I spent my Saturday at the Super Cycle Show at the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center Chicago, IL. I'm going to visit as many cycle shows and dealer open houses as I can this season. This is my second one this season.
This show is a new and used motorcycle parts Flea Market with some custom motorcycles sprinkled in. This was my first time and I did not know what to expect from this show. If you are looking for that hard to find part for your bike this would be the place to find it.
The thing I was surprised about was that most of the used parts looked like they were sitting somewhere with high humidity. Everything was rusted and dirty. I saw some chrome exhaust pipes lying on the concrete floor with no protection to stop them from being scratched. They were heavily soiled so you could not see if they were damaged.
I'm one of those people, if you want to get the most cash for an item sold the item should look as close to new as they can. I know these sellers could have received more for these parts if they cleaned them up before they put them out for sale.
I saw some new parts for sale that were interesting. If I had some extra cash I would have picked some up. The prices were reasonable and you saved a lot of money by not having to pay the shipping costs if you purchased them on the net.
I did purchase something. I detail bikes on the side and it is a pain in the back cleaning those hard to get places, like under the bike and wheels.
A company, J&S Motorcycle Jacks was selling a lift that lets you jack the bike off the kick stand without ever touching the bike. It was really scary watching the bike being lifted off the ground with out holding the bike. At it's highest lift point 18", the bike was very stable. It was also cool to see the bike come down to the ground and rest so gently onto it's kick stand.
I was sold on this new jack and forked over my $300+ bucks and couldn't wait to get home and try it out. To make a long story short. I got home and took my new lift out of my SUV and rolled it under my bike and sure enough it worked as advertised. It was a little scary at first because the bike looked like it was leaning over to far on the kick stand but then it rolls over to the right and stands up straight.
If this helps me clean and detail bikes faster I'm going to purchase a few more. I will be able to work on two bikes at the same time.
Super Cycle Show Slideshow
Today's Photo
Meaning Of The Day: Bearing - Load supporting part designed to accept the wear and punishment of moving parts while protecting more valuable parts. Three type of bearings are roller ball, tapered and metal collar cap type.
Now You Know, Biker Joe
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