Best Vintage Motorcycle

Where To Find Vintage Parts For Antique Motorcycle Restoration

Many people have interesting stuff parked in the back of their garage. Whether it be a vintage Schwinn bicycle that once belonged to their grandparents, or classic cars and motorcycles handed down generation to generation, stuff tends to pile up, and in some cases, things get forgotten until you dig them up again for that yard sale. If you've been thinking about restoring a vintage motorcycle that you just dug out of that pile of stuff, there are some pitfalls to consider, but not nearly so many as are involved in restoring a classic car. The problem that many fail to consider completely before beginning an antique motorcycle restoration is where to find antique motorcycle parts. Of course there's always Ebay, or Craigslist, but finding vintage motorcycle parts in these places is spotty at best, and you're always going to pay far above the actual value for NOS vintage motorcycle parts. NOS, by the way, means "New Old Stock." These are parts which were made in the era in which the vintage motorcycle in question was built, and in order to find classic motorcycle parts such as these requires a deeper look than you'll find in the vintage motorcycle parts section on Ebay.

When looking for where to find antique motorcycle parts, the first place to look is the latest edition of the JC Whitney catalog. Even without glossy pictures, JC Whitney carries many, many reproduction vintage motorcycle parts, including mirrors, mechanical parts, batteries, and tires. This is where to find antique motorcycle parts that will get your vintage motorcycle up and running again, and you'll be surprised pleasantly by the prices. While you may think that starting an antique motorcycle restoration will break your wallet, the truth is that it can be much less stressful and expensive than you might think, as long as you are willing to take your time and do the work yourself. Once you start sending parts out to shops is when you start running into the expensive part of antique motorcycle restoration. Now, let's qualify that statement. If you're sitting on a first year production Indian Chief, or a Norton, you might want to give some serious thought to a professional restoration. Depending on the value of the bike, you might come out ahead even after spending as much as $50, 000 on a perfect restoration. A late-seventies Harley-Davidson, however, is a project you can take on without worrying about damaging a classic, however. Harley made plenty of them in the seventies, so parts won't be too difficult to find.

Otherwise, you'll find that your biggest consideration in where to find antique motorcycle parts is whether you can salvage what you have. Engine covers can be repolished, wheels trued and rechromed. It all depends on your tolerance for wallet pain. To find the fabled NOS parts, look first in your Google toolbar, and check the yellow pages. You just might find the vintage motorcycle parts you've been looking for at your local motorcycle scrap yard.