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A few of you have seen my bikes for sale on ebay (username: jmounteer) and have contacted me to ask about the bikes and whether I am getting out of the hobby.  I AM NOT GETTING OUT OF THE HOBBY.   I am simply reducing my collection down to 40 bikes or so.... for now.   My wife and I want to retire and live in England for a while and I just can't take 'em all with me and I have too many to store.  Actually, what I am looking forward to is picking it up again in the future and seeking out more collectible muscle bikes once again.  The hunt is half the fun!

For the life of me, though, I cannot understand all the sad-faced pitty talk about the hobby slipping into the dumper, lack of interest, bad market, low values, ebay sucks, and on and on.   Most of the bikes that I bought at market price years ago, and even in recent years, are selling on ebay at prices equal to or more than I paid for them.  I really am not seeing the big drop in values that everybody else is talking about.   Sure, there are a few bikes that I just had to have at the time and I paid a big premium for them then to pry them loose from their reluctant sellers, but those are the exception, not the norm.

One thing that I have seen as a result of this site is alot more knowledge about the bikes being shared.  This is good in most respects, but it has also removed alot of the mystique out of the various collectible bikes and has resulted in more concentration on just a few models and brands such as the Mark II's and Slingshots.  Those certainly are very cool bikes, but personally I have a very broad appreciation for all of the bikes and have avoided falling into the narrow minded mentality that only certain bikes are worth collecting to the detriment of most of the other models.   Sure I have my favorites, but for those of you who have been watching my auctions over the last months, you can see the wide variety of collectible muscle bikes that exist and that I have so enjoyed collecting over the years.

And it irks me that some choose to criticise those of us that don't have "correct" or "perfect" or "original paint" or "all-stock" muscle bikes or whatever.   Some of the customs that I have seen on this site and some that Ron, Dave or others have built are more interesting to me than the most perfect originals known to exist. 

And I have to speak out and say that dropping the domain name, Ron, is about the silliest comment I have heard you utter since you founded this forum.  What's up with you man?  Did you have some kind of a major brain fart our somethin'.  I'm glad you came to your senses.  

And finally, a general observation.  This hobby is seasonal.  In the summer time, many collectors turn their interest to other things, like golf, fishing, taking the kids on vacation, going to the beach, fixin' the house, mowin' the grass, goin' on a picnic, or whatever.   So, yes, you do see interest fall off a bit during the summer months.  But I've been at this for years and its always been the same.  People love these cool nostalgic muscle bikes.  They are true Americana that reflect a time when manufacturing and industry thrived in this country.  There will always be a fascination with these bikes and an appreciation for America's golden years during which they were produced, at least for a as long as most of us are on the planet.  

So, in conlusion, lets lift the gloom and doom and get back to the simple joy this hobby, this site, and the people who frequent it provide us.