Robbie: Dude, what's up with you today?
Jersey jon: I'm sick of sitting in this passenger seat. Just let me drive, dude.
Robbie: I put in 10 times more miles than you do.
You're used to driving in new jersey,
Hitting freakin' garbage cans and stuff.
Jersey jon: Dude... Robbie: Be quiet.
Jersey jon: I drive in new jersey. You got to be a skilled driver.
You got to go through all these stoplights,
You got to be aware of other people, there's a lot of retirees there.
It's big cities up north, you got to watch what the hell you're doing.
Dude, you're a corncob driver.
Big, wide open spaces, falling asleep at the wheel. Robbie: Jersey.
Jersey jon: All you got to worry about is friggin' driving into a corn field.
Just let me drive for a while, dude.
Robbie: No. It's not going to happen.
Just sit over there. Silencio.
You know what that means? Be quiet.
Jersey jon: What is the big friggin' deal?
Look it, corn field. Just like home, buddy.
What, are you giving me the silent treatment?
Robbie: Are you talking to me?
Jersey jon: Do you know where we're going?
Robbie: We're going to go see a guy named ron.
I talked to dani, she said the guy had some stuff.
He's got toys, soda pop, cars.
And here's the biggie, he's got power wagons.
Jersey jon: Oh no kidding. Robbie: Dodge power wagons.
When you say power wagon, to me, I'm thinking flat fender,
I'm thinking... Jersey jon: Winch on the front.
Robbie: Yeah, the winch on the front. Jersey jon: Yeah. Heavy-duty.
Robbie: It's up here, just past this green garbage can right here.
Jersey jon: Alright. (honks horn)
Jersey jon: Ahh...
(rings doorbell)
Robbie: You ron? Ron: Hi, I'm ron.
Jersey jon: Jon. Robbie: Hi jon.
Robbie: Hey, you talked to dani on the phone?
Ron: Yes.
Robbie: Oh alright. This is the kind of stuff we're looking for.
Ron: I've got one of each, I think.
Robbie: One of everything on the list.
Ron: Yeah. I got a problem. Jersey jon: Show us the problem.
Ron: This is the problem. Jersey jon: Ooh...
Robbie: You ain't kidding. You got some stuff.
Jersey jon: It packed in here, dude.
Ron: I collect almost everything.
Usually stuff from the '50s.
When I was growing up, I was one of six kids.
We didn't have a lot of money,
And you know, got hand-me-down clothes, and hand-me-down toys.
So when I got a job that I could afford things like that,
I bought them. Living my childhood again.
Robbie: So you're a toy guy. Ron: Everything.
I've got to start emptying out this place.
I bought a place up in pennsylvania.
Robbie: Okay. Jersey jon: Wow.
Ron: So, let me get rid of some of this stuff.
I can barely move in this house.
And I'm sort of embarrassed about that.
So it's time to thin the herd.
Jersey jon: So you're trying to empty this place out, right?
Ron: Yes. Jersey jon: What do you got to get for this thing?
Ron: Six pack cooler.
Jersey jon: Six pack coolers are more desirable because of their size.
It's a smaller cooler. It's rarer.
You just don't find six packs.
Robbie: This is the size everybody wants.
Ron: They're worth about 350. Robbie: Yeah.
Ron: Without rust.
Robbie: But that's a retail number.
Jersey jon: That's a retail number, yeah.
Ron: 275.
Jersey jon: (sighs) 250, man.
Ron: We'll do 250.
Jersey jon: Man, thanks, man, I appreciate that. Great piece.
Ron: It is. I loved it.
Mike: I'm headed to wheels through time museum
In maggie valley, north carolina,
Where my buddy, matt walksler has graciously agreed
To help me get five bikes running that I bought in michigan.
I'd pay 135,000 for all the bikes.
That's the 4-cylinder, the '36,
The '24, and the '37
And the '34 chiefs.
Liz: We could do that,
Because we want someone to really appreciate these.
Danielle: Right. Mike: Thank you.
I bought these bikes with the intention of making some money
And getting them back out into the hobby.
Matt: Yo!
Mike: (laughs)
Matt: What the heck you doing, man?
Mike: Matt already has one of the bikes running.
The '36 vl looks good, it sounds good.
And he's doing sidecar wheelies on it.
I'm getting excited. This is encouraging.
Are you in the circus or what, man?
Matt: In the flesh.
Mike: You got it running, you got it running!
Matt: It runs perfect. Mike: Oh my god, does it really?
Matt: Oh my god, I have so much work into this bike, you owe me so much.
Mike: What was the big deal with it?
Matt: The whole transmission was out.
Counter shaft was loose, the shifter forks,
I mean, you couldn't do nothing to get it into gear.
The carburetor came apart, the tank leaks.
Mike: That sounds expensive. Matt: The wiring was all messed up.
Mike: Ahh! Matt: It's a lot of work.
Mike: Working on five bikes, that's not cheap.
So when he starts talking about the shifter fork
And pulling the transmission, and the carburetor falling off,
And the gas tank leaking, I'm excited...
But all those things he's talking about add up to money.
I brought it with me. Matt: You brought it with you?
Mike: I brought it with me. Matt: Oh my god, I love it.
Mike: You can go ahead and touch it.
Before I even come down,
Matt tells me that he needs a '37 knuckle fork.
Matt: Holy cow, man. Mike: Yeah...
Matt: '37.
Mike: I'm hoping he can use it,
Because that adds up to some money.
Matt: So you brought the fork for me,
But man, I'll tell you what, I'm liking the rest of this chassis.
Mike: Well dude, the only thing wrong with this frame
Is the toolbox mount's cut off.
So I know you were talking about us doing some trading
On some of the labor for the bikes on the fork.
But if you're interested in the frame,
We can talk on that too, you know what I mean?
Matt: I'm interested in the frame.
Mike: This chassis, I was hoping
He was going to be interested in, because it all adds up.
Matt: Well, we can talk. We'll make a deal. Mike: Lemme see the rest of em.
Matt: We got a lot of work to do.
Mike: I've known matt since he was eight years old.
His father, dale walksler, was a mentor to me.
This museum was his dream, it was his life.
Dude. Every time I come in here,
I always see something different.
Matt: My dad passed away about two years ago,
And for those that never met him,
He was the look, the feel,
And the energy behind wheels through time.
It's my best goal in life
To run this place just as he would have done.
So the bikes are over here, mike.
Mike: I'm excited.
Matt: Wheels through time houses the premier collection
Of rare american motorcycles, really anywhere in the world.
120-plus years of motorcycle history,
And the best part about it is that everything runs.
Mike: You're not going to have enough room, pretty soon.
People come from all over the world
To experience what dale and matt created here.
And every time you walk into this museum,
It just sets you back on your heels, man,
I mean, it has so much soul.
There's little dioramas where there's 1930s bikes,
And then there's an early motorcycle shop,
And there's a mountain the center of the museum
Where the hill-climb bikes are on it.
Even if you're not into motorcycles,
You're just taken by the art of the display.
Mike: Ahh! Matt: The belly tanker.
Mike: Oh my gosh, is this thing still running?
Matt: This thing runs perfect.
Mike: When I sold the belly tanker to the museum,
I knew it was going to a good place.
Dale: Let's start this thing up. Mike & dale: Wow, woo!
Dale: You got headlights. Mike: They do!
Dale: Your taillights. Mike: The taillight works!
No way!
Matt: The belly tanker is a true piece of american history.
It's a hand-built custom car,
Made out of a motorcycle engine
And an airplane drop fuel tank.
We found so much history on this car.
Mike: Really. Matt: It's unbelievable.
Original pictures with the guy that actually rode it.
Mike: No way! So was it true?
Was it in the mickey rooney movie?
Matt: It was, man, drive a crooked road.
It makes a really cool cameo. Mike: You've seen it?
Matt: The movie's awesome. Mike: Really?
Matt: In black-and-white, he's super young.
Check this out. See the trophy?
Mike: Yeah. Matt: Look at this.
Mike: Where'd you guys get all this stuff?
Matt: It's what we do, man, we're a museum.
Mike: Matt now, and dale,
Have added to that story with a trophy,
The photographs, the literature.
It's like all that adds up into this great experience
For someone to see it.
Matt: Everything arrived in one piece.
Mike: This is the sidecar off the four cylinder, right?
Matt: This is the sidecar off the four.
And they tied the four cylinder off on a stand,
And the side stand was broken right off.
I mean, scary situation.
I got it on the lift right now.
Mike: Can I see that? Matt: The four cylinder's in the shop.
Come check it out.
Robbie: I got to ask, are the toys for sale?
I mean, this is a woody station wagon.
Ron: Possible. Jersey jon: Whoa...
Robbie: See, jersey... Jersey jon: That thing is nice.
Robbie: There's the box right there, yeah.
Ron: And it's a blue one.
Most of them are red. The red one is a dime-a-dozen.
Robbie: Anytime you find a toy from the '50s
In the box, it's magical.
Think about it, most kids get a toy for christmas,
Open the box, and the box was thrown away.
So when you find any type of toy with a box,
It's golden.
What do you think you got to have out of it? With the box.
Ron: With the box? Robbie: Yeah.
Ron: I've seen them go for 900. I'd probably...
Six, with the box.
Robbie: I mean, the scratches, I mean, look at all the-
The kid just scratched the windshield off of there.
Robbie: Um... 475.
You're at 650.
Ron: 550.
Ron: Obviously, I want as much money out of the things
That I've had as possible.
These are things I've had for 20, 30, 50 years.
Robbie: 500.
Ron: Five-and-a-quarter?
Jersey jon: Yeah. Robbie: I'm doing it.
Jersey jon: Cool. That box is killer.
Ron: (fake crying) jersey jon: (laughs)
Jersey jon: It's going to hurt a little bit.
Ron: It's hard selling things,
But I have to get rid of stuff, I got to do something with it.
I can't just let it sit.
Robbie: Car, hey, what about the car haulers?
With the woodys on there? If you want to sell it.
This car hauler, it's from the '50s.
It looks played with, doesn't have the box.
It's just cool to see all the cars on the transport.
It's a great display piece.
How much?
Ron: Three-and-a-quarter, and that includes the cars.
Robbie: That includes two cars. Ron: Yes.
Robbie: I like this because it's pressed tin.
I like the metal on it. It's got the look.
I can't pay three-and-a-quarter.
I think in a retail setting,
300 bucks for this in the store. That's everything.
Yeah, because the condition's, you know, toys are condition.
230 bucks.
I've got to leave something there at the end of this.
Ron: 260.
Robbie: 250.
Ron: (laughs)
Robbie: 250, that's my final offer.
Ron: 255. 5 bucks- I got to get lunch.
Robbie & ron: (laughs)
Robbie: I'll buy you lunch. Ron: Okay, 250 then.
Robbie: 250.
Jersey jon: What are we having for lunch, robbie?
Robbie: Uh, mcdonald's. $1.99.
Ron: (laughs) robbie: Thank you.
Mmatt: So bike's on the lift. Mike: Ahh.
Matt: The stand was broke,
Chris already put the new stand on it,
So that's kind of ready to go.
The indian four cylinder
Has always been the cadillac of motorcycles.
I mean, one of the classiest bikes on the road.
They're incredibly rare.
Mike's bike, the 1940,
First year for skirted fenders
And first year for rear suspension.
Milestone machine.
Mike: God, this thing's cool. Matt: It's a nice bike, man.
The front end on the four cylinder's a 1953 front end,
Which guys did that all the time when they'd run the sidecar,
Because that early leaf-spring front end,
It beat you up pretty good.
The later front end tips the bike up
And gives a little more rake,
And makes it more stable with the sidecar on it.
So where are you at on these five bikes?
Mike: So where I'm at is,
Basically I paid 135 for the bikes,
And then I paid 5,000 to ship them.
So, I'm at 140. So...
Matt: Five bikes, that's 28,000 apiece.
Mike: 28 grand apiece.
And obviously when you look at this thing,
It's worth more than 28 grand depending on how it runs.
Matt: If it runs well.
With all of these bikes, we're going to have to do the basics.
You got to fill the transmission,
Fill the oil tank, check the lower end oil level,
And get onto the fuel system.
When you get that float pull off,
Make sure it seeds properly.
Mike: I'm not much of a wrench.
I mean, I know enough to be dangerous.
So it's like, I'm going to be your grunt
For whatever it's going to take. Matt: It's all good, man.
Mike: The fact that I get to stand side-by-side
With one of the best motorcycle mechanics
In the country, is awesome.
Alright, what's next, sensei?
Matt's got thousands of hours working on this stuff,
He eats, sleeps, breathes it.
Matt: If the fuel's on, flip the choke,
Give it two or three kicks...
Something ain't right, man. Sounds like timing.
Mike: Out of all the bikes I bought,
The four cylinder is the most valuable.
But it's also the one that is the biggest gamble,
Because if this engine isn't running right,
If it's not shifting correctly, then you got to tear it down,
And that's where the money steps in.
I mean, just to do a four cylinder engine
Is sometimes 25 to $35,000.
It's crazy. C'mon, betsy.
Matt: C'mon.
Ron: Hey, you want to come on down to the basement?
Jersey jon: Alright. Ron: Should be a few things.
Robbie: What the heck!
(laughs) jersey jon: Wow.
Robbie: Woo. Holy cow!
Ron, I thought you had some stuff upstairs,
But this is like... Jersey jon: This is dense.
Robbie: Did you buy every single cooler there was to buy?
Ron: I left three behind.
I have a lot of coolers. I think it's 168.
Just about everything I have is original.
I love the design and all the different intricacies.
I'm not even sure where that comes from.
Robbie: If I move something, will everything come tumbling down on me?
Ron: Possibly. Jersey jon: (laughs)
Robbie: I'm trying to wrap my brain around this basement.
We're talking floor-to-ceiling,
Every single cooler under the sun.
This is beyond collecting.
Ron, they call it 'antiques anonymous'.
Sign yourself up. Jersey jon: Woo, robbie.
Look at this one, dr. Pepper.
Robbie: Yeah, I see it from here, I'm looking at it.
It's original paint? Ron: Yeah. Original paint.
Robbie: Ron. Ron: I like it.
Robbie: Dr. Pepper's one of those rarity brands.
It's based out of texas,
You don't ever see the coolers themselves.
You'll see pepsi, 7-up, coca-cola.
You very rarely see an embossed dr. Pepper cooler.
To me, it's the holy grail of all coolers.
It's got the porcelain sign on it,
Which is unusual itself, and the biggie-
Ron: Original cap catcher. Robbie: Always missing.
Is the inside of this thing rotted out?
Ron: No, it's great. Robbie: It's actually intact.
No rot on the bottom of it. The paint's faded out.
I mean, the guys who want these things, they want them pristine.
How much is this thing?
Ron: Two?
Robbie: 1,400. Ron: Oh no.
Robbie: I'm looking at what I gotta do to get it out of here.
1,500 bucks and we're done.
Ron: No. Robbie: I get it out of here.
Ron: I... Could come down maybe to 18.
Jersey jon: Robbie, what are you doing?
Robbie: I'm trying to buy this, but...
What do you got, kellogg's cereal thing?
Jersey jon: Yeah, look at this thing.
Robbie: It'd be a great shelf piece.
Jersey jon: Yeah, it's cool. Robbie: That is bad.
Jersey jon: This is a kellogg's point-of-sale wall display.
This is something at the back of a diner,
When you go in in the morning
And you picked out a cereal you want.
It's tin, embossed, it's really cool. It's in nice condition.
Robbie: It's really early. I mean, that's cool.
Jersey jon: How much is this?
Ron: Seven? Robbie: What?
Jersey jon: In my opinion, that's like a $300 retail piece.
Robbie: I was just about to do this-
Jersey jon: This is not a cooler, dude, this is like a shelf display.
Robbie: Hey, I was just about to do this.
Let's get this deal done with this.
Jersey jon: Yeah. Robbie: And we'll call it 1,900 even.
Ron: Oh no. 2,000 for the pair.
Robbie: I'll tell you what, I'll flip you for it.
It's 21 or 1,600.
Ron: Uh-oh, uh-oh.
Robbie: This could be your winning day.
Jersey jon: I'm not a gambling man, I work hard for my money.
So man, I'd never really do a coin flip,
And robbie's not going to win anything, he don't win anything.
Jersey jon: Here's your chance. Robbie: Hold on there, jersey.
Ron: Okay, you can call it.
Jersey jon: Ready? Robbie: Okay, do it.
Ron: Go ahead. Robbie: Heads.
Jersey jon: Ready?
Robbie: Heads, I called heads. Ron: Go ahead.
Jersey jon: Tails. Robbie: Damn!
Jersey jon: Robbie, what are you doing to do?
Ron: 71 years old and I finally won.
Robbie: He finally won something.
Ron: I've never won anything in my life.
People flip and I always lose.
So that was a good flip for me.
Robbie: Kellogg's piece and this freakin' dr. Pepper.
What else you got to look at down here?
Now I'm all flustered in here.
Matt: Well, this rotor's all messed up,
The spring clip's broken on it.
Hold on, I got another one.
Mike: You got another one? Of course you do.
Matt: Let me wire wheel this real quick.
Mike: He's got the part.
That's why this is the best place in the world
For me to bring these bikes to.
Alright. Matt: Alright.
I'm not even kidding, man.
I think this will fix it immediately.
Breathing life back into an old motorcycle
Is a once-in-a-lifetime experience
And I'm fortunate to get to do it over and over again.
I don't know that I'll ever get tired of it.
Key on, two clicks.
Here you go.
(engine starts)
Mike: (laughs) dude!
As soon as I heard it, I knew it was running right.
I love the way it sounds, man!
Matt: Oh, it sounds good.
Mike: I just love the way a four cylinder sounds, man.
They're throaty,
And it sounds like they're sucking the air out of the sky.
Mike: (laughing) dude.
Matt: That sounds excellent.
All the work on the four cylinder went really well.
So you add a battery, pull the float pull off and rebuilt it,
Straightforward stuff, fired it up,
And it ran absolutely perfect.
Be real careful, don't jam it into gear.
(engine sounds, clutch sticking noises)
Mike: Grind it.
Ooh, that's bad.
(engine hums)
Man, that sucks.
Not good.
Matt: Yeah man, I'd cut it.
It's not going. It's not worth risking it.
When a clutch sticks like that, it's not separating,
And you try to jam that thing into gear,
And the sprocket spins, it could break the chain,
It puts crazy stress on the case.
You're just better off leaving it.
Mike: (exhales)
Matt: With the four cylinder not going into gear,
Clutch being stuck, the motor has to come out.
Incredibly costly procedure to fix that.
Best thing for mike to do,
Is let the next guy decide what he wants to do.
Matt: We know it runs fine. Mike: Yeah.
And that was my objective today.
I wanted to get the stuff running.
We just wanted them to stop and to run and to go into gear.
Matt: Now the next owner knows that it runs perfect,
That's what we did now.
Mike: The whole situation could have been a lot worse.
I mean, the fact that we can't get it into gear,
That's detrimental to it,
As far as the bottom line for sure,
But I mean, the bike sounds good, man.
The engine is strong.
What do you think it's worth if it sounds good,
People can hear it run,
But you can't get it into gear, like, what's it?
Matt: Running fine, not riding,
Still worth, 30, 35 grand.
Plus you got the sidecar.
Mike: And that could get, probably what, 7, 8 out of the sidecar?
Matt: Seven, eight, nine grand out of the sidecar.
So you're sitting pretty.
Mike: 35 grand, separate the sidecar from it,
Put 7,000 on it.
That's making money. Alright, which one's next?
Matt: There's no doubt that there's going to be issues
In front of us when we dig in.
These bikes have been sitting a long time.
And on top of that, there's no telling why they were parked.
Mike: The '24 steps it up!
Ron: One thing I do have for sale, is a woody trailer.
Jersey jon: Really. Robbie: A woody trailer.
Ron: 1947 cabin car.
Robbie: Look at this thing, jersey, wow!
Jersey jon: Oh man... Yeah... That's cool.
Ron: All wood, one of four left in the united states.
The only original one left. Robbie: Wow!
Ron: When I first saw this woody trailer, I'd never seen one.
It turns out this is one of four left out of 1,000 were made.
So I ended up buying it and shipping it back to maryland.
Robbie: Wow. Look at the condition of this thing.
Look at this thing, jersey! Jersey jon: Ah, this is great!
Robbie: The condition is mind-blowing on this thing.
The outside has no bubbles on it, no rot.
The bottom framework attached to the trailer looks good.
Realistically, you could hook this to a station wagon
And pull it into a car show and get first place.
It's amazing. Jersey jon: Yeah.
Robbie: Wow. Ron: All original.
Interior's all original.
The glass is all original. The wood is all original.
Robbie: It's actually got a couch in here.
Ron: I love people who get excited about woodys.
My thing is everything is the way it came from the factory.
It's been updated so that it trails properly behind the car,
But it's 100% original wood.
Robbie: Has this thing ever been on the road?
Ron: I towed it, yes. And it towed beautifully.
Robbie: How many years ago? Ron: Oh... 15?
But that was basically it.
I've never slept in it, didn't travel anywhere.
I didn't want to get it wet.
Robbie: Wow. Jersey jon: Wow.
I love this thing.
It's an unusual trailer because
It's made out of waterproof plywood.
During world war ii,
Waterproof plywood was developed to build pt boats.
After the war, it made sense to take this new technology
And put it to civilian uses.
And that's what this trailer is all about.
Built like a boat, it keeps the water out,
It keeps the wind out.
You know, it's your home on wheels.
Robbie: Alright. I'm going to take a deep breath.
Okay, I'm ready for the number.
Ron: 35.
Jersey jon: Hundred?
Robbie: 3,500? Ron: Thousand.
Robbie: I mean, hell I'm just shaking your hand right now, 3,500.
Ron: No.
Robbie: Where did you come up with that number?
Ron: Well, one guy remanufactured it,
And he's advertising for 21.
Robbie: Okay. So remanufactured one's 21,000.
Ron: Right. But this is original.
It's never been restored.
Jersey jon: Yeah. I don't know, man.
I'm seeing some sander marks on this though here.
And it's got latex caulking in here, that's kind of modern.
I think this thing's been at least refinished...
Robbie: ...At one time.
Ron: Well... You do have to seal, every once in a while.
Jersey jon: They sanded it out,
But then now we're not talking original finish then.
And it's done well, but it's not done perfectly.
Look at this piece of wood right here, okay.
And see how the bolts, these are modern carriage bolts.
They have galvanized fittings on here.
And now the big giveaway, is look at that end piece,
See all the worm holes in that?
They would never use that in a production piece.
No cabinet maker or builder
Would put a wormy piece of oak in their construction.
So that's nicely done, don't get me wrong.
But those are not original pieces to this structure.
You got to dig a little bit deeper into this
To really see what you have here.
And then, you know, we're talking about price, robbie.
Robbie: You're at 35, I mean, I...
I'll tell you what, what I'd like to do,
I've got a friend of mine, vince.
I consider vince an expert.
He owns every trailer there is to own.
I'd like to take some pictures of this
And send them off to him. Ron: Sure.
Robbie: If you don't mind. Ron: No, that's fine.
Robbie: You know, 'cause 35,000's a big number.
Let me jump in there, jersey.
Vince is the trailer king.
I've got to get vince these photos,
He's going to tell me everything about this trailer.
Mike: The '24 steps it up!
Matt: The 1924 harley -
Milestone motorcycle for its age.
It's the last year for harley-davidson's loop frame
Before they went on to a new chassis.
And at the same time, the first of the high compression,
High performance 74-inch engines.
Mike: Dude, look at this. I just noticed this.
There's no tire.
Matt: It's a hose.
Mike: It's like a hose off of an rv crapper.
There's nothing in there, dude.
That's pretty ingenious, to be honest with ya.
Matt: It is. Had me fooled.
Mike: These are exactly the kind of moments
That I wanted to have with matt.
You know, since his father's passed,
This is the first time we've spent together,
Just chilling and wrenching on stuff.
Matt: This is going to be a problem.
The cone on the base, if you look, it's not sealing at all.
Mike: Out of all the bikes that I bought,
This one had the worst restoration.
The sidecar frame's heavily pitted,
The bike looks like somebody painted it with a dead chicken,
And pinstriped it with a stick.
So if it's not running right,
That's going to hurt the resale value.
I bought five bikes,
And all of the bikes are tied together
When it comes to the bottom line.
If we can't get a bike to run,
That hurts this deal.
Matt: I probably got something that we can use.
The leather washer in there's totally worn.
99% of the time,
You got to replace every single one of them.
These are right out of the showcase inside the museum.
That's a lot better.
The museum is a lot more than just a gallery of motorcycles.
Mike knows as well as anybody,
It's like a huge warehouse of parts.
He brought it here for the expertise,
But he knew if he needed something,
It would probably be here.
Is there old gas in there?
Mike: Yeah, I can smell it. So let's drain that.
And then we're going to put some fresh gas in.
Alright. Let's fire this thing up, dude.
Hey, look at this wheel.
The race is loose or something.
Matt: See that?
Mike: The last thing you want to happen
Is a sidecar wheel coming off and passing you
At 50-mile-an-hour.
So thank god I saw the wheel,
Because it was really loose.
Matt: Let's pull the cover off and tighten the bearings up,
And that ought to fix it.
Mike: Probably like see if we even need to grease it too.
When you're working on an early motorcycle,
A lot of this stuff is just like working on an early bicycle.
Like this sidecar wheel,
You know, you pull it off, it's just like a bicycle,
There's an axle, there's a race, the bearings, very cool.
Matt: Let's get her fired up.
Mike: Let me put my foot in front of the wheel.
Matt: First breath of life in a long time,
Let's see how she goes.
Choke on... Okay...
(engine starts)
Mike: Yeah! (laughing) alright.
Yes!
Where's he going? (laughs)
Look at that, man!
Woo!
Woo... Let me ride it!
Matt: This thing's a sweetheart, dude, this is incredible!
Mike: Let me ride it, man! Let me ride it before you kill it.
Matt: The 1924 runs perfect.
Mike: I'm going to take it out on the road.
Matt: Are you going on the road? Mike: Yeah!
Matt: Alright, dude, well be careful, keep it under 100, man.
Mike: (laughs) woo!
Maggie valley, north carolina
Is one of my favorite places in the country to ride.
1924 ca engine, high compression heads.
It's the way that it sounds, the way that it shifts.
You know, you get on a country road
Where there's no new houses, no new cars,
Just a few barns, and you're back in 1924.
This thing's sweet! Matt: That thing is nice.
Mike: Oh my god, it shifts amazing.
Matt: It shifts perfect.
Mike: The shifting's perfect on it.
Finally one that didn't give us a lot of grief.
At 28 grand on this bike,
You know, it's a '24 harley with a sidecar,
So if it runs good, I'm making some money.
Mike: We got two running good! Matt: Two running perfect, man.
Mike: Woo!
Matt: Let's get onto the next one.
Robbie: What is this right here?
Ron: Decals. New-old stock.
Robbie: How many are here?
Ron: There's got to be a few thousand in there.
Robbie: How- what'd you do, buy out a whole store?
Ron: No. I think I bought them all at once, but-
Robbie: From one guy? Ron: Yeah.
Robbie: You know, this is a time in america
Where you loaded up the station wagon and went to every state,
And you put these little decals on there.
Ron: They go on the inside of the windows, and they last forever.
Robbie: Yeah, yeah. It was artwork for cars back then.
These are all great ones.
What possessed you...
Ron: (chuckles)
Robbie: I got to ask, what's the plan?
Ron: You? (laughs)
I don't know, it's an obsession of mine.
When I was a kid, my mom went out
And bought a decal and put it on the bunk bed headboard.
And I liked it. And I thought, wow those are cool.
The artwork is amazing.
I mean, it's amazing how many different decals were made.
Robbie: What do you want for the whole tote?
Our stores are always needing inventory.
This is great stuff.
I don't have a problem stepping up.
Ron: 6,000.
I got them pretty much sorted.
Robbie: I'm just computing in my head.
It would take a lifetime for us to get rid of these.
I mean, we have two stores.
All of these right here, every one of them,
3,500 bucks.
Ron: Ooh no.
Robbie: I also have to look at how we're gonna display these.
Let me ask you this. Do you have any of the original displays
That you could display these in?
Remember they had them on the count-
Ron: I do. Robbie: -You have some of them.
Ron: Um-hm. There's a display piece in here.
I think a blue one. Robbie: Okay.
Ron: And I'll throw that one in for 4,250.
Robbie: Done. Done. Ron: Good.
Robbie: Jersey! Ron: You wanna buy some decals?
Robbie: Let's go see this display.
Ron: Right there.
Robbie: Oh yeah, heck yeah, that's exactly...
That's what I'm talking about.
"do you engineers need a blueprint for everything?"
(group laughing)
Jersey jon: That's great.
Robbie: I'm glad that I got the rack.
Jersey jon: Alright, that's a nice display.
Mike: Whoa... There you go. Don't scratch it yet.
So what do you want me to do? You want me to pull the carb?
Matt: Yeah, let's get that carb off,
I'll get the screws if you want to get the fuel line.
The 1937 indian's really
An incredibly desirable motorcycle.
It's a rigid frame indian chief,
Which they only did through 1939.
74 cubic-inch model
And it's got that big goulding sidecar out on the side,
Which is pretty unique.
It's quite a bike.
Mike: Alright, so we'll drain the gas on this side
And I'll pull the carburetor.
The '37 indian is a great looking bike.
But the reality of it is, it's got the wrong headlight,
It's got the wrong tanks, it's got the wrong fender light,
It's got the wrong carburetor.
You know, if we can't get it to run,
Then that sets me back.
But, if we can get the bike running well,
That's my saving grace.
Matt: So mike, I think we ought to just take
This whole carburetor apart, and put it back together.
Mike: Matt grew up around this stuff.
Rebuilding a carburetor, it's like second nature to him.
Matt: Take the choke plate and two screws
And put the choke plate in there.
The hole goes on the bottom.
Mike: I've always wanted to come here and learn from him.
Oh wait, is that off-center? Look.
Matt: Yeah, just a little bit, so loosen that up.
Mike: Yeah, I'll loosen that one and slide it, okay.
Matt: Yeah, yeah. That's a quick, easy rebuild.
Mike: I could never do that by myself again.
Matt: Just bolt the carb on and...
See it doesn't really return all the way.
And that's... Mike: How come?
Matt: ...Because it's a soft cable.
This is going to be a real pain in the ass though.
Mike: It's really not very encouraging
When matt says, "this is going to be a pain in the ass."
But the way he explains things,
It's in a way that you can understand them.
His voice is calming,
He's like the bob ross of motorcycle mechanics.
Matt: You hear the click? Mike: There, now it's moving.
Matt: Oh yeah. Throttle's closing properly.
Gas-and-oil, my friend.
Mike: Woo! Here we go.
Matt: Alright, fingers crossed, man.
Moment of truth here.
Mike: You got the gas on it? Matt: Yeah, gas is on.
Mike: God, that's tight on that thing, man.
It's like the shin breaker. Matt: Oh yeah.
Matt: It ain't starting yet.
Mike: Man...
(engine starts) matt: Hey, there we go.
Mike: Yeah, man! Matt: Sounds good, dude.
Mike: Woo!
Matt: Give it some gas.
Gear popped out. Mike: Yeah. (beep)
Matt: Now you got to toe down and put it back in gear.
Mike: It pops out of gear, first gear.
That is not good.
(engine starts)
Matt: Popped out of gear.
Mike: (screams) oh (beep)!
Matt: Whoa! (laughing)
Mike: (laughs) okay. Alright.
Matt: You about flipped us over there, man.
Mike: (laughing) I know!
Matt loves sidecar wheelies, unless he's in it.
(laughing) I'm sorry.
I'm glad that just happened, it eases the pain.
Dang it, man!
Matt: With the '37 popping out of gear,
That's kind of the kiss of death
When it comes to an indian motorcycle.
That's another engine that has to come out.
That could take 30, 40 hours to do that whole process.
Mike: No, no, no, I wouldn't expect us, I'm not doing any of that stuff.
I just wanted to know where it was running-wise.
Matt: This is one of the bikes out of the five
That might bring your average down a little bit.
Mike: This is exactly what I was struggling with
When I was trying to price these bikes.
You know, they look great, they're shiny.
But this is one that's going to be a wash.
I mean, it's discouraging,
But maybe I can make a little bit on the sidecar.
Mike: Alright, what's next? Matt: Let's move on. Next bike.
Vince (on the phone): Yeah. Robbie: Alright.
Here's the deal. I'm standing in front of the trailer right now.
What can you tell me,
From the pictures that I sent you?
Robbie: Yeah. Ron: Yeah.
Jersey jon: Yes. Vince, it's good.
I crawled under there really well.
There's no rotten timbers in here or any rotten plywood.
Robbie: Honestly, vince, it looks to me like
I could change the tires on it and take it down the road.
Here's the biggie right now, this is why we called you
What are these things going for?
I'm trying to number one, educate myself,
But I'm educating ron too.
So ron, he's thinking the value of this thing's around 30, 35.
Robbie: Yeah.
Robbie: Right, right.
Alright, that's all I needed, buddy,
I appreciate the information.
Thank you so much, go enjoy the beach.
Alright. So with that being said.
He's saying between 15 and 20. Ron: Yeah.
Robbie: I think 20,000
Is a retail number that we could live with.
I think it might take us some doing to get that.
I think we could be in it for... 15,000, I think we can do that.
But are you even willing to sell,
Are you even willing to play ball?
Ron: A little light. Robbie: I know.
I'm not like, making a ton of money on it.
We're not the guys at the end of the rainbow
That are looking for this.
Ron: 17. Coming down a lot, that's half.
Robbie: I appreciate you coming down on it. I really truly do.
I'll tell you what I'll do.
15.5.
That's it, I'm tapped at that. 15.5.
Jersey jon: Think of all the room you'll have, man.
Ron: For coolers, I can put the coolers up here.
Robbie: And that way you can actually get rid of them.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: Okay. Robbie: Dude, ha ha!
Ron: You got a woody, you got a woody!
Robbie: I got it, I got a woody. Awesome.
I'm just happy that we can away with it.
I think at 15.5, there's a little meat left on that bone.
If you can imagine this pulling into a car show,
Everybody's coming to you.
Ron: I'm glad that it's out of my hair.
You know, it's like, oh geez, it still hurt.
But it was okay.
Jersey jon: Thanks, man. That's killer, thank you, thank you.
Robbie: Alright so, listen, now that we got the woody,
Is there a power wagon stashed in here somewhere?
Ron: No, it's in another building.
Robbie: Can we see it? Ron: We can go now.
Jersey jon: Yeah? Robbie: Let's do it.
The fact that this guy has a power wagon
Makes me freakin' jazzed.
I mean, you never find them.
They're like a unicorn, basically.
Jersey jon: Power wagon.
Robbie: I'll tell you what, I have not seen a power wagon
In the wild for sale.
They're like myths.
Mike: Yeah! Dude. Matt: Alright, that's a good sign.
Mike: Yeah. Hell yeah, it is.
Matt: Oh my god, how many kicks is this? 50?
Matt: The 1934 chief was the top-of-the-line motorcycle.
You know, lots of features,
Last year for the flat fenders.
This one was set up with a really rare
Four speed transmission.
We've got spark, we got great compression.
The plugs are like dry. Mike: How's it look?
Matt: It's like it's not getting gas.
Mike: Yeah, look at this.
Matt: Is there gas coming out of there?
Mike: There's gas coming out of the intake manifold.
On both sides, pretty heavy. Matt: On both sides.
That's exactly what the problem is, mike.
Mike: There it is, boom.
Matt: That's got to be completely sealed,
And it is definitely not sealed.
Mike: The indians are really what's giving us hell here, man.
But the green indian is one of the bikes
That I'm most excited about, because of its rarity
And the fact that it has a four speed transmission.
I mean, even though it's got the green paint job on it,
And it looks a little funky, it's still a really rare bike.
If we're able to get it running
And I could get good money for it,
That's what's going to make this deal.
Matt: Come on...
(engine rattles)
Mike: That's not good.
(engine starts)
Mike: Yeah! And it's running...
Matt: We're on two cylinders, there we go.
Mike: Finally, we're out of the woods.
All of the bikes are running. Team wolfe! Team walksler!
Coming together!
Mike: We need to ride it. Matt: Damn right, we need to ride it.
It ran excellent.
I mean, you could feel and hear the power
That this thing was making.
Matt: I'll go grab that vl. Mike: Alright, buddy.
Matt: Alright! Good deal, man.
Mike: Holy crap. Oh my god.
Dude, the battery's smoking!
Oh right there, the battery's smoking!
Boom... I see smoke coming out of the battery box,
I'm like, what the hell, no!
Robbie: I have not seen a power wagon in the wild for sale.
They're like myths.
If rambo had a truck, it would have been a power wagon.
When power wagons came out,
They were advertised to pull a house down.
These things have a gigantic winch on the front of them,
It could pull a semi out of a ditch.
It could pull a caterpillar tractor up a hill.
Just incredible.
I see him, he's right here.
Jersey jon: That's a cool building. Ha, got a good roof.
Robbie: Alright.
Jersey jon: Let's go check this out, that power wagon.
(honks horn)
Ron: Ah you made it, huh.
Robbie: Wow. Dang, dude. Jersey jon: This is cool, man.
Robbie: It's been a pretty damn good day. Maybe...
We can end up with a power wagon.
Ron: Maybe. Robbie: Yeah?
Jersey jon: Let's see what you got in here.
Robbie: What?! Holy cow.
Jersey jon: Wow! What is it... Robbie: Look at this thing.
Robbie: Was it a bus?
Ron: Yeah. 1955, yep. Jersey jon: Cool.
Ron: I like unusual things, obviously.
The power wagon was used in world war ii.
The g.I.'s loved it, so they wanted one at home.
They advertised this as a do-all vehicle.
Farmers didn't need a tractor,
'cause this power wagon can do everything.
So it was a work horse back then.
Robbie: Look at this, jersey. Power wagon!
Jersey jon: Whoa... Man...
Robbie: I mean, this thing looks like it's restored.
Ron: Yeah, a guy restored it and I bought it.
Jersey jon: It's a beautiful truck, man.
Robbie: I mean, these big winches on the front,
This thing would go through 10 inches of snow like nothing.
Ron: Back in 2003, we had a three foot snow storm.
And I had the power wagon at the back of the house,
And I got out.
It was fun driving.
Robbie: This engine right here,
It would top out about 42-mile-an-hour.
These things were not meant to be on the highway,
They were geared so low.
90% of these that are on the road today,
Guys put the diesel motor in them
To drive 75, 85-mile-an-hour.
Most guys want to get in and drive it every single day.
Robbie: I'm asking.
Ron: No. Robbie: I'm asking.
Jersey jon: No? Ron: No.
Ron: Not this one. Robbie: You're saying no.
Ron: Not this one. Jersey jon: Not for sale.
Ron: I like it a lot.
Robbie: Man, it deserves a little bit better justice
Than what it's getting here, that's all I'm going to say.
Jersey jon: It's a nice truck.
How about the wagon though, what's going on with that thing?
Ron: That could be possible.
Jersey jon: It's so unusual.
Ron: Yeah. It's the only one I've ever seen.
Jersey jon: It's amazing, it's four wheel drive,
It's a school bus, it looks like a tank.
I mean, what school are you going to?
Ron: (laughs) maybe to prison, I don't know.
Jersey jon: Yeah, maybe it's a prison bus, man.
This one power wagon, man, they re-bodied it.
I don't know what they were using this thing for, but it's like a prison bus.
Robbie: What's the number?
Ron: 15.
Jersey jon: Hm. Ron: Look at that.
Robbie: I appreciate you giving me a number.
Jersey jon: I don't like this rust up here.
Look at it, man, it's going right through the sheet metal in the front here.
Robbie: Radiator's shot, the whole bottom of it is.
I mean, this thing needs everything.
It needs everything.
You're going to go through the whole thing.
Every seal on it's gone.
The straight axle's gonna have to be completely torn apart,
Front and rear, and completely gone through.
You're talking thousands and thousands
Of dollars just in that.
Now you got to get the motor running,
Now you got the clutch going.
You're having to redo everything on it.
Robbie: I'm going to throw my hat in the ring.
You're at 15 grand.
I'm at seven grand. Ron: Oh no.
Jersey jon: I was thinking six. Robbie: Yeah, I'm at seven.
Jersey jon: I was thinking six. Robbie: I'm at seven.
I'm telling you where I come up with the number.
You're going to have eight in it
Because of the thousand to ship it home.
By the time I go through every single piece on this...
I'm probably back into it for 15.
And I don't think I can get 20 grand out of this thing.
Ron: I think I'll pass though, I'll keep it.
Robbie: Here's the deal, if you do keep it,
Get it out of here.
You know what the cool thing about cars are?
Is when they're back on the road.
I got to ask, is there anything else in this building for sale?
Ron: No. Jersey jon: (sighs)
Robbie: At the end of the day, I appreciate ron.
But he's got to start letting go of some of this stuff.
Get that stuff out and drive it.
Ron, I can honestly say,
It's been a pretty damn interesting day.
Jersey jon: It really has, dude, it's been, really.
Ron: Robbie and jersey made me feel comfortable,
You know, made me feel good that,
Somebody else does appreciate,
Yeah you've been buying good stuff for all these years.
It's not just junk. So I really enjoyed it.
Jersey jon: Really appreciate it, really, thank you so much.
Robbie: I'm going to stop back in a year.
Jersey jon: Ron's passion shines through.
You could see he loves what he's collecting.
Soda pop, the advertising, the cars.
He's hitting all the bases, he's having a great time in life.
This is the kind of collector I love to find.
Jersey jon: Thanks, brother! (honks horn)
Mike: Dude, the battery's smoking!
Right there, the battery's smoking!
Matt: Whoa, whoa, whoa... Potential disaster.
Mike: There's like this y-junction
Of friggin' rat's nest right here.
Matt: I've got shrink-wrap,
Which we'll put a new piece of wire on there and shrink-tube it.
Mike: It's almost like you have to laugh a little bit,
To keep from crying, man,
Because I spent a lot of money on these bikes.
Matt: Alright, man, let's get her fired up.
Mike: The '36 vl matt smoothed all that out,
And the bike's running good.
He was a doctor on this vl.
Thank you. Matt: Yeah, of course.
Mike: Alright, man.
Matt is the trooper, man. He's a walksler.
And his dad's watching us,
And he's probably going, yeah!
And then he's going, ugh!
And then, then he's laughing, you know.
I think we both feel him here.
Alright, let's fire this thing up, dude.
After spending 10 hours getting these bikes running,
I still feel like I'm making some money.
Bottom line, the harleys are keeping me afloat.
Both of the harleys run great.
Matt got all of these bikes running,
It's pretty amazing.
Matt: You go out first.
Riding an antique motorcycle
Isn't like riding anything off the lot.
Every bump hits you in a good way.
I'm sure my dad's up there somewhere looking down
And thinking me and mike both did a pretty good job.
And at the same time, wondering what took us so long.
Mike: How's it running? Matt: Perfect, man.
Mike: At the end of the day, everything else fades away,
When we get on these bikes and ride through maggie valley.
It's a strong sense of pride
For what matt and his father created here.
The fact that he shared his world with me today
And helped me out so much, was huge.
It's an experience you'll never forget.
Mike: Woo!
Matt: Woo! Mike: Oww!