Vintage motorcycles are dusted off, polished up and ready for the sale of the half-century

[Omaha Steve]

MATT MILLER/THE WORLD-HERALD

Randy Baxter, owner of Baxter Cycle in Marne, Iowa, crawls over some bikes to get a better look at what’s for sale at Greenfield Honda. “Some of the vintage Honda stuff will bring pretty good money,” he said.


http://www.omaha.com/news/iowa/vintage-motorcycles-are-dusted-off-polished-up-and-ready-for/article_36f61f04-cf8f-558a-9f66-86469b3c9ec6.html

POSTED: TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2015 12:23 AM | UPDATED: 9:14 AM, TUE AUG 4, 2015.
By David Hendee / World-Herald staff writer

GREENFIELD, Iowa — When the first shipment of Honda motorcycles arrived in Greenfield five decades ago, they were stacked three high in wood crates on Ivan Frizell’s flatbed farm truck.

It was the initial wave of shipments of the Japanese-made motorcycles that turned the rural Iowa community into a Honda hotbed for a generation. Frizell and his partners sold the little machines in the shadows of big farm machinery at a little implement dealership, until the motorcycles pushed aside tractors and grinder-mixers for bike buyers from Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri.

When the owners retired in 1992, they closed the doors of Greenfield Honda and walked away, creating a time capsule of about 100 motorcycles — most from the 1970s and ’80s — and countless parts and memorabilia. Now, nearly a quarter century later, the bikes have been washed, cleaned and inventoried for a liquidation sale that auctioneer Yvette VanDerBrink says will attract thousands of potential buyers and others to Greenfield in September.

“You don’t see many of these collections, especially motorcycles,” VanDerBrink said.

FULL story at link. Video: http://studio.omaha.com/?ndn.trackingGroup=91341&ndn.siteSection=omahawh_nws_loc_sty_pp&ndn.videoId=29461765&freewheel=91341&sitesection=omahawh_nws_loc_sty_pp&vid=29461765

[Omaha Steve]

1. Kick

[awoke_in_2003]

2. Not a Honda

But my HD is a 1983
?efg=eyJpIjoidCJ9

[Omaha Steve]

3. Very nice

You will want to read these.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023982834

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024068850

[awoke_in_2003]

4. Thanks

I love old Trumpets (Triumphs)

[Recursion]

7. I just bought this RE

As long as we're doing bike porn...

[awoke_in_2003]

8. I love Royal Enfields. nt

[hunter]

5. Three of my brothers are crazy about motorcycles.

That's just about the time they were craziest about motorcycles too, before they settled down, got married, had kids, and started thinking about their own mortality.

I know exactly the sort who will be excited by this find.

(My own obsessions were computers, rockets, and explosives, the later being perhaps as dangerous as motorcycles.)

[PasadenaTrudy]

6. We still have

a little late 60s or early 70s Honda Mini-trail in our basement. I learned to ride on it! Big ol' knobby tires. I'm sure we could restore it and get it going again. Some day!