didn't have the heart to do it.

[heartlandcruisers]

ok well to support my habit I occasionally do work on bikes and flip them.
normally the customer is always right ,but I just could not bring myself to do it.
a client brought in what looked like a mint condition Schwinn panther I believe it was 1956 and it was cherry had all it's components and a working horn on the tank and what looked like a delta fender light not sure if it is original or not and I may be off on the year.
but, the kid wanted me to turn it into a klunker and remove all the parts so he could ride it off-road.
I was almost ready to do it until I looked at the bike and saw her beauty and just could not pull myself to destroy such an iconic bike.
was I wrong? or was I smart to not destroy a classic?
the kid understood my passion and said he may be willing to sell it to me down the road if I can in fact build him a klunker.
so I may own it eventually.
but it brings me to a new topic just for random pointless talk lol.
have any of you ever had a situation like this where you just cannot bring yourself to destroy a classic bicycle no matter how much you want to keep the customer happy?
any thoughts or input on this subject?
sean

 

[horsefarmer]

I think you did the right thing and state your case to keep the bike together. Maybe offer to help locate a donor frame for the customer. At least you have given him some food for thought he may want to keep the bike together now.

 

[heartlandcruisers]

I think you did the right thing and state your case to keep the bike together. Maybe offer to help locate a donor frame for the customer. At least you have given him some food for thought he may want to keep the bike together now.

yes that actually is exactly what he did he wants to keep it original after I told him it could fetch close to 1500 or better for the right buyer and he does want me to build him a worksman klunker I been showing him some of the beauties my fellow rrbers have built and he likes them so I gained a client and saved a classic I feel good.

 

[heartlandcruisers]

now to find a worksman he really liked the m2600 model styling so I am gonna be doing one like that more then likely

 

[emfife]

Right on. You did the right thing

 

[KJV]

I would have built the kids, klunker.
keeping, removed parts,for resale,
Or, keep for rebuilding.

 

[horsefarmer]

I would have built the kids, klunker.
keeping, removed parts,for resale,
Or, keep for rebuilding.

That would of been a good plan "b" option if the customer insisted on striping the bike to build a clunker, considering many people would just throw those dirty old parts into the trash.

 

[Wildcat]

I think you did right. I would now start scrounging for everything needed for a great klunker and try for an even trade with the Schwinn.

 

[KJV]

I think you did right. I would now start scrounging for everything needed for a great klunker and try for an even trade with the Schwinn.

that is a good plan.

 

[G-Matt]

You did the right thing & I'm a firm believer that the customer is Not always right . After all you are the professional if they knew so much the wouldn't have ask for your help . You were very professional in a polite way & schooled the kid at the same time [emoji106][emoji106]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[heartlandcruisers]

You did the right thing & I'm a firm believer that the customer is Not always right . After all you are the professional if they knew so much the wouldn't have ask for your help . You were very professional in a polite way & schooled the kid at the same time [emoji106][emoji106]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah I do also believe sometimes the customer is not always right but I try to be polite about it and explain to them why I refuse to do certain things about 99 percent of the time they end up understanding and are thankful for me pointing them in the right direction

 

[Mark Sr.]

You did what I would have done. You probably might have been able to offer him $400, stole his bike & sent him on his way thinking he got a deal. M2600 Klunkers are pretty cool. I would love to build (another) one!

 

[Bicycle808]

Yeah, you did the right thing and all, mostly b/c Panthers have a realllllly low BB height, and even the earlier ones do not have what i'd consider to be excellent klunk-geometry.

And seriously, with a bike as complete as that, it wouldn't make sense to take bits off of it. They didn't make Panthers in '56, but they made balloon straight bar Panther I's from like '49 to '54, and then they brought it back as a middleweight canti frame in '59 and '60, as the Panther II. Yeah, i was basically kidding about the geometry, but there's a bit of truth in most attempts at "humor". One certainly can klunk a mw canti frame, and i guess it makes sense if you have a beater/banger canti-frame lying around, but they sure do hang low in the BB.... and lack tire clearance.

M2600 Klunker? I'll be making one of those soonish.... i'm thinking of building it as a 29"er coaster-mullet.