Laverda on American Pickers

Years ago I saw an episode where they went to Italy and The Fixer, local guide, rode an SF2. Come to think they bought that Side Car on that trip I think. What shits me about that show and similar shows is Full Blown Wanking about always wanting and XXX and 15 minutes after buying it there selling XXX for XXX plus X. Who sells something you search years for 10 minutes after buying it. More about the Dollars than the passion.
 
Watching those two Iowa corncobs is just plain excruciating. Luckily their writers/researchers
can provide quasi-accurate background information before the cameras roll. Now Mike does
have a good background regarding early American marques,his little buddy Frank is using
zero back history to bluff through his lines. Sometimes they do stumble onto one-offs and
mostly forgotten bikes like the Volkswagen/BMW that Von Dutch built in the 60's. It is hard to
believe them offering more money than the seller offers but hey, thats reality TV !!
 
EncinoBoy said:
Sometimes they do stumble onto one-offs and
mostly forgotten bikes like the Volkswagen/BMW that Von Dutch built in the 60's.
Click to expand...
There were plenty of VW engine Beemers getting around in the 60's and early 70's using the old R60/2 or 69S frames. A bloke here in Hobart built one. I chatted with him a couple of times when we met while out and about, but I don't remember his name. He said it was a pretty simple conversion and his plan was to get a Steib sidecar for it.

A 1970's 1600 VW boxer engine only made about 47 HP, so not much of an increase over a 40 HP 69S BMW engine. Seems to me that a VW engine would make sense if you wanted extra torque for a sidecar, or if the VW was hotted up a bit. One factor could have been that there were plenty of good, cheap VW engines in car wrecking yards, and VW parts were plentiful. So it may have been cheaper than rebuilding a knackered Beemer engine.
 
Okay...lets end the game...how about a GM Corvair air cooled flat six built as a custom
about 1967 by the late Norm Grabowski. Norm was a BIG guy often appearing in low
budget movies in Hollywood as an extra...did I mention the custom sidecar ? For you
trivia fans I believe Norm also built the hotrod driven by Edd "Kookie" Byrnes in "77
Sunset Strip" on the tube. I ALSO think people have used Subaru engines in their one-
offs.
 
It was the best thought of behind the news TV show in Oz, older very experienced Jurnos with a big budget copied from the US show. It's gone tabloid lately. A shadow of its former self.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top