Another load of vintage bikes/parts to be lost forever

[ghostrider]

 I was witness to a disturbing site during the week, some several tonnes of dirt/road bikes mostly 70 thru to mid 90 stuff about to be melted down for coathangers at Newcastle.I noticed this at Sims metal recyclers at Cooragang depot ,when I enquired about trying to stop this vast booty of dirt bike treasures being sent to the void, management cited legal / ohs compliances that will not allow purchase or removal from the depot ( in short once the stuff lands at the recyclers that where it will remain until its munched.
   I thought about posting photos ,but I feel it would offend the many enthusiasts of the vintage movement.The sheer amount of stuff both rare and common astounded me ,surely it could have  been put to a higher use rather than knives and forks for the now generation.As it turns out one of the local Newcastle wreckers was liquidated and the stock that it held was cashed for scrap.What astounds me is that recycling old materials can take many forms (ie reusing  parts in restorations)why then do the powers that be consider the massive power consumption to collect ,burn,shred,munch,compress etc etc these parts environmently friendly??Surely there must be a way to curtail/save these rarities from being lost forever.....

[Canam370]

Sure the parts can be saved....buy them from the business while they are trading. Not purchasing locally leads to this sort of event. Don't forget to support your locals even though we all buy O/S.

[jimson]

I got the wife from oversea's and I'm still paying for it :'( jimson

[Canam370]

amazing how much trouble a stamp can get you into

[jimson]

NO this one is from the Mother country  jimson

 It only went to scrap because the person that was doing the deed didn't know or care its like when you see old cars on the back of trucks going to the same place. Some of them cars look better than ones I've driven in the pass. jimson

[paul]

ive seen all that stuff in photos ,when the owner off the building wanted too sell the lot

[Nathan S]

Wreckers are usually f$%king morons who deserve to go out of business.

Eg1: Local bike wrecker had a pretty reasonable DT250A, with the ignition removed and low on compression.
How much for the whole lot? "$700". Nah, thanks but no thanks - I was thinking more like $250. "Yeah, fair enough, but we can get so much more for it in pieces".
Sounds fair, right?
Three weeks later, the f#$kers scrapped it, and would have been lucky to get $20 for it. And this wrecker is also a Yamaha dealer, so they'd make even more money from me buying new bits for it...

Eg2: Another wrecker has an incomplete YZ125C, with some nice bits on it. I picked it as being worth ~$400.
How much for the wheels? "Not going to wreck it, I want to sell it complete".
OK, how much complete? "Oh, it'd have be $800 because its worth that in parts".
WTF?

And don't get me started on car wreckers!

Look, I understand the issues in making such a business profitable, but these guys all seem hell-bent on making one particular business model work: Huge mark-ups and hope like buggery that you can get some turn over. And if business gets slow, then aim for even higher mark-ups and somehow assume that this will attract more customers? 
They rarely ever seem to recognise/value their repeat customers.
They also rarely value their old bike loving customers who generally know what they're looking at/for and aren't stupid enough to expect warranty on a 35 year old part.

None of which takes away from the senseless waste of old bike bits as happened today. That particular screw up usually relates to liquidators (or who-ever) being lazy/indifferent/not understanding liability laws.

[shorelinemc]

on this note i am having cleanout/clearance/garage sale at my shop i need the space  13 feb

[colmoody]

Whilst I dont Nathan's experience with said Wreckers lets not be in to much of a hurry to bag them all out.

[frostype400]

I thought about starting a wreckers once then I thought I wouldnt be able to sell anything so I would be no good at it I would want to keep every thing.

[colmoody]

Nothin wrong with that Frosty.

[colmoody]

Anyway cutting to the chase, I am in the process of wrecking out an about 1982 Ducati 900 Darmah so if there is any Beville Drive nutters out there give me a hoy via pm. Most parts avail inc running engine. (yes you can hear it running).

Am pretty busy work wise at the moment but this thing/parts will probably end on ebay in the next month or so.

[maicoman]

PM sent

[Mick22]

Wreckers are usually f$%king morons who deserve to go out of business.

Lets not tar them all with the same brush, the couple I deal with who are both forum members, are switched on especially with vintage stuff and have reasonable prices

[Nathan S]

Wreckers are usually f$%king morons who deserve to go out of business.

There are good ones out there, but I doubt anyone will argue that they're the minority.

----------------------------

I've often heard the complaint that customers are turning away from wreckers because they really want new parts at discount prices - that the majority of customers won't even consider adapting bits, nor will they accept 'functional but imperfect' parts.

The flip side is to look at the success of the "Pick 'n' Payless" type of car wreckers. That business model works because it recognises that the majority of REAL customers at a wrecker are prepared to look outside the square, and happy to adapt parts for their application - but only if they get the parts at a reasonable price. And they they like to touch and feel before buying.
(As an aside, a car wrecker in Wollongong closed down. A mate and I had been going there for years, but the first time we got to wander the yard was during the closing down sale. We got a huge pile of valuable stuff that they're previously denied having...  Stuff like RX-2 steering wheels, RX-3 tail-lights etc etc....
Similarly, wandering at JDK got me a nice YZ250A seat that they didn't know they had...).

The bike wrecker mentioned in my first example (in my previous post) has received several thousand of my dollars in the last five years. I've always tried to be a 'low stress' customer. But every time I ask for a part, its the same bullsh game:
1. A gormless teen is sent out the back to look for the part I want.
2. Gormless teen returns with a part that is obviously wrong.
3. I explain why its not the right part (sometimes it almost becomes an argument - I've worked out that I need to say "Well, whatever bike I've got, this is not the right part for it. But I know what the right part looks like").
4. Manager then gets the gormless teen to escort me out the back to look for correct part. Gormless teen will always be in a super hurry, and is VERY reluctant to let me actually check the parts properly.
5. With the correct part in hand, we return to the frount counter.
6. The manager gives me a price, which is usually outrageous, and usually justifed (in part) by "But its taken more than half and hour of [gormless teen]'s time to get you this part".  FFS! 

The ONLY reason I go there is because they are the only local wrecker.

Its funny - someone like Roy Dale knows his old bikes far better than most wreckers, but he can acknowledge that some of his customers know more about the bikes they're interested in than he does....