I wish I had some of the luck fall my way with bikes like you speak of
It's not really luck Ross, most people I know, even my non bike friends and rellys know I'm interested in old bikes so I've basically got a good squad of spotters on the prowl 24/7. The Carabelas came out of left field, the son of my best mate is a school headmaster in a country town and in the process of his duties he gets to meet all sorts of people from all walks of country life. In one of those school related gigs he met a bloke who just happened to be wearing a motorcycle shirt. Patrick mentioned that his dad was into vintage dirt bikes to which the guy replied that "Your dad might be interested in some of the stuff I've got". Patrick, not being the slightest bit interested in bikes wrote down the guys list and emailed it to his dad with a CC to me. Most of the stuff was the usual country fodder of old XLs and DTs but the Carabelas stood out. A quick call had the guy telling me that he's got them from the original owner in Broken Hill who'd bought them as a pair from importer Blair Harley when new. We're still thinking about buying them and will think about it again after I've paid for the new batch of American stuff that's arrived this week. One of the other bikes this bloke has is a real gem, a genuine Royal Enfield Fury 500. These are the rare as shite genuine factory scrambler the factory released for a few months in 1964 or 5.He reckons it's the only one in Australia and seeing they only made 100 or less I wouldn't doubt it.
However, I digress.....
In this little town there's an old gas station with a former wrecking yard behind it that's been shut up for years. The guy who owns the yard told Patrick that in the yard amongst the cars there's 'heaps' of bikes as well as a shed full on another property. He's invited my mate and I to come and check out the stash next time we're out there. I really look forward to that little excursion
. Most of it will surely be ratty old farm bikes but with all 'collections' like that, the law of averages tells us that there's just about always a rose or two amongst the thorns. I found my Triumph Metiss in a pile of wrecking yard shit in Inverell so you never know what you'll find.
The moral of the tale is that it's not luck finding old bikes, it's detective work and following through on leads. There are still shitloads of "barn find" bikes from all eras out there.....cars too so go for it.
