Dad.
Yeah?
You have company.
Hey, buddy, how's it going?
Hey, Norb, how you doing?
I'm Mike and this is Frank. - I'm Frank.
Nice to meet ya.
And your daughter Heather--
OK.
--called our shop in Iowa and told us that
you might have some motorcycle parts
you're interested in selling.
[music playing]
I'm not really interested and don't know why
my daughter called you guys.
Yeah, well, I get that. I mean--
I'm just saying.
--I've got stuff I wouldn't sell either.
I understand.
OK, I got bikes but they're all old friends.
- Sure. - I know exactly what you mean.
- Yeah. - I bought a--
I bought a motorcycle when I was 15.
I still got it. - Do ya?
Yep.
MIKE: Oh, yeah, we both ride quite a bit.
One of the bike's in there is kinda--it's been
with us over 40 years.
Over 40 years? MIKE: Really?
I'll be darned. MIKE: Which one's that?
That's my knucklehead.
- Oh, the knucklehead. - Yeah.
Oh.
That's his baby.
That's his baby?
- That's his baby, Frank. - That's his baby.
Awesome.
Well, why don't you take him inside and show them around.
Would you guys like to come in?
FRANK: We would love to come in.
MIKE: Yeah, look around, Heck, yeah.
FRANK: Oh, yeah, this looks good, Norb.
JD, VL.
This looks like Norbert's shop where he works on his bikes
and spends some alone time.
Here's your baby.
NORBERT: Oh yeah.
FRANK: And sitting by the entrance
is his 1946 knucklehead.
It's got an orange and black paint job on it.
I mean, it's got the beehive taillight.
NORBERT: Oh yeah.
FRANK: It's got a luggage rack.
It's got a cigarette lighter with a coil cover over it.
It's even got a European speedometer on it.
This thing is trick.
MIKE: In the 1970s, people were building
bikes that were expressing what was happening
in the counterculture.
Guys were cutting and chopping everything back then.
But this bike he spared.
He wanted to leave it bone stock.
This was a bike that he was really
going to honor its history.
And the fact that he hasn't erased all of that
is incredible.
FRANK: Can we hear it run? - Sure.
[motorcycle engine starts]
Hey.
Really good job.
- That's pretty cool, man. - Pretty good.
MIKE: When you hear that engine, that big twin, it comes alive.
Yeah.
MIKE: If you've ridden a bike like this,
you can appreciate that sound even more.
That baby fired right up.
NORBERT: Well, she's a good old--
she gets temperamental sometimes.
Oh, yeah.
I don't want to walk off this property
without this knucklehead.
It's a $30,000 bike, and I'm ready to just step
up if he'll consider an offer.
Have you ever thought about selling this over the years?
NORBERT: I've had some thoughts and entertained some offers.
But it's an old friend.
FRANK: I got ya. MIKE: I hear ya.
NORBERT: I had it for over 40 years.
I can still start it.
I can still ride it. MIKE: Yeah.
- Do you still ride it? - Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Well, think it over a little bit.
Well, weddings and funerals.
I don't really know you, and you want my knucklehead?
What are your qualifications?
You know?
I better get off this here.
I'm getting too used to it.
You know, I'm really in love with this bike.
But right now Norbert is saying he's not selling.
And I'm not surprised. - I'm going to look--
I'm going to look around a little bit.
- By all means. - Alrighty.
Please.
But his wife and his daughter said he needs to sell.
So I'm going to put the bike on the back burner for right now.
But I'm not done yet.
You think we could take another look at the knucklehead?
You can look all you want.
All right.
Look but don't touch?
- No, you can touch it. - All right.
- I let you touch it earlier. - All right, that's a fact.
- You know? - I know, I sat on it.
- You just got to be gentle. - It's all good. you know?
- It felt good. - Yeah.
Be gentle, Frank.
I'm practicing my windup.
We've bought a few things here.
Norbert's happy with our prices.
I'm get ready to slow pitch on that knucklehead.
So we've been walking around.
We did the circle. - Mm-hm.
Mike's bought some parts and stuff from ya.
What about the knuckle here?
What do you think?
NORBERT: I know every bearing in this thing, every part.
A lot of them I've made.
This is my pride and joy.
And I've owned it for well over 40 years.
Ah-- I'd really like to help you out.
But the knucklehead's family. FRANK: It's family?
NORBERT: The knucklehead is part of me, part of the family.
I can still ride it.
It's staying here.
I can understand.
I can understand why he kept it.
I can understand why it's not for sale.
Right.
NORBERT: Like I said, hey, when I can't start it
and I can't ride it, I'll give you a call.
All right.
Frank, I'm going to grab some of these parts.
FRANK: All right.
Today wasn't my time.
But that's not the only knucklehead around.
MIKE: Careful on the heads.
FRANK: Yeah, put these in a box in there.
If I could pick any one that I really want,
it would be the first year 1936 knucklehead.
Life's all about timing.
There'll be one down the line. MIKE: All right.
Appreciate you.
You guys have a good safe trip.
I had a good time.
Thanks a lot for the parts and stuff.
Appreciate the parts.
I want to thank you for the entertainment.