Cycle Den Fire

[BlainesGarage]

It's was a sad day around here today. The Cycle Den in Columbia Pa. caught fire about 1pm this afternoon. Luckily no one was hurt but what i've gathered so far is that the wind fed the fire and burned the entire building. They said it started from a fuel leak on a bike that caught fire according to the 11o'clock news. It's only a half hour ride from my house. It was my 'honey hole'. I've been dealing with them for many years. But since I've had this pan, I've had many long chats with the owner Rick, being that he 'grew up' on pans and knuckles and it always puts a smile on his face to see anybody riding a kicker.
The cycle den has been around since i was a kid. Its a family business. It was always like going back in time every time i'd visit. Once you passed through the showroom in the front, it opened up into a huge warehouse with aisles and aisles of old H-D parts. On the one side were new stock as well as new 'old' stock. The other side was rows of old 'take offs' from knuckleheads,paneheads and shovelheads that you could rummage through, to a row of old singles laying on the floor.
He always had several old bikes just sitting around. An original condition Henderson, a fully restored service car, a very nice chief, even an original condition 63flh bagger that i always used for reference when i was there. The last time i was over, he had just picked up a pair of knuckles, a 46 and a 47 that were fully restored. Outside are several semi trailers stuffed full of panheads. To the rear was the shop. I wanted to stop over this weekend to dig through the pile of fiberglass bags. I'm almost sure they'd be gone after the pictures i've seen. It's just a shame. Thousands and thousands of original parts. And then there was his secret stash in the loft of n.o.s. parts and other rarities. I can't imagine what all has been lost.
I saw Ricks son on the news saying they would rebuild, but it will never be the same. It truly is a shame.

here's a link with the story and a video from today.
http://lancasteronline.com/article/loca ... iness.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm just really sick about it.
Blaine...

[1953pan]

Man that really sucks. I'm glad that everyone is ok but the loss of all that vintage bikes and parts really bites. As they say; they don't make that stuff any more. hopfully, they may be able to save some of the metal parts. There are a few shops around that deal in the old parts for the knucks and pans but they're fading away. Hope they recover ok.

[58flh]

SORRY to hear that!--MAN I use to go there back in the 90s,I had a saltbox on 5 acres.It was about an hours ride away!-DAM that sucks!--Richie

[BlainesGarage]

Just a few more highlights of the fire.

http://www.wgal.com/news/susquehanna-va ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.wgal.com/Columbia-motorcycle ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Blaine...

[George Greer]

That just sucks ..

George

[BlainesGarage]

I just rode past it yesterday to see it for myself.
They put up a chain-link fence around it. The
entire building is flat to the ground. As i was passing
I saw the servi-car burnt to a crisp as a bobcat with
i bike in the bucket as it was being dropped into
a scrap container, i'm not sure but it thought it was
the henderson. I cant imagine that they are just
going to scrap everything. I hope they're just moving
Everything they can save to a different location, but
to load it with a bobcat? It's kinda like watching the
Titanic sink. What a tragedy.

Blaine...

[BlainesGarage]

More recent news:

http://www.fox43.com/videogallery/70760 ... -Den-Blaze" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm still looking for some fiberglass bags... Bungie cords suck.

Blaine...