[rock music]
Mike: Holy crap! How many are there?
Clark: I think there's about 70 bicycles.
Mike: Are you kidding me?
Look at the fork on this one, man!
Jersey Jon: I like all this stuff.
Mark: How much do you like it? Jersey Jon: I'll show you.
[laughter]
Mike: 14,000. Rob: 1300.
Jersey Jon: Thousands of dollars.
Mike: 7,000. Rob: 550.
Mike: Have you thought about a number for all of them?
[country rock music]
Clark: Hey man, you getting close?
Mike: I'm like 2 minutes away.
Clark: Every time I deal with you, we're on Mike time.
Mike: Where's the bicycles?!
Clark: We'll get to the bicycles.
Just relax and get your [beep] over here.
Mike: [laughs]
Mike: I've known Clark for a while now.
We've bought and sold stuff to each other over the years.
Mike: I see the Impala.
Mike: He's a big Impala guy so I know I'm in the right place
when I roll up to the property
and the first thing I see is a sick '59 Impala.
Mike: Dang! That is nice, brother.
Clark: Go around to the side of the building.
Me and Chase are working, out in the boneyard.
Mike: Dude!
What is this place?
Is this all yours?
Clark: Yeah. Yeah, it's newly mine.
Clark: My name's Clark Miller.
I own Cleveland Warehouse.
We build furniture
using salvaged and reclaimed materials.
Mike: How you been, brother? Clark: Good. Yourself?
Mike: Oh my God, that car out front is sick, man.
Clark: Thank you very much.
Clark: I collect classic cars, mainly Impalas,
early neon, and porcelain signs.
Mike: So, seriously, what is this place?
Clark: This is a good friend of mine's salvage business.
He was repurposing old machinery and stuff into furniture.
Mike: No kidding?
Clark: I purchased the building from my friend Jason Wing.
Jason worked with companies
like Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren,
Filson, Columbia.
Clark: He was building out full stores
for all these big-name places.
Clark: He was kind of the originator
of a lot of this industrial salvage style
before it was cool.
Clark: He just wanted to downsize.
Mike: Yeah.
Clark: So, I purchased the building with all the contents.
Mike: So, you bought the building and the business?
Clark: Yeah. Mike: [laughs]
Mike: So, this was all like his inventory
for furniture he was building?
Clark: Yeah.
Mike: Is this Chase? Clark: This is Chase.
Mike: Dude, I've heard a lot about you.
Mike: I love that he's got his boy out here with him.
I mean, these are like character building memories
that they're making.
Mike: He's got you working, huh? Chase: Yeah, all the time.
Mike: Does he? Good, that's good!
That's good.
Clark: You got to keep them busy.
Mike: Yeah. So, you into old cars too?
Chase: Uh, yeah.
Mike: I was gonna say, that car sitting out front,
that '59, that thing is sick, man.
Chase: That's one of my favorites.
Mike: Is it really?
I tell you what, I just got here
and it's one of my favorites too.
Clark: I love Impalas
because my grandfather actually worked for Fisher Body.
He built Impalas through his assembly line
and they've always just grabbed me.
Clark: All this stuff wraps around the whole building.
Mike: Really? Clark: And inside as well.
Mike: Hot dang, dude.
Mike: When I was a kid, we had to break into the junkyards.
This little guy has 24-hour access.
Clark: Hey, Chase.
I want you to count these out and give me 100 of them.
Chase: Alright.
Mike: Very cool. Hey, nice to meet you buddy.
Chase: Nice to meet you too.
Mike: What are you doing with 100 of those?
Clark: Nothing. I'm just trying to keep him busy.
Mike: [laughs]
Mike: Most people would walk through a yard like this
and not see the potential.
Clark: I really love these old bridge beams in here.
Mike: Oh yeah, absolutely.
Mike: They would see a lot of the stuff as junk.
Mike: So, I can see why he kept a lot of this stuff.
I mean, this is amazing.
Mike: But this is an incredible amount of inventory...
Mike: Ah, dude, look at that!
Mike: ...that allows your creative juices to get flowing.
Mike: How much are those?
Clark: I'm gonna put those on the building, I think.
Mike: Are you really?
Clark: Yeah, they just look so cool.
Mike: Dude, that's a great idea.
Clark: I'm able to have my guys make amazing tables,
lights, desks, bar tops,
pretty much anything you can think of
out of these pieces of rusty metal.
Mike: Oh my gosh!
No way!
Clark: Yeah.
Mike: I get excited a lot of times
when I find just a couple sets of these legs.
I mean, I can't even imagine the amount of time, energy,
and passion it took to collect this much.
Mike: So, he must have been collecting for years?
Clark: Yeah, I would say over 30 years, he was buying stuff.
Mike: I love this one with the scallop.
Clark: He was the one who was pulling the stuff out himself,
taking machines apart, huge factories.
Mike: Really?
Clark: Just digging through everything, yeah.
Mike: Dang, man. He's got a great eye.
Mike: Industrial furniture and that aesthetic
is always gonna be timeless.
Mike: What's this thing off of, do you know?
Clark: I believe that's an old tugboat door.
Mike: Because it's very simple, it's overbuilt.
Clark: Check out these doors. Mike: Oh my gosh!
Mike: A lot of this stuff comes from machine shops,
foundries, factories, blacksmiths.
Mike: This is like Poseidon Adventure right here.
Clark: I don't even want to know how much those weigh.
Mike: And it's directly connected
to the people and places that built this country.
Mike: This is sick.
Clark: Yeah, this is a great piece.
Mike: I like that.
Mike: Call it a machine base, a pedestal.
What's really pulling me in is that hourglass shape
and the fact that it's really, really heavy cast iron.
Clark: Put a round top on it.
Mike: Yeah - no, just like this. You know what I'd do with this?
Clark: Put a motorcycle engine on it.
Mike: Yeah! Knucklehead engine on there, man!
Mike: And of course,
Clark knows exactly what I want to do with it.
Mike: Alright, so what's up? How much is this thing?
Clark: Oh, uh...
Mike: Yeah! I know, right?
It's got some - it's got some sort of manufacturing tag on it.
Here, look. Right here.
Clark: Oh yeah, "TJ". Mike: I don't know, man.
I'm not in the rusty iron pedestal business. You are.
Clark: I would say I got to get at least 300 bucks out of this.
Um...
You know, my guys do great work
and we can make this into a beautiful table
and get a couple grand out of it, minimum.
Mike: Yeah.
250.
[laughs]
How many times have we done this dance?
Clark: Oh, a lot. A lot.
Uh, meet me in the middle.
275 and that's about it.
Mike: Alright, dude.
Hey, I appreciate you selling it to me.
Clark: No problem.
Mike: It's freaking brilliant, man.
Clark: Well, after I saw it, I'm like...
that would have been a good standing bar table.
Just looked sweet, you know?
Mike: Where's the bicycles at?
Clark: Alright, let's go check out some bicycles.
[country music]
[phone ringing]
Rob: What up, Dani D? Jersey Jon: What up, girl?
Danielle: Hey.
How's it feeling, you guys picking in that 98-degree heat?
Rob: 98? I think it's 107 here today.
Danielle: Brutal.
Jersey Jon: I lost 5 pounds of sweat yesterday.
Danielle: That's why I packed electrolytes
and water for you so you guys can stay well hydrated.
Jersey Jon: Thank you, thank you.
Rob: Thank you. Appreciate you.
Danielle: But the question is,
are you ready for an ice cold pick to quench that thirst?
Jersey Jon: Yes! Danielle: Sweet.
I'm sending you to meet Mark and Larry.
Now, their father was a lifelong collector.
Cars, scooters, bicycles, advertising.
I mean, Glen was one of those guys
who just loved to collect everything.
Jersey Jon: Awesome. Rob: Wow.
Jersey Jon: Alright.
Danielle: Unfortunately, he has passed away.
His family is going through the process right now
of just kind of moving things around
and seeing what they're gonna keep
and what they're gonna move forward.
That's a huge process.
Rob: Alright.
Danielle: They know how much all of this meant to him.
They're trying to find the right people to come through.
Rob: Well, I think Jersey and I are those people.
Jersey Jon: Absolutely.
Danielle: Now, be prepared.
It's gonna be a lot of work.
Rob: Okay.
Send us the coordinates. Thanks!
Jersey Jon: Thank you, Dani.
[rock music]
Jersey Jon: Let me get a flyer. Rob: Oh, it's right here.
Jersey Jon: Yep. Rob: The place is packed!
Jersey Jon: Yes, it is. Look at the truck.
Rob: Model T, dude. Jersey Jon: Model T.
[honk honk]
Rob: How you guys doing?
Larry: Hey. Mark: Good. Good.
Rob: You talked to Danielle on the phone?
Mark: That was my sister, Edie. Rob: Alright.
Jersey Jon: How are you? I'm Jon.
Larry: Larry. Pleasure, Jon.
Jersey Jon: Hi. Rob: Rob Wolfe, nice to see you.
Larry: Pleasure. Mark: Jon. Nice to meet you.
Jersey Jon: Nice to meet you.
Larry: We can probably help you on some of this stuff.
Rob: Your dad was quite the collector.
Larry: Yes he was.
He was quite the collector.
Larry: My father was extremely talented with his hands,
and his mind.
He could fix about anything you ever run across.
Larry: He worked for Caterpillar as a machine repairman.
Jersey Jon: So, he was a machine guy?
Rob: Jersey, settle down.
Mark: We got a little of everything.
Jersey Jon: I want to dive in, man!
Mark: Well, go ahead. Let's take a look.
Larry: Yeah, go ahead.
Mark: Jump in there and see what you can find.
Jersey Jon: Thank you.
Ooh!
Jersey Jon: This garage is packed.
I mean, I'm seeing tools.
I'm seeing engines, I'm seeing parts of motors,
I'm seeing all kinds of stuff I love to see.
Mark: We haven't dug into anything
so you guys are gonna be the first ones
looking at a lot of this stuff.
Rob: Wow. Jersey Jon: Cool, I like that.
Rob: Appreciate that.
Larry: There's a lot of things here that we like
and we want to take,
but there's so much of it we don't have room for
and it's not really part of what we collect.
Rob: Johnson Oil. Based out of Chicago.
That's a one gallon can right there.
With the lid on it.
And there's no holes.
It's not rotted out on the bottom.
Rob: Oil cans over the last probably 10 years
have sky rocketed.
Rob: When you look at gas and oil collecting,
Johnson is like the most desirable
because it's got wings on it.
Larry: Yep.
Rob: It appeals to motorcycles, it appeals to the car guys.
Rob: Johnson Oil Company started in the early 1900s
in Chicago Heights, Illinois.
Rob: They ran from Chicago to Omaha.
So, typically, through Iowa and Illinois is where you find this.
Larry: Okay. It's a pretty decent looking can.
Rob: Yeah, it's in great shape.
Rob: Even being a picker in the Midwest,
it's pretty rare to find anything Johnson.
And if you see it, you better buy it.
Rob: I think the retail value on this can is probably uh...
1300.
Larry: That's - that's pretty good.
Rob: 750.
[exciting music]
Larry: What do you think, Mark?
Mark: Robbie, with 1300, I know you got to have a little bit.
That's pretty nice. Um...
how about 800 bucks?
Rob: You know what, I'm breaking the ice.
Jersey Jon: Yeah.
That's great, man. Thank you.
Rob: Appreciate it. Jersey Jon: Thanks guys.
What was your dad's name?
Mark: Mark. Larry: Larry.
Jersey Jon: No, your dad's name. Mark: Oh, Glen.
Rob: [laughs] Jersey Jon: Glen!
Mark: I thought you said, "What's your name?"
Rob: What's your name?
Jersey Jon: My name is Jon. Mark: Hey, we just met out here.
[laughter]
Jersey Jon: So, Glen?
Mark: Glen. Larry: Glen.
Jersey Jon: Glen had it going on, man.
Rob: Yeah. Jersey Jon: This is good stuff.
Jersey Jon: That Edison shaving machine is interesting.
Jersey Jon: Anything Edison is just sexy. It's cool.
I mean, Edison pioneered the recording industry.
Jersey Jon: I think that was for, um, recording records.
I mean, not records, they were for cylinders.
Jersey Jon: Before we had flat vinyl records,
this is one way they recorded voice, sound.
This is the cylinder method.
Jersey Jon: So, it's a shaving machine.
So, you could take a cylinder, shave off the music,
and rerecord on it.
Mark: Oh, really? Larry: Oh, okay.
Jersey Jon: So, it makes it more economical.
Jersey Jon: This was a way to recycle the cylinders.
You would shave them flat again
and you could rerecord on the cylinder.
Jersey Jon: Guys who were recording music
and maybe in the recording studio,
silent film stuff
where they would, you know, play these silent films too.
You want to sell this?
Larry: Oh yeah. Mark: Yeah, sure.
Yeah, we'd be willing to sell it.
Jersey Jon: Okay. I'm thinking 250.
What I like about it,
it's got this little Emerson motor in the back.
It's got the really early switch.
And it has a certain appeal to a collector of Edison stuff.
Larry: How about 275?
Jersey Jon: I'll take it for 275.
Larry: Sounds good.
Jersey Jon: Okay, thank you so much.
I really appreciate you.
Jersey Jon: I found the electrical department, man.
Look at this stuff, Robbie. Unbelievable.
Jersey Jon: Early technology is my jam.
I love this stuff.
Jersey Jon: This is a lightning arrestor switch.
So, you had a lightning rod on the roof,
you want to protect your building,
you put this switch down.
Jersey Jon: Back then, we had to tame electricity,
we had to tame steam.
And these gauges, they helped us do that.
Jersey Jon: The Cahill Swift,
it's a brass bezzled 200 pound steam gauge,
probably from turn of the century or so.
Jersey Jon: They had to know
what pressure was going through a line.
They measure it with a very elaborate gauge.
Made by a clockmaker or watchmaker.
Jersey Jon: It's an ammeter,
so it measures early electric current.
Rob: Oh, that's cool.
Jersey Jon: I mean, this is all like turn of the century
stuff when electricity was just getting on.
Jersey Jon: He's got an ammeter that's so beautifully made
by Central Scientific Company.
Cast aluminum case, it's got a beautiful dial,
it's got a beautifully-made wooden base.
They don't make stuff like that anymore.
They took pride on these scientific instruments.
Jersey Jon: That's a really cool insulator.
I've not seen this one yet.
Larry: It's an old pole insulator.
Jersey Jon: Yeah, old pole insulator.
It's got some damage on it.
Larry: Yeah, a little bit.
Jersey Jon: But it's an unusual one.
And this is telegraph time.
The beginnings of still trying to figure out
how to get a telegraph line across the country.
Larry: Yeah.
Jersey Jon: I'm fascinated by early technology
because it built America.
It built the world.
Larry: He collected a lot of electrical stuff
since both of us are electricians in our life.
Jersey Jon: Oh, cool!
Larry: He sort of found a fascination.
Larry: He was thinking about our craft, what we did,
and he thought we would find this interesting.
Jersey Jon: So, we're all drinking the same Kool-Aid.
Mark: Yeah. Rob: Oh yeah.
Jersey Jon: I love that.
Jersey Jon: These are my people.
These are the people who I really appreciate.
Larry: I personally actually have all that stuff.
I got it all on shelves at home. I don't need any more.
Jersey Jon: I like all this stuff.
Mark: How much do you like it, Jersey?
Jersey Jon: I'll show you.
[laughter]
Jersey Jon: Just hold on a second
and I'll demonstrate how much I like this stuff, alright?
Rob: Alright.
Jersey Jon: One, two, three, four items.
175 bucks.
Mark: That sounds reasonable to me.
Larry: I'm good with that.
Jersey Jon: You're good with that?
Mark: Yeah. Jersey Jon: Good.
We're gonna get along just fine today.
Alright!
[rock music]
Clark: I was actually buying the building, really,
to store my Impalas.
Mike: This is typical Clark.
He goes to look at a building and ends up buying a business.
Clark: So, this is the metal fab shop.
This is where a lot of manufacturing
of the bases goes in.
Mike: Okay.
Clark: Over here, we're just building some shelves.
Mike: Hey.
Mike: All of this stuff really brings out the kid in you.
You really have to expand your imagination.
Mike: What's this?
Clark: I don't even know.
I just really liked how it looked.
I laid it out in a herringbone pattern.
Mike: Oh, you did this?
Clark: Yeah, I just laid it out for the guys.
Maybe a selfie backdrop
or a name of a company attached to it
or something like that.
Mike: I'm seeing different sides of you, man.
Mike: It's an inspirational thing to get into.
I mean every day, you got to make something out of nothing.
Clark: This is the wood fab shop.
Mike: Okay. These are cool!
Clark: Yes, this is one of my favorite things I found in here.
These are old wooden conveyers.
Mike: Yeah, yeah.
Clark: They just have almost a skeletal look to them.
Mike: Yeah.
Mike: It's like, you're just so curious to look through
all of these things
and try to figure out what they could be.
Like, move it to the next level.
Clark: This is my favorite room of the whole building.
Mike: Oh my gosh, yeah!
Clark: I'd love to build this into a showroom/hangout
and really kind of display
our stuff that we're building, you know?
Mike: Oh my God, this is amazing, dude.
Mike: Walking through a space like this,
I'm getting creative overload.
It's like all of these ideas are like magnets sticking to me.
Mike: This place is awesome!
Mike: Would you sell any of these baskets?
Clark: Oh yeah.
We've actually been welding them onto an angle iron
and making little displays with them.
Clark: We use those wire baskets,
you can stack them with welded rods on the side
and they're just great for organization.
You can also build cabinets with slide out drawers.
Mike: How much do you want for smaller ones like this?
Clark: I don't have a ton of small ones.
I'll sell you a few
but I'd like to hang onto some for some projects.
Mike: In the world that we live in today,
everybody is all about storage and organization.
There's TV shows about it, there's books about it,
there's websites about it.
The organization wave has climbed to the top
of OCD Mountain, and I'm right there with it!
Mike: What about these?
Clark: Uh, 10 bucks apiece?
We do have some bigger ones over here.
Mike: This is the kind of things I need for the way I organize.
Clark: 15 bucks a basket.
Mike: I got motorcycle parts, I've got bicycle parts.
I mean, what am I gonna do?
Put that in a little plastic bin?
No!
Mike: So, I'll do 10 large, and 4 small.
Clark: Cool. Mike: Very cool.
Mike: And I'm not the only guy out there
looking for stuff like this.
Mike: Alright, dude, where's these bicycles at?
Clark: Alright,
let's keep wrapping around the building here.
Rob: This looks like it's a moto scoot,
or it was a Mustang
because it looks to me like it's got Mustang wheels on it.
It's missing the motor.
Let me ask you this, before I go doing all of this,
is it for sale?
Something you guys are gonna sell?
Larry: It is by me. Mark: I would think so, yeah.
Rob: I don't want to cause the avalanche there, Jersey.
There we go. There we go.
Hold on there, right here.
Simplex.
That's what it is. It's a Simplex scooter.
Rob: In late '58, '59,
Simplex built this scooter as a step through.
Cushman was already in that market
so at that point, Simplex had to build a step through
to compete against Cushman.
Rob: Missing some parts but uh...
Mark: A lot of parts missing.
Larry: It's a little bare.
Rob: It was belt-driven, I can tell you that.
Jersey Jon: Looks like original paint.
I wonder what motor, maybe like a Briggs or something?
Larry: I would guess it was a Briggs of some type.
Rob: This would've had a 5-horse motor in it,
would've had a front brake, it's got a rear brake.
The fact that it's original paint, big plus.
These scooter guys will go nuts over this thing.
Rob: 275.
Jersey Jon: Yeah. Mark: Sure.
Jersey Jon: Would that work?
Larry: That's a deal. Jersey Jon: Alright, good.
Rob: Alright. Jersey Jon: Thank you.
Rob: Look at that.
Jersey Jon: Goosewing axe.
Jersey Jon: This is a hand hewing device.
Jersey Jon: Imagine swinging this all day
making round timber square?
Larry: Oh yeah. It'd be hard work.
Jersey Jon: This is probably 1790 to 1850.
Larry: Something you're interested in then?
Jersey Jon: Yeah.
Jersey Jon: The steel is good, it's gonna hold an edge.
If Mike or Robbie was buying this thing,
they'd say it's a decorator item.
But in my world, we use these things man.
Jersey Jon: 75 bucks?
Larry: Good with me.
Jersey Jon: You're good? Larry: I'm good.
Jersey Jon: I'm on it.
Jersey Jon: And if I don't use it,
it'll go towards a craftsman who's going to.
[moody music]
Clark: When I bought the building,
these bicycles were scattered everywhere,
hanging from the rafters.
They were just all over the place
so I kind of condensed them into one area.
Mike: Oh my God, you got a ton of them!
Clark: I was able to carefully get them all down
and lay them all out and really see what I had.
And that's what started a whole new obsession for me.
Mike: Holy crap, how many are there?
Clark: I think there's about 70 bicycles.
Mike: Are you kidding me?
Mike: When Clark said he had some bicycles for sale,
I had no idea that he was talking about this many
and that they were that early.
Mike: And they're all wood rim period it looks like?
Clark: At least 2/3 are wood rim period.
Mike: So, who was the bicycle collector then?
The guy that was the designer, decorator guy?
Clark: He was a collector
and he had also bought a lot of them
from a Cleveland local collector
who's very passionate about Ohio-made bicycles.
Mike: Okay, yeah, like this one.
This one's made in Toledo.
Mike: A lot of the bikes that I'm seeing here
are from the turn of the century
to what collectors call the moto bike period.
Mike: This is a Hudson. Middleton, Ohio.
Mike: From like 1915 to the late 1920s.
Mike: I've seen at least 3 different Dayton bicycles.
Mike: And it's obvious that this guy
was really interested in bicycle companies
that were manufactured in Ohio.
Mike: Duber Grand, Canton, Ohio.
Clark: This is a Euclid which is a local town
right outside of Cleveland.
Clark: I was born and raised in Cleveland.
I love the history of Cleveland.
Mike: Here's another Cleveland.
Clark: The name Cleveland means something to me
so whether it's on a motorcycle, a bicycle,
or a porcelain sign, it draws me to it.
Mike: This one here is made in Cleveland too.
Clark: That's actually one of my favorites
because it has all the little accessories.
Mike: Oh yeah, it's got-
Clark: It's got the light, and the bell, and the-
Mike: And it's got bad to the bone pedals
and a killer seat on it.
Mike: Bicycles have been around since the early 1800s.
The Boneshaker, the Hobby Horse,
the High Wheeler, the Velocipede.
But it was really the invention of the safety bicycle
that brought it to the masses.
Mike: This is what they call a cushion tire safety.
Mike: It was affordable, much safer,
and anyone could learn.
Everything before that was very elite and somewhat dangerous.
Mike: This one here, dude.
This double down tube, seat tube.
Mike: Clark knows I'm a bicycle guy
just like I know that he's an Impala guy.
So there's no poker face for me here
because I'm just kind of running around from bike to bike
going, "Look at this one, look at that one!"
Mike: But look at that front saddle, too.
Look at the size of the spring.
Mike: "Oh my gosh, look at the handlebars on this!
"Look at this seat!"
Mike: Look at the fork on this one, man!
Clark: Springer. Mike: That is sick!
Clark: Yeah, that's probably my favorite out of the whole batch.
Mike: Okay, so that's a race cycle.
Clark: Yep.
Mike: Miami Cycle Company. Clark: Yep.
Mike: They bought Flying Merkel in 1911
which is a crossover into motorcycle.
See, that's why I've been interested in it
for so many years
because I'm into really early motorcycles.
I'm into pedal start motorcycles
with leather belts and stuff, you know.
And so there's so many of these companies were crossovers.
Mike: A lot of these bicycles that we're looking at
are very simplistic in design.
Mike: This is a Columbus Royal Flush.
Clark: Yes.
It just has a sexy look to it.
Mike: Oh, that head badge is insane.
Mike: And if you're not really paying attention
to the details,
they can look very similar to each other.
Mike: This is a Yale. This is called a Kelly bar.
Mike: But if you look at the fork crown,
the rake of the fork, the straight down tube,
sometimes they arch the top tube.
Mike: Iver Johnson started with this arched bar.
Mike: All of these little things add up to something
that's really different and awesome about each manufacturer.
Mike: Look at the uniqueness of the hub itself, how long it is.
Clark: Yeah.
Mike: So, if you pay attention
and just kind of dissect everything,
that's when it becomes fascinating.
Mike: This almost looks like if you cleaned it up,
it would be kind of a blood red color.
Clark: Yep.
Mike: Even trying to decide on
what the paint color really looked like when it was new.
Mike: You can see the blue on it.
And you can see the pinstriping on it.
Mike: Even though they're very simple,
they don't have tanks,
they don't have lights on the front fenders,
they don't have lots of chrome
and all that stuff like a post-war bike would have,
they still, in the simplest form,
to me, are the most beautiful.
Mike: That's one of the cool things about it
is just like the forensics of it.
You know what I mean? Clark: Yep.
Clark: There's not a lot of knowledge
about some of these online.
And I have spent the past month
diving in to learn as much as I could
and within 5 minutes, he taught me way more
than a month of me just searching online.
Mike: Oh my God, look at that.
[lively country music]
Jersey Jon: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Yeah, baby.
This is Stanley number two.
Larry: Yes, it is.
Jersey Jon: I very rarely find these.
Jersey Jon: The Stanley planes, they were jackplanes.
These are the planes that got the tote in the back,
knob on the front.
I mean, they're one, two, three, four incremental in size.
Jersey Jon: Here's another Stanley.
This is a number three.
You see the size difference?
Larry: Yep.
Jersey Jon: This is another number three.
Another number three.
Larry: Sort of common, aren't they?
Jersey Jon: These are the common ones.
The number one is like the ultimate Stanley jackplane.
It fits like from here to here.
Larry: Very small.
Jersey Jon: Yeah. But the number two is cool too.
They're getting pretty hard to find.
Jersey Jon: I've only found one in my lifetime so far.
Here's another one.
Jersey Jon: Stanley number twos right now,
in really nice condition, it's a $500 plane.
Larry: Okay. And you are thinking...?
Jersey Jon: Um...
how about 250?
Larry: For the single plane?
Jersey Jon: I'm stepping up. Larry: Alright.
Jersey Jon: You're on it? Larry: I'm onto it.
Jersey Jon: Thank you, sir. I really appreciate it.
I love it, man.
Mike: Look at this here. This curve here.
This double bar top tube has an arch to it.
Mike: If you look at the lines of a moto bike
with a double top tube and a tank in it,
and the straight down tube,
and that trussed fork,
and those pulled back handlebars,
it just echoes the motorcycle industry so much.
Mike: So, this is a Crown. It's made in La Porte, Indiana.
But again-
Clark: Are you familiar with that brand?
Mike: No, but I mean
there were so many different manufacturers then.
I mean, there were literally hundreds of manufacturers
around the turn of the century
and a lot of them were connected to each other.
Like, Miami Cycle manufactured a lot of different bikes
under a lot of different names.
Mike: The bicycle boom at the turn of the century
was so profitable that it lured most manufacturers of that time
into building bikes.
There were like over 300 different brands.
If you were a manufacturer,
chances are during the bicycle craze,
you started making bicycles.
That was they heyday of cycling in America.
And a lot of those bicycle companies
were directly connected to the motorcycle industry.
Mike: Harley and Davidson,
they were in the bicycle industry.
Hendee and Hedstrom from Indian,
they were in the bicycle industry.
Mike: And that is the time period
that I've always been so fascinated with.
Mike: The bicycle industry was so innovative at that time
with so many different patents
and the gentleman that owned Pope,
he was really instrumental
throwing a ton of money at, and getting people organized,
to create roads for bicycles.
Clark: Oh wow, I didn't know that.
Mike: So, even before the car industry
was getting organized to do that,
the bicycle industry was way before that.
Clark: Wow.
Mike: The ripple effect of the bicycle industry
was so intense and so widespread
that it directly impacted the automobile industry,
the motorcycle industry,
and engineering as a whole.
Mike: You probably know this.
This is obviously one of the rarest bikes you have here.
Clark: Yep.
Mike: It's a Racycle with a larger chain ring
but the biggie is the front fork on it.
Clark: Yeah.
Mike: This is a one year fork, it's 1915.
Mike: The Racycle company
has one of the most unusual histories
in the bicycle industry.
Clark: I just love the name Racycle.
It's just such a cool name for back then.
Mike: Yeah, did you hear how that came about?
Clark: No.
Mike: There was actually a guy, his name was Ray,
that was working at the company.
And they named it a Ray Cycle - Racycle.
Clark: Oh.
Mike: The beginnings of Racycle
really started with a tobacco company
that wanted to boost sales
so they were offering coupons in their tobacco to earn a bicycle.
That campaign was so successful
that they opened their own shop
and started manufacturing bicycles.
Mike: It still says Racycle Pacemaker on the downtube.
Clark: Yeah, I love that. Mike: Which is really cool.
It's original paint.
Mike: The bicycle business was so strong,
they took it to the next level
and started producing their own motorcycles in 1905.
And then in 1911,
they bought the Flying Merkel Motorcycle Company,
started manufacturing those and Flying Merkel bicycles.
Mike: When they bought Merkel,
that kicked them up from here to here because-
Clark: Elevated them.
Mike: Yeah, elevated them big time
because Merkel was such an established great brand.
Mike: In my collection,
I own a 1911 Flying Merkel motorcycle
and I also own a 1911 Racycle motorcycle.
So, seeing this really rare Racycle
that's exactly what I collect, and what I love.
Mike: This is a cool bike.
Out of all the bikes that are in here, this one stands out.
Mike: It's like, man, he knows he's got me.
[rock music]
Mark: Let's look in the basement.
This is my dad's workshop.
It's like a haven for him.
Rob: Wow! This is really cool.
Mark: His basement workshop.
That's where he escaped
and he worked on the things that he enjoyed.
Jersey Jon: Those are cool. Is that a Briggs down there?
Look at the paint on that thing, Robbie.
Rob: I know.
Larry: Briggs Model F.
Jersey Jon: At the turn of the century,
farms didn't have electricity.
These hit and miss engines, they were portable power sources.
They would power a saw, it could power a grinder,
it could power a washing machine.
Jersey Jon: Anything that you could hook a belt up to.
Larry: Yeah. Jersey Jon: You know?
Just make anything go.
Utility motor.
Jersey Jon: They really were the heartbeat of the farm.
Jersey Jon: I'm thinking 250.
Larry: Oh, I think we're gonna have to
do a little better than that.
I think maybe 375?
Jersey Jon: Three and a quarter.
Larry: I think for three and a quarter, we can do that.
Jersey Jon: Thank you.
Mike: This is what they call a cushion tire safety.
Clark: The head badge says Cleveland number one.
Mike: Lozier Manufacturing.
Mike: This is probably the earliest bicycle in this pile.
It's very unique, it's made by a company called Lozier in Ohio.
Mike: It was Lozier-Yost
and they made bicycles with suspension on them.
Mike: The founder of the company
actually came from another industry,
the sewing machine industry.
Mike: So, someone has put too big a tire on this bike.
Clark: Yeah?
Mike: It's rolling and hitting the crown of the fork.
But this is a bad to the bone bike right here
just because of the frame design.
Mike: It's got a double top tube, double down tube,
it's what they call a cushion tire,
it's got a 30-inch wheel.
Mike: It's missing all of its brake hardware.
Looks like it's got the original seat post,
original seat hardware.
It's obviously missing the grips,
but this, yeah, this is a sexy bike, man.
Clark: It really is. Mike: This is a great frame.
Clark: The split frame, I couldn't find another
Cleveland that looked even close to this.
Mike: Clark has been researching this stuff long enough
to realize that this is probably
the best bicycle in the whole pile.
Clark: So, with this bike, you know,
being number one Cleveland,
is there a possibility that this could be the only one?
Mike: No. Clark: No?
Mike: No, this was mass-produced.
Clark: Me being from Cleveland
and this being the number one first Cleveland bicycle,
I really thought that that was cool.
Mike: This is probably the most valuable bike in here by far.
Clark: Yeah? This is one of my favorites, that's for sure.
Mike: So, what's your plan, man?
Clark: Well, I do love all these bikes.
But I need to reinvest into the building.
So, some of these bikes have to go.
Um...
And I know you're a bike guy so...
Mike: I can't believe you found this many bikes at once.
I've been doing this for 40 years
and I've never found this many wood rims at one time.
Clark: It's overwhelming.
Mike: Have you thought about a number for all of them?
Clark: I have not thought of a number for all of them.
Um, but I'd love to hear, you know, what you think.
Mike: Well, you know these aren't as expensive
as Impalas, right?
Clark: Oh, I know. I know.
If I can maybe just take a few of them
that I fell in love with
and I learned a little bit more about.
I like that a lot of these are local built.
Mike: Yeah.
Clark: And it means a little bit more to me
to keep them around for, uh, you know, sentimental value.
Mike: Okay.
Mike: Now's the time
we have to get into like the value of all this stuff.
Because there's so many bikes.
Mike: A lot of this stuff is somewhat common.
With wood rim bikes, it's about, are the rims straight,
what type of pedal is on it, what do the bars look like,
how nice is the seat?
Because they're so simple.
Clark: Yeah.
Mike: And if I buy them all, which I would love to do,
I would hope there would be
some sort of wiggle room on the values.
Mike: What I'd like to do
is like put together a pile of stuff
that is more interesting,
that is like maybe more elevated value-wise,
and then you can put like different piles together.
So for example, we put this one over here.
Mike: My idea is to sort it.
Just kind of putting them in different categories
so then we can go through each pile
and put a value on each pile
and then add it all together.
I don't know.
I mean, the whole thing is completely overwhelming
and there's great stuff.
Mike: The Lozier stands out.
Mike: There's mediocre stuff.
Mike: This is actually a common bike.
Mike: And then there's some not-so-cool stuff at all.
Mike: Like that, for example. I'm not taking that.
[laughs]
This one does nothing for me.
Clark: Okay.
Mike: So, it's like, how do we put a number on all of it?
Mike: What I'd like to do is walk through here
and calculate some stuff out
and kind of figure out in my mind
what I can get for some of these.
Clark: Okay.
Mike: And just see if we can get together.
You know what I mean? Who knows.
Clark: Cool.
I'm gonna go check on my guys.
Mike: Okay.
Clark: So, I'll let you do your thing and I'll be back.
Mike: Okay. Thanks buddy. Clark: Yep.
Mike: [sighs] Alright, so, let's see...
Jersey Jon: That's cool.
That's an early trenching shovel.
Mark: Oh yeah. Jersey Jon: This is World War 1.
Mark: World War 1 I would say, yeah.
Jersey Jon: Yeah, it's got army green paint on it.
Mark: Yep.
Jersey Jon: This trenching shovel
was an important part of a soldier's toolkit.
It dug defensive positions,
it helped him survive the battlefield.
This got him underground so bullets could fly over his head.
It also dug out latrines, and unfortunately,
it dug out graves.
Jersey Jon: This is World War 1.
You see the World War 2 ones that fold up.
Mark: Right.
Jersey Jon: I'll see a lot of the World War 2 shovels
where it's got the little ferrule that unscrews
and it folds up the straight handle.
Those are all over the place.
Jersey Jon: But this one, man, you're digging...
Jersey Jon: But this World War 1 shovel is unique.
And it tells part of a really horrible story, of course.
Warfare is nothing to be glorified.
Jersey Jon: [sighs] Man...
Jersey Jon: World War 1 was -
it was the most brutal and bloodiest battles
that was horrific warfare.
Jersey Jon: I think a real nice one is probably over 100, 125.
But this one's far from that.
40 bucks?
Mark: How about 45, Jon?
Jersey Jon: I'm not gonna argue over 45 bucks, man.
That's - that's great. Alright, cool.
[intense music]
Mike: 22, 23... Clark: 24.
Mike: There's 25 bikes.
And they're all in different types of condition.
Mike: There's no badge on that, no badge on that.
It's got the wrong rear hub on it.
It's got the wrong pedals on it.
It's got the wrong handlebar stem on it,
possible the wrong bars because they're so small.
This is English so that's the wrong seat.
That's European.
This one here, it's missing the front fender.
Clark: Mhm.
Mike: Seat, seat, post. This one, no badge, no seat.
The rear wheel's all busted to crap.
The front wheel looks like somebody's gnawed on it.
Clark: It'd be nice to just at least
have a few to hang up in remembrance
and to kind of keep as something as a part of the building.
Mike: I'll show you what I didn't count.
So, you said you liked this bike back here
with all the accessories on it with the carbide light.
Clark: Yep.
Mike: And the nice seat. I didn't count that.
I didn't count this bike right here.
Clark: Okay.
Mike: The Lozier here. I didn't count that.
Clark: Okay.
Mike: What other ones did you have?
Clark: I do like the Columbus up there.
Yeah, that one, I would like to keep that one.
Mike: That's one of the more significant bikes.
Clark: Yeah.
Mike: I'd put 800 on that one. Clark: Okay.
Mike: In my calculation.
I figured it was worth, you know,
in that shape right there, like probably 12.
Mike: There's been a lot of layers to navigate
because there's so many bicycles that we're talking about.
Mike: Here's what number I came up with.
I came up with 11,045.
Mike: There are so many details in this deal
that you'd need a scorecard to keep track of it.
Mike: If you take that one out...
Clark: Okay.
Mike: There's 24 bikes for $10,245.
Clark: Okay. Mike: Okay?
Clark: Um, that's roughly 425 a bike.
Mike: For all the bikes that I'm trying to buy,
I'm at $425 per bike.
Mike: Some complete, some not.
Some amazing, some not.
Clark: Right.
Mike: Some of the most amazing bikes
you've ever seen in your life
and some of the worst bikes you've ever seen in your life.
[laughs]
Mike: Now, some are worth a heck of a lot more than 425 bucks,
and some are worth a heck of a lot less than 425 bucks.
But that's the number that I've kind of landed on
to where I need to be.
I mean, I want to be fair with him,
I want him to be fair with me.
Clark: So, I don't think we're too far off.
Um, I know we're friends and I feel that, um,
you have to make some money.
But, you know, I trust that-
Mike: Well, I'm a collector as well too.
Mike: Clark buys and sells a lot of different stuff
so he knows the game.
He knows I want to make some money,
he knows there's probably some stuff in here I want to keep.
Clark: You are leaving me some of the ones that I did love.
The Racycle was my favorite,
but that's probably gonna go in your collection.
Mike: It is. Clark: So, I'm cool with that.
Clark: Mike's first number was lower than I was hoping for.
But I always like to work an angle.
Clark: When I was at your Iowa shop,
I saw you had a Cleveland motorcycle up on the rack.
Mike: I do. Clark: It's been there a while.
Mike: It's been there a long time.
That's been there for probably 16, 17 years.
Clark: Wow.
Mike: [laughs]
But the engine,
did you notice the engine sitting next to it?
Clark: Yeah.
Mike: So, the engine needs to be bolted into it.
Clark: And, and-
Mike: It's got that, like, torpedo tank on it.
Clark: Yeah, I mean it's a killer look
and I really just love it, first of all, because it's Cleveland.
Mike: Yeah.
Clark: Second of all, visual aesthetic for me,
that's what I'm about.
Clark: And it is not as expensive
as buying an Indian of the same year,
or a Harley-Davidson or something like that.
Mike: What, you saying you'd be interested
in doing something on this?
Clark: Yeah. I think we could maybe work something out
if you'd be interested.
Mike: Um...
Mike: Clark wants to add another thing to the dance card.
Now he's talking about doing a trade.
Mike: I mean, I never really hardly ever
see those for sale and when I do,
you know, they're not huge money bikes
but if they're like running or together, you know,
they seem to be like around anywhere from 14,000 to 20,000.
Clark: Right. Mike: You know?
Clark: Um...
Mike: We're both gonna pull and tug at this deal
until we both find a common ground.
And the Cleveland motorcycle is that common ground.
Rob: Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Jersey Jon: This is cool, Robbie.
Kentucky rifle.
Jersey Jon: They were hunting rifles.
However, they're used in military as well.
Jersey Jon: I mean, look at the stock on that thing
with the curly maple?
Mark: That is neat.
Jersey Jon: In the 1700s, this long rifle was new technology.
It was the latest and greatest weapon to have.
Jersey Jon: Imagine that, shooting a bear with that thing.
Kentucky, pew!
Mark: Better hit it first, the first time.
Jersey Jon: Better hit it the first time.
You ain't reloading this thing.
Rob: Yeah, you ain't reloading it.
Jersey Jon: Gonna piss him off
and that's gonna be the end of you.
Jersey Jon: And what's cool about this particular rifle
is that you can see the evolution
of the technological improvements
they tried to make in rifles.
It was originally made as a flintlock
which actually had a stone, a flint,
to create a spark that made the gunpowder go off.
And it was converted to a percussion cap
which is a much later technology
that started around 1855, 1860.
That was the kind of thing that made it easier to fire.
It kept your powder dry.
Jersey Jon: This gun barrel is cool.
Looks like they've rifled it.
Jersey Jon: They also, like, rifled the bore.
They made a spiral groove down the bore
where the bullet traveled through,
so it made the bullet spin
and as the bullet spins, it's more accurate.
That rifle was originally made as a smooth bore weapon.
When you shot it, you didn't know where it was going.
You didn't know what tree it was gonna hit and not the bear.
But with the spiral, man, you were hitting the bear
and not the tree.
Jersey Jon: That's been altered in so many different ways.
It really hurts the value on something like this a lot.
I mean, a really beautiful, pristine, Kentucky rifle
with good provenance, that's thousands of dollars.
This is nowhere near that.
Mark: I understand.
Jersey Jon: So, it's not an original weapon anymore.
So, it changes the value.
Jersey Jon: It's early, it's cool,
but it's a wall hanger.
I'd go 150 on this thing.
Mark: Jersey, I agree it's in pretty poor condition
so I'll take the 150.
Jersey Jon: Alright. We'll do it.
Thank you, buddy. Alright.
Rob: So, what's in this room over here?
Mark: Let's go take a look.
Jersey Jon: The clock is cool.
Rob: That's a Pam clock.
Rob: Pam Clock Company was one of the biggest
advertising companies in the world.
They used one product to advertise everything.
But they would change the face on it.
Rob: Just call them up and say,
"Hey, we want this on our clock."
Rob: Ford, Chevy, Dodge -
if you had a feed company, if you had a soda company,
if you had a bicycle company -
I mean, whatever it was, they'll put it on their clock.
But all the clocks were the same.
How simple is that?
Rob: Everything was the same, all the cases.
Jersey Jon: Coca-Cola used them. Rob: Oh, God.
Rob: It's totally genius marketing.
I mean, if you think about it -
hey, the guy goes and has 100,000 of these clocks made.
They're all the same except for the face that's in the middle.
Then they screen print your advertising on that.
Rob: Usually what they did
was they put the wrong bulbs in here.
Jersey Jon: Then it melted?
Rob: Yeah, then all the paint on the inside
ended up crinkling off.
This thing actually doesn't even look like it's been on.
Jersey Jon: Yeah.
Rob: The paint's actually in really good shape.
Jersey Jon: The hands are nice.
Rob: You're always looking for the smaller companies.
They mass produced the Fords, the Chevies,
the Dodges, Coca-Cola, any soda pop brand.
But if you can find one that was a one-off, oh, that's gold.
Rob: You guys want to sell this?
One you want to keep?
Mark: I'd kind of like to keep it
but I guess if you, you know-
Rob: No, no.
Mark: If you got the right price.
Jersey Jon: [laughs]
Rob: Well, the biggie on this is this -
you know, Pam, for me, the advertising
either has to be soda related or it has to be car related.
Mark: Gotcha. Rob: This is a feed sign.
I love the colors on it.
Mark: Mhm.
Rob: I'd do 400 on it.
I think top dollar on it is probably 550, 5 and a quarter.
Mark: What do you think, Larry?
Larry: I have no real desire to keep it or anything, but uh...
Mark: At that price, I thought, great.
Mark: I was kind of fond of it,
but I think probably for $400,
I'd be willing to sell that to you.
Rob: That work? Mark: Yep.
Rob: Alright. Appreciate it.
Jersey Jon: Thank you. Thank you, thank you.
Jersey Jon: I really got to hand it to Mark and Larry.
They respect their father's collection.
They understand their father's collection.
Jersey Jon: Man...
Rob: Thank you for sharing your dad's history.
Larry: You're more than welcome. Thank you for coming.
Jersey Jon: Sorry I missed your dad.
Larry: You would've enjoyed him. You really would've.
Jersey Jon: Yeah, no kidding, man.
Mark: To see Robbie and Jersey be excited
and know that my dad had a good eye
and it makes me feel good
that it's gonna be appreciated down the road.
[honk, honk]
Rob: Come see us in Nashville!
Mark: Alright!
Mike: I'm at 10,245 for 24 bikes.
Clark: So, I don't think we're far off.
Um, when I was at your Iowa shop,
I saw you had a Cleveland motorcycle up on the rack.
Mike: I've had this Cleveland motorcycle on display
for 15 years or more,
and there's been a lot of people that have wanted to buy it
and I've never wanted to sell it.
Mike: I mean, I know -
I feel like I know the condition that it's in.
Uh...
Like 7 grand for it.
Clark: Okay. Mike: You know.
Um, there's some assembly required.
Clark: Understandable.
Mike: But uh, I would do 7,000 off of the bicycles.
Clark: Okay.
Mike: So, if you wanted to kick that around.
Mike: I've never turned it loose
but sometimes, it's like things got to find their home.
Clark: I'm interested in the motorcycle.
Mike: Okay.
Clark: Um, can you come up a little bit on the bikes?
Mike: Um...
Clark: I really thought
if I can throw this Cleveland motorcycle into the deal,
maybe I can get my money out of it that way.
Clark: Come up to 10,500.
So, you're coming up 255 bucks.
Mike: Here's the deal, if you want me to come up...
then I'll have to come up on the Cleveland motorcycle.
Clark: Okay.
Mike: Because the Cleveland motorcycle is a rare motorcycle.
Clark: Yeah.
Mike: They're not like belly buttons.
You know what I mean?
Clark: Yeah. Mike: So.
I mean, some of this stuff - I'm already taking -
I'm taking some...
Clark: The down and dirty stuff.
Mike: There's a lot of mud in the water.
Clark: Yeah.
Mike: There is no deal done until it's actually done.
And some deals can get to the point where there's fatigue.
Clark: Let's um...
Clark: At the end of the day,
both people have to feel like
they got the better end of the deal.
Clark: Alright, screw it.
Clark: I think today we did that.
We both feel like we got the better end of the deal.
Clark: I'm good with that.
Mike: You're good with the Cleveland motorcycle?
Clark: Yes, sir.
Mike: Alright, I'm good with the bicycles.
Clark: Alright. Mike: Okay.
Clark: Let's do it.
Mike: [laughs] We're doing it! Clark: Load them up!
Mike: Ah, alright man!
Clark: You gonna be able to fit all these?
Mike: I got them stacked in here like cordwood, dude.
Mike: This is the most bicycles I've ever bought at one time.
Mike: Is that the last one?
Woman: I know you didn't sell all of these.
Mike: Hey, the boss lady!
He actually did keep a few.
He kept four.
Clark: He did get a couple of my favorites,
but him buying those bikes
really opens up some money for me
to invest back in the building.
Mike: I got something that he loved,
and he got something that I loved.
Clark: I freed up a big chunk of space
and I got a pretty cool motorcycle to set up at my shop.
Mike: Thanks buddy. I appreciate you.
Clark: Good to see you, too.
Mike: Alright, you guys come to Nashville.
I'll buy you a steak dinner. Clark: That's a deal.
Woman: I'd love to. Mike: Alright, man.
[honk, honk]
Mike: See you down the road! Clark: Later, buddy!
Clark: Drive safe! Woman: Bye!
Clark: I only kept a few.
Woman: What else did you get? Clark: I got a motorcycle.