Cyclone Stolen !

[sirhrmechanic]

At gunpoint... unreal... First time I've heard of a home-invasion for a vintage bike...

Cheers,

Sirhr

[c.o.]

The good ones... no. And don't get me wrong, there are some amazing, great restorers out there.

I give our customers and those who call the shop 'looking' to buy cars the following tips: 1. You may WANT that old car right now. But you don't NEED it. Plan on spending up to a year looking. Don't buy the first car you see. 2. Keep your eyes open and your wallet shut. Research, learn, drive 'good' examples of the car you want. Attend a tour. Learn what you are getting into before you buy. 3. Hire an expert and LISTEN to them. If the pre-buy report says 'run' from this vehicle, don't use the report to chisel another few $K off the price. 4. Auctions and Hemmings are the last resort of the 'scoundrel' vehicle. It ends up in an auction so you get 'no comebacks.' Hemmings because noone else wants it. The best stuff changes hands between collectors and gentlemen on a handshake and with little or no advertising. 5. Buy the car that appeals to you cosmetically -- Because you can fix anything but ugly.

.

I am sure the honest people out weigh the dishonest, so I get where you are coming from Sirhr.

Your advice is good and less people would get stung if they followed those simple steps.

[c.o.]

Gunpoint?? That is freakin' crazy!! The thief/thieves need more than a skinning!!!

I just read that article Jurassic. I learned something pretty interesting. I had thought that a restored Harley came of the August "Blick" Wolters privateer racer. It appears as though the Cyclone may have been the "period" restoration. This bike has a pedigree. It's a damn shame that this happened.

Quote from the Hot Bike article....

"Tracing Jeff Gilbert's bike finds it originally racing in Northern California, then languishing unused for some 10 years before being revived by one Blink Walters who modified the displacement from 1,000 cc to 350 cc by blanking off one cylinder and making a smaller displacement replacement barrel for the other. He then stuffed the motor into a '23 Harley-Davidson short-coupled race frame (itself worth a fortune) and tore up the competition in his class during the '20s. In the '50s the engine was rebuilt back to its original self, the Harley frame retained. Harrah's of Las Vegas bought it for their huge collection of cars and bikes back in the '60s then sold it during one of their sale-offs in 1984. Its owner then advertised it for sale in 1990, at which point Jeff brought it home, now celebrating its 20th anniversary in his collection."

[jurassic]

[c.o.]

That photo above is my all time favorite race bike shot.

I don't know the story on the bike that sold at auction a couple years back. Other than the Don Johns racer, is there another Cyclone out there with the history that Jeff's bike has? I hope this one ends happy.

[jurassic]

i feel sick , thank god jeff and his wife were not hurt.
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?se...les&id=8531691

[silentgreyfello]

This is absolutely crazy. Thank goodness he didn't get hurt. This is the reason that I would never list my bike in a registery or advertise what I have, and always be prepared to use the second ammendment. Fricken carps.

[c.o.]

Crazy is right!!! It sure seems to me that Jeff made an effort to share that Cyclone with all the exposure it has had. An incident like this could have others reconsider that angle and keep their rare machines out of the public eye. I can't say that I would blame anyone who made that decision after something like this. I'm really glad to hear that Jeff and his wife are O.K.

[ricmoran]

This should be posted on all MC forums out there. I already posted over at 1130cc.com and I think if this is done, someone just might know who and someting about this.

Makes me sick, theives should be shot. Wonder though, why in a high end neighborhood why alarm systems either were not on or activated. If they had alarms and they were on perhpas these were bypassed and from
the sounds of this, I believe these people know the owner and his habits.

[c.o.]

I just dug out and read an article from the Fall 1995 issue of Earlyriders that said Jeff's bike is one of only two examples with a "ported" engine. After some further digging.. http://www.antiquemotorcycle.org/bbo...-numbers/page8 I borrowed a pic from Jurassic of Don John's racer. That takes care of the second example. Jeff's bike is rarer than rare. I see the news is building up steam on the internet... here's another report http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/...-estates-home/ Have you heard anything else Chris?