Topic: Fixture in my life is coming to a close

[eigenvector]

Sad to hear this - but Bent Bike in Auburn is closing in a couple of weeks.

Went down there to see what was going on and if they had any projects for me to work on - sadly they're closing their doors.

It's a good time to pick up items you might need - since they're closing they have to let go of most everything.  I grabbed a carb bank and a CDI (just in case) and next week I'll be back to see what else is around.  But for all you SOHC'ers in Seattle, stop by the place and take a look they still have a ton of hard to find parts and even entire engine cores.

I'm really bummed about this.  I never liked the place in Lynnwood - this place was friendly and open

[BomberMann650]

Sad to hear this - but Bent Bike in Auburn is closing in a couple of weeks.

Went down there to see what was going on and if they had any projects for me to work on - sadly they're closing their doors.

It's a good time to pick up items you might need - since they're closing they have to let go of most everything.  I grabbed a carb bank and a CDI (just in case) and next week I'll be back to see what else is around.  But for all you SOHC'ers in Seattle, stop by the place and take a look they still have a ton of hard to find parts and even entire engine cores.

I'm really bummed about this.  I never liked the place in Lynnwood - this place was friendly and open

I got dibs on the 550F motor, sales guy even put my name on it!

Its kinda sad the Auburn location is closing.  Seems the ownership decided to focus all the attention on the Lynwood store.

Where did you find a carb bank?!

[eigenvector]

They have like 50 of them sitting in a back room.

The carb bank is for my Nighthawk - not my 550K.  I'm sure there's something usable for a 550 though, like I say - they have a ton of them.

Ton of regulators, rectifiers, starters, handlebar switches, control cables - you name it.  You just have to ask.

[BomberMann650]

They have like 50 of them sitting in a back room.

The carb bank is for my Nighthawk - not my 550K.  I'm sure there's something usable for a 550 though, like I say - they have a ton of them.

Ton of regulators, rectifiers, starters, handlebar switches, control cables - you name it.  You just have to ask.

Lol, asking for specific products at bent bike usually got me some  finger pointing in a general direction and a "good luck"

There was  tons of nighthawk stuff to be found at bb auburn.

On the plus side, lynwood bent bike is gonna have even more old stuff to dig through!

Not so much 550F stuff.  Rare unobtainium
Except these guages, they made me think of jwilde and his post-apocalyptic fetish.

[BomberMann650]

If anyone needs carbs for their CB's they've got almost one of each type in that back room.

Except 069A's - I was disappoint.

Got my motor and an extra rockerbox today tho.  $104 otd

[mickvain]

Will have to head down this week. They had everything I needed to finish restoring a 71 Cb100 a few years back.

[74cb750]

Do they have a carb bank for a 1976 cb750? 1974 cb550? price?

[flybox1]

If I wasn't so far north, I'd go.  Lynnwood site sucks.
Maybe they'll move the leftover inventory up this way once doors close for good.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Except these guages, they made me think of jwilde and his post-apocalyptic fetish.

Fetish? I think it was more like laziness at cleaning up the bike.  In the end, he was combining semi-polished hubs with new spokes and rims on that rat 350F.  New wheels are not very dystopian/post-apocalyptic. 

[flybox1]

Fetish? I think it was more like laziness at cleaning up the bike.  In the end, he was combining semi-polished hubs with new spokes and rims on that rat 350F.  New wheels are not very dystopian/post-apocalyptic.

Yeah, that's a head-scratcher 

[BomberMann650]

Except these guages, they made me think of jwilde and his post-apocalyptic fetish.

Fetish? I think it was more like laziness at cleaning up the bike.  In the end, he was combining semi-polished hubs with new spokes and rims on that rat 350F.  New wheels are not very dystopian/post-apocalyptic.

Did he get banned again?  I must've missed something after the hub polishing and pipe wrapping thread.

If I wasn't so far north, I'd go.  Lynnwood site sucks.
Maybe they'll move the leftover inventory up this way once doors close for good.

I hear thats the plan.  After they sell as much as they can and toss out stuff thats not worth keeping.

My pops dumpsterdove some old tubes to pad the parts motor on the truck ride home

[eigenvector]

If I wasn't so far north, I'd go.  Lynnwood site sucks.
Maybe they'll move the leftover inventory up this way once doors close for good.

No such luck.  I stopped by Lynnwood at lunch to pick up a shift lever for the Nighthawk.  Looks like they're tossing all their outside parts into a huge dumpster.  Seattle Metals is going to have a huge haul I think. 

[754]

I don't think he will show in the wrap thread at least for a while..
Has greater interest in always looking good or informed, rather than sit back, listen, watch learn..part of the process is making mistakes..how you deal with that..determines how you will be received. By other members.
 While what I just wrote is not the nicest thing to say, I doubt he will see it..because. Instead of reading up and learning stuff,  he is more concerned about post he started and how he looks on them.. It gets hard to help some people.

 When are local. Wrecker closed we hauled about 12 pickup loads out of there... That ends up being a blessing,  and a curse..

[eigenvector]

Truth be told.  In many ways I can understand why it's closing.  Their inventory had been picked pretty clean and I have to believe craigslist and e-bay were eating their lunch.  As for hauling off the excess - again I can understand to a certain extent.  How many Kawi and Suzuki forks do you need to stock?  How many shifters or exhaust headers do you really need on hand.  Probably not that many.  A little slash and burn of inventory is probably warranted every now and again.  They won't have as much left, but the stuff they do have will be that much easier to sell I bet.

I'll still bop in the Lynnwood store now and again.  One of the things I liked about Auburn was that you could go out back and browse the junker bikes.  The engineer in me prefers putting them together from scratch rather than cleaning up someone else's work.  I guess the Lynnwood store just dealt with too many 5-finger discount customers and had to be a little less open.  If I was in their position I might act the same.

[BomberMann650]

Right Eigen?!!  How many metric wiring harnesses are just lumped on the floor at the end of honda row?!  It's absurd almost.

I could see keeping things that routinely get smashed in accidents.

I've considered offering some web inventorying and sales service to BB, but the vibe I get is they arent interested.  Even if it means losing money and holding onto a part indefinitely.

[eigenvector]

Well partly my comment came from a little recognition that I am being unfair to them.  I really shouldn't crap my mouth off like that.

I do think they could junk quite a bit and be better off for it - but it's not my company and they've been around for a long time.  I'm sure they know what they're doing better than I.

Like I say - I'll drop by every now and again and see what's what.  Who knows maybe I'll find a junked Sabre that they'd part with for cheap?

[Duanob]

If I wasn't so far north, I'd go.  Lynnwood site sucks.
Maybe they'll move the leftover inventory up this way once doors close for good.

Although Auburn was close to my work I thought the Lynnwood store was way better. No wonder they didn't want any of my parts! I offered a box of CX500 parts for $10 store credit kind of joking and he said he didn't have the room for any more parts. Thought it was kind of weird but now it all makes sense. Damn the south end is being gutted of motorcycle stores. No more motoplex in Renton, no more Bent Bike Auburn, Dewey's and British Bob's closed a few years ago. What's a rider supposed to do around here?

[BomberMann650]

Like I say - I'll drop by every now and again and see what's what.  Who knows maybe I'll find a junked Sabre that they'd part with for cheap?

I know a guy trying to sell a sabre

[flybox1]

If I wasn't so far north, I'd go.  Lynnwood site sucks.
Maybe they'll move the leftover inventory up this way once doors close for good.

Although Auburn was close to my work I thought the Lynnwood store was way better. No wonder they didn't want any of my parts! I offered a box of CX500 parts for $10 store credit kind of joking and he said he didn't have the room for any more parts. Thought it was kind of weird but now it all makes sense. Damn the south end is being gutted of motorcycle stores. No more motoplex in Renton, no more Bent Bike Auburn, Dewey's and British Bob's closed a few years ago. What's a rider supposed to do around here?

Honestly, I havent been to Lynnwood in about 1.5 years.  Guys were d!cks there last time.  Maybe I just caught them on a bad day.
I have the day off Friday...maybe i'll swing by after I shoot these 550 tins.

[BomberMann650]

What's a rider supposed to do around here?

Do ya want me to answer that?  Sure?  Yeah - here's what i believe most people around pierce co so king would say.

*disclaimer; I'm a so thurston/n lewis guy*

"Drive a car...idiot"

Oy vey

[BomberMann650]

Seems Bent Bike took out a television ad.

Saw it on kiro7 just now.

[ekpent]

If I wasn't so far north, I'd go.  Lynnwood site sucks.
Maybe they'll move the leftover inventory up this way once doors close for good.

Although Auburn was close to my work I thought the Lynnwood store was way better. No wonder they didn't want any of my parts! I offered a box of CX500 parts for $10 store credit kind of joking and he said he didn't have the room for any more parts. Thought it was kind of weird but now it all makes sense. Damn the south end is being gutted of motorcycle stores. No more motoplex in Renton, no more Bent Bike Auburn, Dewey's and British Bob's closed a few years ago. What's a rider supposed to do around here?

  Why are these stores closing or are they relocating somewhere else asks the guy from Michigan.

[BomberMann650]

Ekpent,

It's the rain.  Maybe sudden skyrocketing of rental prices

The powersports industry is kind of suffering in washington.
Motorized Outdoor recreation is a hot topic around here.  Legislators are basically trying to criminalize ATV's, whilst simultaneously fooling people into thinking their turbo-charged rzr's can be made street legal.

It pisses me off.

[eigenvector]

I asked the owner about it actually.

He didn't fill me in with all the details - but he named e-bay and craigslist for eroding his customer base and he mentioned that his landlord basically told him his rent was either going to go up or the land would be sold.

I can't imagine junkyards do too well - once you have what you need, you don't typically need to keep coming back (unless you love junkyards like I do).

[RAFster122s]

I've seen a lot of junkyards located in land that was usually not suitable for housing, flooding or high noise areas like freeways adjacent with no interchange for access nearby.  The yards in GA that are pick and pull places vary, some had gravelled lots and everything was tidy and neat. Then another yard was overgrown with grass and had a few copperheads to be wary of... Moved a tire with my leg when working on a car to pull a part out of the driver's side and there was a small copperhead at my feet. He didn't move or bother me, but I was lucky he didn't bite me.  Wheel was flat on the ground and I used a leg to lift and slide it over. Looked down after my friend told me there was a snake at my feet and I see this 12-16 inch small copperhead coiled up in a circle probably was sleeping there. I hate snakes so I made haste climbing into the car.  They had the car up on steel rims welded to one another/ one flat and the other on edge.
David