I been definitely hanging around you guys too long. I did the craziest thing and bought Havasu Dave's restored 1968 Taco 99 Trail Bike. I drove down from Reno to Lake Havasu, AZ over the weekend to pick it up and just got back late last night.
A beautiful drive to an even more beautiful place, Lake Havasu City is like another planet, the only place to be if you're a long retired marine ex-pat who has lived everywhere in the world BUT the USA for longer than most of us been around. Here's a fun fact for you: when Havasu Dave left the country to work overseas most 'vintage' minibike brands were still being produced. If you have a little kid, five or six years old, they got more time in the country longer than Dave has in the last forty five years. Kinda mind blowing.
To say that Havasu Dave has a knack for restoring minibikes would be an understatement. He restores classic cars, and his 1967 Dodge Coronet R/T is baddass hot rod calendar quality. This 'auto restoration' quality workmanship is what's evident in my new Taco 99, from the seat upholstery, to the engine mods, the paint, the Carlisle tires. This a show quality minibike that if I could have swung it, I woulda been proud to show it off at Joe's Minibike Reunion in LA but I couldn't do it all.
Last year when I first really got active on OldMiniBikes, I devoured dozens and dozens of project logs, including this one http://www.oldminibikes.com/forum/p...trail-bike.html?highlight=Taco+99+restoration so to not only come to possess this masterpiece, but to actually meet one of the Master Builders off OldMiniBikes is a total honor. I pull in his drive, he comes out of his garage and he looks like a movie star - no shit - a big hunking six foot four, I thought he was Gerard Depardieu for a minute, he's a ringer! I'm blown away, where's Putin? but it's him, Havasu Dave, in person.
Very personable, we visited for a couple hours, shared stories about who we ever met off OldMiniBikes, we laughed, we cried (okay that's bullshit:laugh
but he told me where the bodies were buried from the years of blood feuds on the forum, the dark years. So that means you all have to be nice to me from now on and read all my posts, listen to my tunes, watch my videos, look at my entire photo album and comment.
Don't make me have to rattle a few skeletons around here......:devil2:
A beautiful drive to an even more beautiful place, Lake Havasu City is like another planet, the only place to be if you're a long retired marine ex-pat who has lived everywhere in the world BUT the USA for longer than most of us been around. Here's a fun fact for you: when Havasu Dave left the country to work overseas most 'vintage' minibike brands were still being produced. If you have a little kid, five or six years old, they got more time in the country longer than Dave has in the last forty five years. Kinda mind blowing.
To say that Havasu Dave has a knack for restoring minibikes would be an understatement. He restores classic cars, and his 1967 Dodge Coronet R/T is baddass hot rod calendar quality. This 'auto restoration' quality workmanship is what's evident in my new Taco 99, from the seat upholstery, to the engine mods, the paint, the Carlisle tires. This a show quality minibike that if I could have swung it, I woulda been proud to show it off at Joe's Minibike Reunion in LA but I couldn't do it all.
Last year when I first really got active on OldMiniBikes, I devoured dozens and dozens of project logs, including this one http://www.oldminibikes.com/forum/p...trail-bike.html?highlight=Taco+99+restoration so to not only come to possess this masterpiece, but to actually meet one of the Master Builders off OldMiniBikes is a total honor. I pull in his drive, he comes out of his garage and he looks like a movie star - no shit - a big hunking six foot four, I thought he was Gerard Depardieu for a minute, he's a ringer! I'm blown away, where's Putin? but it's him, Havasu Dave, in person.
Very personable, we visited for a couple hours, shared stories about who we ever met off OldMiniBikes, we laughed, we cried (okay that's bullshit:laugh
but he told me where the bodies were buried from the years of blood feuds on the forum, the dark years. So that means you all have to be nice to me from now on and read all my posts, listen to my tunes, watch my videos, look at my entire photo album and comment. Don't make me have to rattle a few skeletons around here......:devil2:
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It was good meeting you too JB. :thumbsup:
