American Restoration

[CRASH]

I love this show on History Channel... but tonight... a guy brought in an Italian folding bike. Rick estimated $3,200 for the job! Holy crap!! I've seen you guys do twice the work for so much less! I felt like Rick was fleecing the guy, and it slightly upset me.

but I still like the show. :?

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Yeah some of his quotes are way out there. What I think is funny is people actually pay it. I'd tell him off.

 

[Murray-Eliminator]

It's all scripted there is nothing real about these realality shows

 

[CRASH]

It's all scripted there is nothing real about these realality shows

LIAR!!

 

[Rat Rod]

Don't get us started on the pickers...ha ha. :lol:

 

[CRASH]

American Pickers? Yeah, like that one too. Also we watch Pawn Stars, but my wife and I went to Vegas and checked out the store. over-commercialized. Kind of ruined it for me. I'm glad (and a little disappointed) that I didn't go looking for Rick's Restorations.

 

[someguy83]

my .02- At first I thought some of his quotes were a bit out there, but then after seeing what all he does to every piece..... He truly restores every component of everythingthat comes in. The one that impressed me was the stamp vending machine. Where some guys would just bead blast and repaint the outside, his guys drilled out all the rivots cleaned and prepped each individual panel, repainted and reassembled. And when it was done it looked brand spankin new. Most people would not do that much and end up with far less quality work. He had a great business and following prior to the show and it will only get better. Stop and think about the hours some of us put into finding the correct rack or bars or worse yet that exact bolt that was used that one and only year for that specific model of whatever your current favorite bike is. The time spent polishing and buffing, or degreasing and repacking bearings. Figure out how much time you actually spend on restoring a bike to 100% correct, then figure $50-75 per hour (typicall body shop rate). Custom shops are more like $75-100 per hour and thats just labor. Now add the cost of finding any missing parts, add in paying premium price (when its in a shop you pay whatever it costs to get the job done NOW not wait for the deal of a lifetime). Suddenly that $3200 seems pretty cheap. $3200 divided by $75/hour is just a bit over forty hours worth of work. It sounds like a lot of money but the guy wanted it done and didn't want to do it himself. I am sure he got what he paid for.

 

[CRASH]

I'm a broke-ass... so I fall over when I hear prices that high.

 

[Rat Rod]

We've been shown a letter written by someone who was on American Pickers and that person commented on how he had spoken with the production crew on the phone days before and they discussed what he had and agreed upon pricing before the crew ever arrived at his house. Once they were there, the filming took about 8 hours and they staged everything, even hiding items in better places to make the finds seem more exciting.

I don't think that Antique Archeology had a store front before the show started. Mike has said that he and Daniel were friends from way back and he asked her to be a part of the show when he signed the deal. They wanted someone who was cool and hip looking to make antique hunting seem fun.

All of these shows are just staged and everything that goes on in them is carefully planned out and written. There is no way that you could produce a TV program that anyone would want to watch without doing this.

I just look at it all from the perspective that it's entertainment and it's fun to watch. You get to learn a few things about history and you also get to see some cool old stuff.

 

[yoothgeye]

Next you're going to tell me that the Huxtables weren't a real family.

 

[CRASH]

ACK! WIsh I hadn't read that. But I agree, it's a greatly entertaining show. Better than a lot of other crap.

 

[GameBent]

I have also realized that all "reality" shows are staged. I don't mind American Pickers and American Restoration so much because I'm a big fan of old-school American ingenuity and craftsmanship. However, I don't like how they have started 'injecting drama' into them with the "we refuse to give Danielle a raise" and "so and so now has to wear real shoes at work instead of sandals" BS. Don't they know that we don't want more drama!
What I really can't stand are the "reality" shows were everyone acts like a jerk and disrespects others, even to the point of fighting over nothing! Sadly, many people now think that this is acceptable behavior, and it shows in the way people treat each other. I especially can't stand the lack of respect that most teenagers have for everything! Also annoying are the "reality" shows that display the most mundane jobs, like towing cars or hunting gators. It's so obvious that everything is scripted, and the actors seem to think it's so cool to promote the worst in people.
End of rant. Thanks for being patient!

 

[Rat Rod]

Now if they could combine hunting gators and towing cars.... :lol:

 

[CRASH]

Well said GameBent. It's sad they have to inject drama for ratings, but I guess if they didn't, we wouldn't have them at all.

But I take comfort in knowing not everything on TV is fake. Once a week I watch my WWE wrestling, possibly the last bastion of honesty and reality we have in this world!















Disclaimer: I really do not watch wrestling. However, I did watch The Rock wrestle that new kid, but I was deployed, so it doesn't count.

 

[Henry morgan]

I think steve should have his own show .. rolling with the lord and the knockleheads (myself included) :lol:
and the world of ratrod bikes. Dot can run the store front and uncle stretch can be the grumpy old guy :lol:

 

[Rat Rod]

My wife and I always joke around about how it would be a cool basis for a show on Discovery or History Channel.

A few of problems though...

1. I have no tattoos or chrome sunglasses.
2. I don't curse so the guy that runs the beep button would be out of a job.
3. I'm no incredible bike fabricator.
4. My Dad and I get along well.

Now, if I ever did try to get a show going, I'd have to focus it on riding around the country visiting the folks who do the real bike fabricating and building.

That would be fun to watch each week.

 

[dos cruiser]

Steve and his Showroom Classics visiting all the Custom Bicycle Builder of the World. I'd watch!

 

[CRASH]

That's actually a good idea. Follow guys through their bike projects. I mean, I love to watch their processes on 'Overhaulin', even though they don't show a lot of detail on what they do. A bike overhaulin show would be good family TV.

 

[yoothgeye]

Now, if I ever did try to get a show going, I'd have to focus it on riding around the country visiting the folks who do the real bike fabricating and building.

A lot of those guys have tattoos and cuss and don't get along with family, that curse beep guy can keep his job.

 

[kngtmat]

Now if they could combine hunting gators and towing cars.... :lol:

That would be funny then call it Towing Gators except in Florida it will be towing all the Gator fans cars, J/K Gator fans that are on the site.



Yeah some of those prices seems high to me as well, I don't know if you think they are high but a guy on Yahoo Answers says he can restore bikes way higher than I believe I heard Rick say.

Here is some of what he has said before below, I'm not sure he is right or not but the first is about restoring a 1950's Monark bicycle and the second is for restoring a 70's Murray 3 speed.

"I strongly recommend that you stop any work on it immediately. The bike is very high value, and unless you are doing a complete and correct restoration then it will severely damage the value. Even if it is rusty and crusty you should leave it alone.

My last Monark restoration took me almost 3 years and cost the customer almost $12,000. Thats Twelve Thousand Dollars. Even then I took shortcuts such as using reproduction decals and tires, and using stainless steel spokes rather than cadmium plated stuff... I still lost money.

For more information you can contact an acquaintance of mine, his name is Larkin. He owns Baynesville Bicycle and Lawnmower Service in Parkville Maryland and he can give you much more information... just do a Yahoo! search for his shop."



"There are VERY few Murrays- or any bikes for that matter- that are worth the cost of a full resto. For a correct paint job most bike shops can't- or won't- do it, the job with correct decals will cost up to $1000. An AVERAGE paint job with no decals might cost about $300.

Disassembling and rebuilding wheels including painting the rims will cost about $200 per wheel including hub rebuild and new spokes. Chrome plating will cost a bit more.

Chrome plating the other stuff such as handlebars, stem, crank, and other items might cost an additional $300-400.

Saddle, tires and handgrips along with the other rubber/plastic parts- if you want them correct- would cost about $150-200.

Sooo, these items along with other stuff, a good restoration will likely cost somewhere about $2000. This price is my AVERAGE charge for a restoration.

If you just want to "fix up" the bike without regard for originality it is NOT considered a resto. This could be done for a few hundred dollars."