We hear people talking about barn finds all the time and we usually take those stories with a grain of salt. They usually start like this, hey man an old guy told me about this barn with 7 Vincent Black Shadow factory race bikes, I got there and they were all there in perfect condition and all running.
I bought three of them for $99.99 but I immediately sold them without taking pictures for millions of dollars, and subsequently gambled all the money away and am back as poor as ever bumming beers and cigarettes off my chopper bros because it's not about the money it's about the chopper glory! This is not one of those stories, this one is entirely true, only the names and dates and most all other pertinent facts have been changed to protect the guilty.
It all started innocently enough, we were in the middle of our daily safety briefing when the phone rang. We answered and much to our surprise it was someone with an old Triumph they were looking to sell. I say much to our surprise to be ironic, because our phone rings a lot with folks trying to sell ratty old bikes to us for way more than they could ever be worth, but we oblige and listen to their stories of how Uncle Roscoe rode this back in the 70's and raced every Harley on the East Coast and beat them good, but Uncle Roscoe hurt his leg and couldn't ride anymore so the bike got pushed to the bottom of a lake where it's been sitting for the past 25 years waiting it's glorious restoration.
The callers had found us on the world wide interwebs and appreciated our work with vintage British iron and chose to offer the bike to us. The bike had belonged to a family member who had passed away and had been left in the shed for over 30 years. The caller was very fair and understood the value of what they had and were very reasonable to deal with. A price was agreed upon and a date set to go pick up the bike.
Upon arrival at the predetermined location we found the bike, in the corner of a shed, covered in filth, years of rat turds and cob webs. It was definitely all there, but didn't appear to be in the best of condition. We tried to kick it through and of course no luck. The price was renegotiated and both parties were satisfied with the amount and the bike got loaded into The Factory Metal Works Pick Up And Delivery Vehicle for it's first ride in 30 years, albeit in the back of a truck, but a ride nonetheless.
Once we got the bike back to the shop and removed from the delivery vehicle ever so gently, we gave the old girl a good inspection. We got out the soap and water and soaked it down several times with cleaners of many varieties. After allowing the cleaners to soak in for an hour or so we started rinsing and wiping the bike off and were absolutely amazed at how well the filth had kept the bike protected from the elements. It has the usual small surface rust in some areas, paing is peeling in some areas, but overall its a hard 4 out of 10 and that aint too bad for a bike that has been in a barn for over 30 years. You be the judge, check out the pictures after we rinsed it off and wiped it down. Of course no one thought to get before pictures.