Trash Talk with Donnie: Dump Bikes

Over the years I've had my share of bicycles, best I can remember it's upwards near 35 or 40. Several years ago I pulled an old woman's Schwinn 3 speed hub shift and a men's Murray 3 speed hub shift out of the dump. Score! The tires even still held air! Guess what I did? That's right, I welded them together and made a 10 foot long truck bike. Other than needing a parking lot sized area to turn this 3 speed beast around it rode pretty good. Check out that awesome stake side bed on the back. Later I came across this little gem in the same dump, a 1970s Nashbar Toure Alpha 5000 10 speed road bike. The only problem with it was it was missing pedals and the tires didn't hold air. This bike was made in Japan and seemed to be pretty well made.I sold the two bikes above, and a bucket of rusty chains, bent pedals, torn seats, and several worn cranks for $60! The guy that picked this crap up showed up in a Honda Element, wearing earrings and all black clothes. Much to my surprise that little fella managed to get that long bike in that little rice burner and close the doors!

Picked: $0
Sold: $60
Profit: $60

Also picked out of the dump (a different dump than where the other bikes came from) was this rare John Deere men's 3 speed. This bike's crank, wheels, and hub were shot. I managed to locate a period correct woman's Raleigh bike for $15 that had the desirable Sturmey Archer hub and swapped everything from it to the John Deere. A guy drove 3 hours one way to come pick this hunk of junk up, and paid me $45 to boot!Picked: $0
Sold: $45
Profit: $30