Topic: A true barn find

[dhall57]

My youngest son Justin who has a nose for finding old Honda's and works for the Gas Company and today he was riding the gas line checking things out with some maintenance work and ran up on several old sheds, barns. Looked inside and low and behold what looks to be a all there Honda CB350. No one around or in sight so now to try to find the owner of the little twin.

[ekpent]

 That Homelite riding mower looks vintage also and lotsa nice lumber. Wonder what other old stuff lies hidden. Back in the 1960's my Dad started working for the power company as a meter reader and found and bought lots of antiques and met many people while he did that. Some were not so friendly and let the mean dog out when it came time to turn the power off but he had his friendly little baseball bat     

[riverfever]

What a cool find. Wonder how hard it'll be to track down the owner?

[dhall57]

Don't know By the pic doesn't look like anyone has been messing around there for a while.

[Johnie]

Nice find there hall. OEM exhaust included and hope they are as nice on the bottom as they are on top! You have to keep on that one, right? Let us know what you find out. Did he happen to catch the mileage?

[Lostboy Steve]

My youngest son Justin who has a nose for finding old Honda's and works for the Gas Company and today he was riding the gas line checking things out with some maintenance work and ran up on several old sheds, barns. Looked inside and low and behold what looks to be a all there Honda CB350. No one around or in sight so now to try to find the owner of the little twin.

Definitely all in one piece. It really doesn't look bad at all. If you go down to city hall you can usually get a contact number for the owner of the property. Or at least that's what I've been told by a friend who does this.

[Terry in Australia]

Nice! Deceased estate maybe Dwight? I'd want the bike, and the mower! Cheers, Terry.

[Bankerdanny]

That Homelite riding mower looks vintage also and lotsa nice lumber. Wonder what other old stuff lies hidden. Back in the 1960's my Dad started working for the power company as a meter reader and found and bought lots of antiques and met many people while he did that. Some were not so friendly and let the mean dog out when it came time to turn the power off but he had his friendly little baseball bat     

My uncle was a letter carrier in Springfield, IL for a number of years in the mid/late 1970's, he used to do the same thing.

[Johnie]

Dwight must be out hunting this thing down by now... 

[dhall57]

Hadn't had anytime to do any detective work yet Johnie. But what IYO would be the best approach with the owner(who ever that is) on how I found out about this old Honda tucked away in their barn. I was brought up that honesty was they best policy. So just be truthful and tell them my son works for Piedmont Gas and was on the gas line behind their house but was trespassing on their property several weeks ago and went in one of your barns and saw this Honda motorcycle, would you like to sell it. This would more than likely not be the best ice breaker even though its the truth I myself wouldn't be to happy if a stranger came to my door and told me that.

[ekpent]

 Yeah that is a sticky situation. It may be better to tell the person in a letter or in person that a "friend of a friend" who works for the gas company noticed it and told you about it since he knew that you like to collect and restore old motorcycles. I'd keep my Son out of it. A little 'white' lie never hurt anybody unless you got a computer server next to your toilet in the bathroom full of sectrets 

[Johnie]

I agree...I would not tell him about the son working at the gas company. Is there anyway to see it from the road if you drove by there? Or I like the "friend of a friend" mentioned it. All he can say is no. If he says no I would leave him my name and number and tell him to think about it. Let him know what you do to these. I usually bring pics of some of my bikes. These previous owners like to know it is being brought back to life. I even promise them I will bring it by when I get done. Take a bunch of pics of it when you get in the barn and tell him how much you like it. Don't knock it down though. He should know if you tell him you are doing chrome, paint, etc. you are going to be sticking some good cash into it. Title, title, title

[754]

Leave the kid out for sure
First, was any of the bike visible from the gas line ? If so say you heard that someone spotted that, and told you because they knew you collect bikes.
 That would eliminate the trespassing aspect.
 Is it a place hunters would go..you could say they spotted it.
And you can always say you are a collecter and you contact people with old buildings to see if they have, motorcycles, balloon bicycles, parts of either, old motorcycle clothing or advertising.
Myself though I would gas pumps and oil company stuff to the list..
No sense in coming back with a part load..

[754]

You can always say you overheard the hunters in a coffee shop.
If you do make voice contact and they are overly suspicious, give them your name and address.....and explain to them that if you were stealing it you would not be calling.
 If they call, to feel you you out, or to say its not for sale give your name and number..and ask if they know anyone else that might have similar stuff..

Geez. Sounding like an episode of ..Confessions of a Retired Picker.......

[ekpent]

 I used to go with my mother when I was just a little kid and she would just go out in the country and start knocking on peoples doors asking if they had antiques/old things. I was the little helper. Cottages around lakes were good spots also way back then because  people just furnished them with old stuff since a lot were just weekend retreats and vacation places.  My how things and times have changed. I still get out a lot looking for old stuff to this day. I brake for junk piles 

[RAFster122s]

Sometimes gas pipelines cut through properties and the gas line has easement rights but some when very old  may not have today's treatment with it treated like a separate property cutting through the farm.  You don't see fields getting plowed over the lines of course but pasture land is more relaxed.    So, trespassing on the easement isn't really trespassing for those employees. Lots of telecommunications lines would use railway lines and buy area beside the tracks where a derailment wouldn't be likely to dredge it up or similar problems.  A gas line wouldn't be along these paths of course, too much risk naturally. The photo shows light past the wall where the lumber was stacked.  Might be good to ask around at neighboring properties so you can tell them you are looking for old bikes, etc and were asking neighbors in the area as well.  Just don't lie that one of them told you about it if they didn't.  Farming tends to run in families so it could have been a son or daughter's or the owners of the farm, presuming a farm.  Just a thought.  Might be more work but it could reveal more than one barn find.
Just don't educate the owners more than needed. They may go check prices on ebay and think their ship has came in from what some old bikes are listed for and they figure this gem is a was and new tires and some polish from being equal to the "finds" that show up there.
Not recommending you be dishonest or virtually steal a bike by a low low price...
They rarely are a $100 and sweat equity to to have them running and reliable and safe again.  Educating them on the costs involved in points, plugs, condensor, tires, tubes, filters, carb kits, carb cleaning, cable lube or replacement, cleaning and replacing wiring ...especially if mice made a home, etc just to get started down that path can bring them into reality on the investment in just a few parts.  The time involved in cleaning all contacts in the harness,  etc.   New keys as often they have no clue on where the keys would be.  Relining or replacing a tank, grommets for sidecovers, tool kits are very pricey if you want a complete vintage kit if it doesn't have it.
A replacement title is usually easy for an owner to get in many states but it requirestime and forms to be filled out.  Making that aspect easy and directing them to the web site address for those kind of things is good.
David