Vermont’s Classic Bike Experience is one of the only motorcycle repair shops to focus on the past while embracing the future. For several years, shop proprietor Jack Manning has encouraged area high school students to learn the craft of building and maintaining classic British motorcycles. These after-school mechanical jam sessions are known as The Guild and have taught kids raised on fast-paced video games how to keep very analog antique Triumphs, Nortons and BSA’s rolling. “A lot of these kids are graduating and heading to universities to study engineering so this is great hands-on experience for them,” said Manning.
To help pay for their higher education, CBE has launched Vintage Bike Corral, a smart and very timely new web page where classic motorcycle enthusiasts can sell their motorcycles with a share of the proceeds donated to the Guild’s student technicians. Launched in June, the site has already posted over a dozen motorcycles that run the gamut from faithful, historic restorations to high-performance racebikes and custom cafe racers.
The submitted motorcycles will be personally vetted and rated by the CBE team and interested buyers’ contact information will be forwarded on to sellers only after checking in with Jack and shop manager and chief tech Sherb Lang “to ensure they’re not bots,” Manning says. Once approved and posted to the site, the listings will remain active until the motorcycle is sold or the owner requests an end to the sale.
A scholarship donation of 10% of the final sales price is recommended, but not mandatory.
The money raised from the sales of these bikes will help sustain a scholarship fund that will cover the salaries and insurance expenses of the Guild members while working at CBE, while Manning says some will be used along with matching funds from the Vermont state government to pay for enrollment at colleges and universities.
“The program is about more than just getting their hands greasy,” manning says, “They learn about project management, hone their people and customer skills and gain experience with quality assurance and attention to detail.”
It’s a solid deal for both sellers of vintage motorcycles and the kids who are eager to learn about maintaining them alike. And at a time when selling rare motorcycles has become something of a hassle with eBay and Facebook marketplace full of fraudsters and scammers, a legitimate outlet like this, run by and for dedicated enthusiasts, is a welcome development. learn more at www.classicbikeexperience.com
