Restoring to admire not ride.

[sylus]

To see bikes hung out of reach mocks this freedom. It ties the Bicycle up with all the excesses of the car and ultimately the excesses of man. Not riding a bike makes an animation just a still - it is a waste. Any bike that can be ridden should indeed be so, even if its just on a warm sunny day, your commute to work or some dusty museum display. To leave it smacks in the face of all that it represents, the designers dream and yourself.

Or maybe, just maybe the owner is exerting their freedom to do with their bike what they want to do without some po face telling them what they must do to make the po face happy?

 

[legrandefromage]

To see bikes hung out of reach mocks this freedom. It ties the Bicycle up with all the excesses of the car and ultimately the excesses of man. Not riding a bike makes an animation just a still - it is a waste. Any bike that can be ridden should indeed be so, even if its just on a warm sunny day, your commute to work or some dusty museum display. To leave it smacks in the face of all that it represents, the designers dream and yourself.

Or maybe, just maybe the owner is exerting their freedom to do with their bike what they want to do without some po face telling them what they must do to make the po face happy?

Ride it! Dammit! Ride it!

 

[Charlieboy28]

If you're trying to impress others by showing them how many high-price/rare components you can throw onto one bike that you'll never ride, then I do think that's quite sad.
Equally, if you're trying to build the 'ultimate spec' dream machine that you couldn't possibly afford the first time around, then you absolutely owe it to yourself to ride the damn thing and let it put a huge grin on your face!

In the words of Andy 'Fyxomatosis' White...

i like this, i would have liked to have said something like this but it would have far less eloquance and more swear words in it.

I would also have used the analogy of duan huan having a beautiful nymphomaniac of a wife, who is kept locked in the garage while he endures occasional no frills vanilla lovemaking with a slightly overweight but perfectly presentable lass with a rather hair top lip

 

[Alligator1]

Garage queens

A bike is a bike. It's not art. It can be aesthetically pleasing, but it is designed to perform a function. If it is not used, it is wasted. If you can't ride a bike because it will probably break, then it wasn't really a very good bike in the first place, and why should it be preserved?

Saving NOS for the next generation? Do me a favour. They won't be interested. Their unicorns probably haven't even been thought of yet. We like our old stuff because it's what we know, what we used, and it works well. However, surely if it was perfect, it would still be in production? Technology moves on. I know modern stuff has it's flaws, but the next generation may hold it in the same light we do the old stuff

Well said my man - it's like I like worshiping idols or exercising my super ego by saying " this is how good I am at creating/restoring a bike" but can I reach a state of equivalence/bliss by riding the heck out of it? Don't think you can - too stuck on the material hoarding tip, man from across the pond.

 

[tigern]

when i don't ride it, i use as a bathcloth drying rack

just do what you want with the thing!

 

[halaburt]

So I suppose that to those who detest “garage queens” and “wall-hangers” -- which I would point out are two different things -- this would be a scene of immense sadness rather than joy and learning?

 

[Pyro Tim]

That makes me feel torn. I would enjoy seeing it, as at least it is in a museum, and used for learning, but then it makes me sad that they're behind a glass wall, and nobody can enjoy them

 

[legrandefromage]

So I suppose that to those who detest “garage queens” and “wall-hangers” -- which I would point out are two different things -- this would be a scene of immense sadness rather than joy and learning?

Yup! They need riding otherwise whats the point.

I have no problem with garage queens as long as they get to see daylight once in a while. Wall hangers are usually there for a reason such as more cracks than welds and so on.

 

[Raging_Bulls]

For me, it all depends on the rarity and/or historical value of the bike.

If my regular Sbike would develop a crack or would be severely damaged in a traffic accident, I would just get another one.
That's kinda difficult if you have a one-off prototype, or something as historically significant as Breezer #1 or JMC's Hardisty (to name just a few examples, there are plenty of other bikes with just as much pedigree here).

 

[highlandsflyer]

Where do we stand on Marmite? Or olives?

(As for "bikes were meant to be ridden", that's true, but look at Pete's "before" pics -- I reckon those have mostly been ridden quite enough already and deserve a dignified retirement )

But I don't think that is what he does.

One or two look pretty much ready to go round the clock a few times, even before they have been touched.

I don't mind people hanging bikes up.

I have six motorbikes, I only use a couple at a time.

My bike collection, though small, includes a couple that won't get ridden more than a few times a year. They are not the fancy type bikes, just those that have a resonance with me.

I love certain artists that few others are interested in too.

Don't care if they have little cache in the wider world.

Know what I like rather than like what I know.