people in the Hood

[Henry morgan]

I have a small house(1000sq ft) and even smaller garage. but its just me and my kid keeps promising to move
out ... everytime I want to work on bikes, I have to pull out quads.. lawn mower... my tadpole and the host of bikes I ride
to get to the stuff I want to play with. my house is on a busy 3 way stop and when bikes are out .. everyone wants to
ask about the bikes.. are they for sale.. is the quad for sale.. or they just have to get out and tell you about the bike they
had.. and you know.. everyone has had one of what every you got. 15 kids walk up .. and they have to touch each bike..
and they alway ask can I have one.... or they go and get mom or dad.. and they want to buy a bike from me... they get mad
becasue I tell them I cannot sell them a bike. ( sorry for the way I type .. its a military thing.. teletypes and cyrpto)
I have a bike I got off of CL only paid 60 for it. very nice. bike..they always want to buy that one I have to tell them 68 bucks for the rims.. 30 for the tires.. 59 for the rack 29 for the apes, tubes.. seat.. its all adds up plus the shipping. I tell them its would cost me 280 bucks to sell them my 60$ bike and they get pissed.. and I am sure I have fixed every bike for a 5 block radius
and then some. is it just me .. or everyone else have this going on.

 

[B607]

I don't envy you. I live in the country and have never had anyone stop and look at my bikes in the 20+ years I've been here. Sounds like you should add on to your garage and open a mom and pop bike shop from all the traffic you're getting. CA$H IN! Gary

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Every time I open my shed and pull out my tadpole tandem I get the usual "Wanna sell that bike" or "How much for that bike"
I just say I don't want to sell it but if you want it real bad I'd let it go for $1,000. Which normally gets laughs but hey I tell them
I don't want to sell it but money talks. The others I give reasonable prices on and once in a blue moon I sell one. Most times
I trade them or after I sell one I buy one to take it's spot.

 

[Philphine]

i have kind of a fear of too many people stopping by and asking about my bikes, so i just don't have them out very often en masse. when i was younger and living with my parents the first time i started collecting up bikes, they were under our porch. people would see them and first there would be offers to buy, then they'd end up stolen.

now, luckily i have a pretty good sized garage that sits a little further back than the house. so even if i have to pull out some things to get to what i want (just did it to get that implement of satan, my lawn mower, out), i don't have to pull out everything and it's not in plain view. probaly the people who live right next door and just across the street know i have a lot of bikes, but anyone else wouldn't see more than the couple i ride most.

 

[aka_locojoe]

I live on the main street in town so I get that too. I work in the garage and in summer have the door wide open. Everything from people wanting to buy bikes to kids asking to have one for free. Others want to sell or give me bikes. People ask if I fix bikes. I've even had someone assume I fix bikes and dropped a couple off for repair when I wasn't home. Some people just stop in curious what's up with all the bikes.

 

[yoothgeye]

The kids come to my door and knock and ask for me by name. I was still in my church clothes yesterday pulling out the bike stand and putting bikes on it one at a time, replacing tubes an changing tires. Then I can't leave well enough alone, I won't put a wheel back on a bike with loose bearings, it only takes a minute right? What? You have no grips? Here, let me find some. The dog ate your seat padding, hold on, I have a spare. And I understand you like to stop with your feet, but let me adjust these brakes and move your brake levers to where you can actually reach them... just in case. Yes, all this was yesterday. I also gave away 2 bikes, one came back and one kid left the bike he rode there in my yard, even after I showed him how he could ghost ride the other one home. So today I get to do a home delivery too.

I keep all my stuff locked up and even though they can see into the shop, there are some things I don't let any of them see. Mostly the kids I help out look out for me, and you never know what they might bring you, I get more worried when adults come around asking.

I'm thinking about putting up a sign that says "Justin's Bicycle Shop"

 

[dragnusa]

I normally just have neighborhood kids around when Im working on bikes, but if someone stopped by I wouldnt mind and if they asked if I had any for sale, Id just show them what is for sale and what I might sell for the right price. but I do have my off limits bikes too yeah wouldnt even want to think about what my little girl would do if she came home from school and I told her I sold her fairlady, Id probably have to sleep with both eyes open. If I was you Id just have a few sell bikes on hand and set them closest to the road so if someone does stop by and wants to buy a bike to can say those right there are for sell but these are a no go.

 

[yoothgeye]

That's what I've been thinking about doing, I have some bikes that are rideable that I could price anywhere from $5-$20 just to save them from the scrap guy.

 

[Henry morgan]

I fix the kids bikes... and I tell them where to find one cheap .. and I will fix them up for them. I just dont like all these kids
at my house ..mostly because I dont know them.. I i knew the parents.. and knew it was ok for them to be there I guess
it would not be so bad. I have a kid comes everyday to get air in his tire.. I think he comes just because I talk to him like
a real person ... his baby sitter/cousin does nothing but yell, cuse and promise to whoop his butt.. I am starting to think
TV and microwaves have doomed us all has anyone seen my mayan calendar :roll:

 

[yoothgeye]

The kids know who I am from church and tell their parents I am the youth pastor, or they know me from leading FCA at the schools. I'm pretty well known, just not in a "famous" way. haha

 

[dragnusa]

That's what I've been thinking about doing, I have some bikes that are rideable that I could price anywhere from $5-$20 just to save them from the scrap guy.

Being unemployed that was my idea so I could make some money and help people that cant afford to go get their kids new bikes. I usually ask 5 or 10 for the smaller bikes and 20 to 75 for all the others depending on what I have into them and what they are. My old bikes I still have a problem with parting with. but since Ive started fixing up bikes Ive really thought about starting up a bike shop since our small town hasnt had one since the 90s but want to build up my old bike stock before I do.

 

[Buck Masterson]

I have a dog.

 

[yoothgeye]

I have a dog.

Congratulations. :mrgreen:

 

[outskirtscustoms]

I used to have a dog but he got too expensive to feed. Well the place said he was a dog, looked more like a grizzly bear. (Rottweiler / Newfoundland mix)

 

[dougfisk]

I must have an un-welcoming look about me. I work in the driveway all the time and only once in several years has anyone stopped to visit.

 

[udallcustombikes]

I was out in the garage and driveway this morning while the electrician and plumbers were doing their thing and had a guy come to a screeching stop out front. He was out of the car before it was stopped. He had seen the bikes and wanted to talk shop for a few minutes. He mentioned his Spaceliner and how the hub just freewheels in both directions. I told him the probable cause and he asked if I could fix it. I said sure and quoted him a price. He said he would drop it by tomorrow, took my card and left. Five minutes later he was on the phone asking if he could go ahead and drop it off. He brought it over and we chatted for another 15 minutes and he had to get to work.

Five minutes after he left a fellow collector pulled up out front and we killed another hour of my day.

I didn't mind either of my unexpected guest today. I love talking bikes with folks, made a quick $60 and got a lead on some stuff I have been looking for.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

I just had a guy stop me on my 3 wheel tandem and chatted a bit about it and bikes in general and he asked me if I knew where he could find a tandem bike for him and his wife. I told him I have one that needs work. He's coming in the morning to buy it without even trying to haggle the price! Got to love making money on a bike without having to fix a thing or even list it. 8)

 

[Vipon]

I live at the beach and most everyone I know as some sort of cruiser. They have relatives come down on vacation who want to ride with them on the beach. I had a guy who asked me a couple of weeks ago if he could rent one of mine so his out of town sister could ride with him. Words gotton out and I have 3 more people who have "reserved" bikes.

I'm only "renting" cheap ones though, for some reason everyone always wants to ride in the surf with them.

 

[KJV]

k-9's walking the property,
guys hanging around the garage door ..cleaning weapons;
people tend to keep moving on past. :mrgreen:

 

[yoothgeye]

Related thread:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=54939 :mrgreen: