Well it's been a busy couple of weeks. I advertised the RT360 Yamaha and sold it next day to the first of several guys who really wanted it. After sitting for 2 years I was happy that after dropping the carb drain plug and blowing out the main jet, then checking that it had spark, it started after only 3 kicks. The following weekend Spotty and I loaded up his van and headed to a little country town called Maldon, and set up our piles of treasures (referred by my wife as "junk") and I sold the little 1967(?) Honda S90 that I bought from an old farmer who'd had it from new for onlly $50 less than I'd paid for it around the same time I bought the Yam.
Spotty sold out all of his model cars and kits in the first hour, and I managed to sell some other stuff, so we were happy that we'd made the effort and we both went home richer for the experience.
Swap meet 26 November 2023 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
Spurred on by the thought of moving more crap, we loaded up the van in the rain last Saturday, and drove to Llanelley, an even smaller place on Sunday, and set up again. I'd added some more stuff to the pile, including a 1969 Yamaha DS6, an interesting little 250 twin 2 stroke road bike, that I hadn't touched since I bought it, in pieces 2 or 3 years ago. I didn't manage to sell the little Yam, so Spotty and I will put it back together and (hopefully) get it running, and take it to another swap meet in January.
Swap meet Llanelly 3 December 2023 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
Swap meet Llanelly 3 December 2023 1 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
While I didn't sell the little Yamaha, I managed to sell lots of other stuff. Swap meets are great for selling (and buying) cheap stuff, and I've learned that it's better to take a bit less than you'd expect to sell something on Ebay etc, but I'd rather sell something than have to take it home again. Most of the swap meet folks are "grey beards" who are looking for parts to restore their bikes, not buy bikes, unless they're cheap. No one was interested in my Henry Abe wheel are rare NOS Lester 18" front wheel for a CB500-750, which kind of surprised me, same/same for the custom sidecovers that I bought from Joe here and never used. If they're not original, folks don't want them.
I did buy something, as I was wandering around while Spotty watched the site, I spotted a mint front wheel for a CB750. The seller explained that he'd bought a Norton or Laverda (can't remember, I spoke to so many folks over the course of the day) with the Honda front wheel 30 or 40 years ago and immediately removed it and bought the correct wheel for his bike. He only wanted 50 bucks for it, and threw in a nice F1 front caliper, master cylinder and braided lines. I remembered that at the previous swap meet a guy was telling me that he was looking for a caliper, so I put the brake assembly on my table, and sure enough, a little while later the guy wandered up and asked me if I'd remembered to look for one for him, and was really happy to pay me 80 bucks for the assembly. Bargain! I bought everything for 50, sold the brake MC and caliper for 80, so got a free wheel and 30 bucks, which paid for the site fee, entry, and breakfast.
We packed up our reduced stocks of stuff back into the van around midday, tired and dirty, but happy. With 2 years to go before I hang up my spurs work wise, I'll keep doing the swap meet thing, depleting my pile of crap, and putting a few bucks back into my pocket. The more valuable items like the Lester and HA wheel, and some of my bikes are destined for FB Marketplace, Gumtree, or (last option) Ebay. If I can sell one bike per month for the next 2 years, I should get my "fleet" down to a manageable level, so I can park them in my garage and still have room to work on them. Here's hoping.....
