

>original packing, build it up and ride it lightly, don't

>damage it, you'd probably be able to sell it for nearly a

>grand any time. Internationals seem to command prices

>somewhat beyond what I'd expect, but it is a fact...so you

>don't lose very much by building and riding it, and you do

>get a lot of pleasure out of it, the way Ed would go about

>it.

>

>I think the problem is much more interesting when you

>consider the NOS Masis John Barron was selling awhile back.

>Now *those* presented a puzzle. You'd pay around, what?

>5.5K for one? Something like that. If you build it up and

>ride it, you'd be lucky to get 3K for it (they were TALL

>bikes too, so the market would be even thinner than it

>already is)... losing that much money to ride a NOS bike a

>few times would trouble me, but if you have plenty of money

>already, maybe even that's not much of a problem.

>

>It's moments like these when I realize that our little

>obsession is really very inexpensive compared to just about

>any other sort of serious collecting jones.

>

>I say, whoever bought that International should build it up

>and ride it. The loss is modest, but the enjoyment

>considerable.

>

>Charles Andrews

>SoCal

>

>

>"It's impossible to make a man

>understand something when his

>livelihood depends on him not

>understanding it."

>

>-Upton Sinclair