those guys in Houston Garage Sale

[EzPete]

While it's a possible total fanboy event and waste of time. I happen to have to be in Houston next Wednesday night so I'm going to go check out the preview. If there's anything actually worthwhile I'll post an update. Too bad it's too cold to wear my VHT tshirt.

Video here

Get ready, vintage motorcycle enthusiasts! those guys in Houston Collective is hosting an epic garage sale featuring an incredible selection of motorcycles, parts, and equipment. Join us here in Houston, TX for an exciting in-person event to score rare finds and great deals!

Preview Dates:

• Wednesday, Jan 15 & Thursday, Jan 16
• Time: 4:00 PM CST

Garage Sale Dates:

• Saturday, Jan 18 & Sunday, Jan 19
• Time: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM CST

 

[ancientdad]

Too bad it's too cold to wear my VHT tshirt.

Yes, too bad indeed.

Video here

I don't want any of their videos visible here, it's bad enough we speak their name giving them free web presence that they don't need or deserve IMO.

I guess their growth means they need more space. They should be doing well considering how long they've been marking stuff up higher than everyone else.

 

[Ribrickulous]

My guess is that as a non-critical business, supplying mostly hobbyists, they're seeing some revenue drop over the last calendar year. Just about everyone (unless you have the kind of wealth where if you lose half of it your lifestyle doesn't change) has been tightening their belts.

They might be looking to reduce inventory while picking up a bit of spending cash.

 

[ancientdad]

My guess is that as a non-critical business, supplying mostly hobbyists, they're seeing some revenue drop over the last calendar year. Just about everyone (unless you have the kind of wealth where if you lose half of it your lifestyle doesn't change) has been tightening their belts.

They might be looking to reduce inventory while picking up a bit of spending cash.

Interesting point, and very possible I suppose. With the fan base they have and the number of posts I see on Reddit all the time about members there simply buying everything from those guys in Houston like a one stop shop, it seems a little surprising they might have declining sales.

 

[ancientdad]

Too bad it's too cold to wear my VHT tshirt.

You're sure you don't have a sweatshirt you could wear under the VHT shirt? I'd really enjoy seeing a pic or two of your VHT shirt mingling with the those guys in Houston crowd...

 

[EzPete]

You're sure you don't have a sweatshirt you could wear under the VHT shirt? I'd really enjoy seeing a pic or two of your VHT shirt mingling with the those guys in Houston crowd...

I wasn’t factoring the 7-10 degree bump from Dallas to Houston. Should be able to go with the layered look.

I’m mainly looking to see if there’s any stray NLA/tough to find decent used parts in the mix, and like any garage sale there’s a tipping point when transportation and packaging outweighs profit and you can haggle some good deal when their alternative is to schlep it across town.

 

[ancientdad]

I wasn’t factoring the 7-10 degree bump from Dallas to Houston. Should be able to go with the layered look.

I’m mainly looking to see if there’s any stray NLA/tough to find decent used parts in the mix, and like any garage sale there’s a tipping point when transportation and packaging outweighs profit and you can haggle some good deal when their alternative is to schlep it across town.

Absolutely agreed, and if I lived in the area I'd be going too, damn the source. Good used parts are good used parts. But, we'll have to rely on you and your in-person judgment. It would be great if you could post a few pics of some stuff while there. Wish we'd known sooner, you could have taken a few VHT stickers with you to hand out.

 

[EzPete]

Absolutely agreed, and if I lived in the area I'd be going too, damn the source. Good used parts are good used parts. But, we'll have to rely on you and your in-person judgment. It would be great if you could post a few pics of some stuff while there. Wish we'd known sooner, you could have taken a few VHT stickers with you to hand out.

I'll grab photos of anything interesting in the preview, and I'm bringing my truck in the event an SS50 is buried in there somewhere.

 

[Mighty-Cycles]

I'm in Houston, going to try and make it.

 

[EzPete]

Interesting inventory list for bikes. A lot of 350's, handful of 450's, 360's and 175's. quite a few with no title and under $6-800. The bonded title route in TX isn't tough, costs about $200 to title it. Sadly, no SS50 for me, so I'll be taking photos and inventory of hard to find parts for the 450's - not sure what's unobtanium on the 350/360's, but I figure cams followers and cranks are the usual suspects.

 

[Flyin900]

Interesting inventory list for bikes. A lot of 350's, handful of 450's, 360's and 175's. quite a few with no title and under $6-800. The bonded title route in TX isn't tough, costs about $200 to title it. Sadly, no SS50 for me, so I'll be taking photos and inventory of hard to find parts for the 450's - not sure what's unobtanium on the 350/360's, but I figure cams followers and cranks are the usual suspects.

Pete,

If you see a engine guard for the 1968 CL175K0 Scrambler I am looking for one for Joe's build we are doing. Very long shot, yet the US had more of every model, so it maybe a chance find. Part # 50351-236-000

Here's what it looks like. It is unfortunately a one year wonder for this bike alone.

 

[EzPete]

Pete,

If you see a engine guard for the 1968 CL175K0 Scrambler I am looking for one for Joe's build we are doing. Very long shot, yet the US had more of every model, so it maybe a chance find. Part # 50351-236-000

Here's what it looks like. It is unfortunately a one year wonder for this bike alone.


View attachment 41556

I’ll dig around there. Looks like quite a few 175’s through there and that’s likely to be something they would have immediately discarded.

 

[ancientdad]

...and that’s likely to be something they would have immediately discarded.

Well if so, that would somewhat validate their lack of knowledge of some aspects of these bikes they claim to know so well, but it really wouldn't surprise me based on their ignorance of so many things that are easily found in the FSMs.

 

[Flyin900]

I’ll dig around there. Looks like quite a few 175’s through there and that’s likely to be something they would have immediately discarded.

Pete,

It is the Sloper motor version which was a one year only 1968 CL175. If they just happen to have one I can PayPal you the money immediately. A rare item, yet I found a used one for mine on eBay years ago, so they are out there.

This is what the bike would look like.

 

[EzPete]

Pete,

It is the Sloper motor version which was a one year only 1968 CL175. If they just happen to have one I can PayPal you the money immediately. A rare item, yet I found a used one for mine on eBay years ago, so they are out there.

This is what the bike would look like.

View attachment 41563

Somehow I doubt it would look that clean, but I’ve got the gist. Apparently there’s a pretty good size stack of used parts so I’ll keep my eye out.

 

[EzPete]

Pete,

If you see a engine guard for the 1968 CL175K0 Scrambler I am looking for one for Joe's build we are doing. Very long shot, yet the US had more of every model, so it maybe a chance find. Part # 50351-236-000

Here's what it looks like. It is unfortunately a one year wonder for this bike alone.


View attachment 41556

Sadly. No dice. Pretty slim pickings overall.

Couple of decent projects, quite a few “this plus $2-3K and it’s rideable” projects








And this one that made no sense.
View attachment IMG_0710.jpeg
Parts were super thin. There were some $20 tanks, engine blocks from 350’s and a couple of 450’s that might be good for transmission parts. Zero top end parts.

One set of 450 mufflers that, while dirty, aren’t scarred up.

A decent full CL exhaust.


A new CB360 2-1 exhaust

More shiny bits


Some CL (175?) heat shields

$5 grey control cables. Most appeared to be CL 450, and a stack of still new 39 tooth 450 rear sprockets for $5
View attachment IMG_0704.jpeg

 

[Cycleranger]

It's an additional ~$3-400 to get a bonded title in Texas.

 

[EzPete]

It's an additional ~$3-400 to get a bonded title in Texas.

I can get it done for a bit less since I can write my own bond at wholesale.

Here’s a few other items. The seat picture I somehow didn’t get a pic of the bike. Pretty decent CB350K1 - apparently famous from the “how to set the points” video. Needs a battery and a valve adjustment.

 

[ancientdad]

apparently famous from the “how to set the points” video.

Wow, I'm surprised they didn't add at least $500 to the sale price just based on that notoriety

Needs a battery and a valve adjustment.

What, like there's no one there who knows how to do it?? maybe they should do a little FSM read

 

[EzPete]

Wow, I'm surprised they didn't add at least $500 to the sale price just based on that notoriety

What, like there's no one there who knows how to do it?? maybe they should do a little FSM read

It was a little steep for a 350, IMO - but likely to be one that would be 50% off come Sunday if it's still around. That said, there is video evidence of it running at least, it had some interesting vintage aftermarket add-ons like CL style bars with a bit of rake to them, a "flash to pass" Hi beam button integrated into the left grip and was remarkably complete at least (missing R Side cover) Of the 350's it was probably the cleanest. There was a bunch more on my prior post that I think I somehow cut off typing on my phone.

The two maroon 175's were probably the best value of the Honda bunch, there's a KZ750B that's mildly intriguing - comes with 3 engines total. A CB750F/K mashup that is $4k?! and a CB450K7 in tahitian blue with a backwards wheel for a grand that needed quite a bit. If I had to rank everything in terms of garage sale value:

Bikes:
Moto Guzzi
the two maroon 175's ($800 one has a new exhaust and clean tank, good compression - $1,000 one runs and is pretty decent to rip around on)
KZ750
that K1 350
The rest were basically parts bikes, with a couple of candidates to maybe go deep on if you're wanting a project

Parts
Couple decent exhausts. I may pick up those 450 mufflers since my left one has some road rash and those ones appear to be unscuffed.
Control cables - there's a whole box of them and all the lettering is in Japanese - might need a measuring tape
rear sprockets for the 450's
2 SL (I think) tanks
1 CB500T tank


I may be making a run back down Sunday near the end of the sale to see what I can swoop up for 10-20% of asking - I'll just have to decide if it's worth the 6 hours of driving. In talking to a couple of the guys the new space is a tad bit smaller and they're trying to not have it as cluttered, I'm pretty sure the plan is to scrap almost everything that doesn't sell, apart from a few of the bikes, which is the part that kind of irks me. There's going to come a day that what could have been stripped out of those engines and the other bikes could have kept another ride alive. Like a bunch of people opting out of being organ donors.

 

[EzPete]

For the most part complete. Photos from my phone are being a PITA to upload due to size.

 

[ancientdad]

I'm pretty sure the plan is to scrap almost everything that doesn't sell, apart from a few of the bikes, which is the part that kind of irks me. There's going to come a day that what could have been stripped out of those engines and the other bikes could have kept another ride alive. Like a bunch of people opting out of being organ donors.

Interesting info, and it is a bit discouraging that a group who seems like they should be among those interested in helping save these bikes from extinction - let's face it, their own survival depends on it as much as anyone's - would be no different in their approach than a big commercial entity whose sole interest is profit while discarding so many parts that could actually be beneficial to everyone involved in vintage Hondas. Oh yeah, and stuff they actually could make money from, but that would require more work and storage space, not less. Wonder where all those obscene markup profits went anyway...

 

[ProjectMat]

From the look of some of those pics, they are good at something - mounting new tires, well, putting tires in the rim at least.

 

[Flyin900]

Pete thanks for the follow up. There were some deals there based on Canadian pricing these days. Nice that you could show some of the action, so we can live vicariously from those pictures at least.

 

[Cycleranger]

I wonder why the rims are so cheap.

 

[EzPete]

I wonder why the rims are so cheap.

Space I think. They all looked really clean - not OEM though. I think they’re all Rising Sun or something like that. They also had a box of CB450 Allen bolt hardware just marked “free”.

So like any garage sale, there’s going to be some serious steals just because they don’t want to move this stuff across town and had a hell if a time finding a place to move to.

Essentially, they have a landlord that’s a little shaky and decided to find a new space in a pretty limited area in Houston (inside the loop) - while also not wanting to be in a flood zone or the complete hood - so options were super limited. New space is a better shop but apparently doesn’t have the storage catacombs this one did (hands down one of the weirdest commercial buildings I’ve been in in TX).

This left them down to a square footage calculation and stuff they can sell on the website obviously has priority over weird old crap with bad packaging.

A lot of that stuff could have a future life, if someone had the space and time to tear it down and clean it up.

 

[EzPete]

Interesting info, and it is a bit discouraging that a group who seems like they should be among those interested in helping save these bikes from extinction - let's face it, their own survival depends on it as much as anyone's - would be no different in their approach than a big commercial entity whose sole interest is profit while discarding so many parts that could actually be beneficial to everyone involved in vintage Hondas. Oh yeah, and stuff they actually could make money from, but that would require more work and storage space, not less. Wonder where all those obscene markup profits went anyway...

Wasn't into the building, that's for sure! I asked one of the guys about it and the basic answer was that the used parts business wasn't really scalable and nobody locally would come in and tear stuff down so the idea of sell it off dirt cheap was the closest. I get it, that is a lot more work than packaging bulk parts from overseas, etc. and a lot more CS headaches with returns and part number labeling. Surprisingly, Texas has terrible resources for this kind of thing. Very few shops will even touch vintage stuff, and even the parts recyclers don't want vintage parts

 

[12ozPBR]

Thanks for the report and all the pics!

 

[EzPete]

Well. A nice little field trip today for a while wad of nada. Went ahead and rolled the dice on the “tail end of the garage sale” negotiation window and got there around 1 today, to no avail.

The stuff I really wanted was gone. Sorry @Danager4792 - cable sets too. Sprockets were history so unless I wanted an overpriced bike (really thought I could get them to $500 on the 350 but no dice there.) it was just a scrapyard.

At least I didn’t have to listen to collinsworth call a game and got into the radio instead.

 

[ancientdad]

What do you suppose this guy paid for his CB450 donor bike?

1970 CB450 Home safe

 

[EzPete]

What do you suppose this guy paid for his CB450 donor bike?

1970 CB450 Home safe

Ah. The ever elusive 1977 CB450 twin. lol

That one was actually a completely rusted out K4 that was only $250, looked like it had been stored in a flood - that photo was the “good” side. There was a lot of those ones with open side covers, etc. if memory serves that one (inventory #77) was also missing cams and followers.

 

[ancientdad]

Ah. The ever elusive 1977 CB450 twin. lol

That one was actually a completely rusted out K4 that was only $250, looked like it had been stored in a flood - that photo was the “good” side. There was a lot of those ones with open side covers, etc. if memory serves that one (inventory #77) was also missing cams and followers.

Of course the cams and followers would be the first things to go. Hopefully this guy will get what he needs for his $250, but based on your description of what we couldn't see I wonder if there was any real value there. Unless it was stored indoors the entire time those outer covers were off, there'd be some rust on the innards.

 

[EzPete]

Of course the cams and followers would be the first things to go. Hopefully this guy will get what he needs for his $250, but based on your description of what we couldn't see I wonder if there was any real value there. Unless it was stored indoors the entire time those outer covers were off, there'd be some rust on the innards.

It may have been inside recently, but that one was along the wall of "whoa" (or I guess "woe" would fit as well) - Essentially all true Parts Bikes between 200-300 with no titles, less than 50% complete. When I went back Sunday most of those were gone, which makes sense since you could likely save a lot of time and headache. I'd bet some of the transmissions would be OK, maybe shift linkage, lots of hardware - I'm still kicking myself a little for not going up to $700 on the CB350. Something about that one had my interest. I was more bummed about all that drive to find out the vultures had just taken whole boxes of stuff on the cheap/free wall. Like coming up to a house on Halloween to find the kid in front of you emptied the bowl into their bag.