Patina

The question du jour is this:   Do you think old things look better when they are made to look new again, or do you think they look better with the patina of natural aging?

Consider Steve’s original Mustang Pony, as shown in the above photo.   Steve made the call to leave it as is, and I like it.  It’s the real deal.   It’s the paint that Jim Cavanaugh saw on that bike when it left the Mustang factory in 1954.

Here’s another example:  Take a look at this 1936 Excelsior Henderson motorcycle I saw roll into Hansen Dam back in 2006…

It, too, is the real deal…all original with nothing repainted or replated.  

Check out some of the macro shots I grabbed of this majestic original motorcycle…I was going to town with my camera while the rider was taking off his helmet…

There were a lot of things about that motorcycle that impressed me, and three things in particular stood out.

The first was the speedo drive off the rear wheel.  Folks, this is industrial strength!

The second was the speedometer and its “tell tale” (you know, the needle follower that indicates the highest speed attained)…

And the third thing that absolutely knocked my socks off was the rider.    Boy oh boy, was I ever surprised when the helmet came off!

 And just in case you didn’t recognize the profile, here’s another shot…

Ol’ Jay kind of has his own patina thing going on there, but it sure hasn’t slowed him down any.  

Jay’s a nice guy, and I asked him about the bike.   Jay took off on me.  It was like being on the Tonight show.

“Yeah, it’s a 1936 Henderson, all original….this guy in Vegas is 93 years old and he’s getting a divorce.  Called me because he needed to raise some cash…”

“Really?” I said.  

Jay just smiled.   There’s one born every minute, I guess, and I had just had my moment…