Firestone Pilot

[Pilot592]

Hey guys, first time posting but I've been going to this site for a while. I recently bought a Firestone Pilot and love it but after looking around in the Fresh Finds, I think I might have over paid. I was at the flea market and in a corner sat the Pilot and a 70's Girls Schwinn. The flea market tends to look up the items on ebay when you ask for a price but the guy said he had just rolled in the Pilot and hadn't priced it. I offered everything in my wallet ($29) and walk out with it. My first find was a Monark in the garage of an old house (Free) but I made the rookie mistake of painting it. Now that I have this Pilot, I am just cleaning it up, hoping to redeem myself. So far, it is cleaning up well. It has some really great tires (might be originals), solid badge, home made seat , and rides like a dream.

 

[KC so-cal]

great buy at 29 dollars the chain is worth that!!

 

[Pilot592]

I thought the crank might be worth something as well.

 

[Xcruiser]

Yeah,wow! 29.00 is a steal on it.
as far as ebay--if they price by folks asking price typically its too much,unless its rare or whatever.
if they price by COMPLETED LISTINGS I guess thats ok,except they are at a flea market and not a national/worldwide venue.

anyhoo,you have acheived your redemption you mentioned and then some!!

 

[Xcruiser]

I thought the crank might be worth something as well.

lets see-seat,sprocket,guard ,grips bars haha-shall I go on?! SCORE CITY MAN!
the recovered crash rail seat alone is worth more than you paid for the bike
Thats an old bike man,Im no expert on the brand but at a glance with it being skip tooth and having rear facing dropouts Id guess prewar to 1952 at the very latest.most companies seemed to have gone away from rear facing dropouts roughly around 1948 when schwinn did.

 

[Pilot592]

That's so great to hear! I was excited when I saw the bike because I had passed on other bikes before but this was the first time I was looking at a bike with knowledge of what it was. I couldn't get the cash out of my wallet fast enough.

 

[Pilot592]

as far as ebay--if they price by folks asking price typically its too much,unless its rare or whatever.
if they price by COMPLETED LISTINGS I guess thats ok,except they are at a flea market and not a national/worldwide venue.

They tried to sell me a $30 zenith radio for $90 because a similar one was on ebay in the buy it now ads. I'm sure that if they had looked it up on ebay, they would have asked for more than $100. They have a building store so they throw out numbers and wait for people to buy it (and they do). I knew that it wouldn't be worth much as a whole because of the paint condition, rusty fenders, and home made seat. But I knew that it had a bent seat post, crash bar, and was a Firestone, so it had to be worth something.

 

[Xcruiser]

I get a thrill when I see us little guys get a super deal.If thats original parts with chrome that nice,you knocked it out of the park.
I have a feeling you did alot better than you think you did buddy.
If those coke bottle grips are intact and nice they are a score in themselves.

 

[Xcruiser]

as far as ebay--if they price by folks asking price typically its too much,unless its rare or whatever.
if they price by COMPLETED LISTINGS I guess thats ok,except they are at a flea market and not a national/worldwide venue.

They tried to sell me a $30 zenith radio for $90 because a similar one was on ebay in the buy it now ads. I'm sure that if they had looked it up on ebay, they would have asked for more than $100. They have a building store so they throw out numbers and wait for people to buy it (and they do). I knew that it wouldn't be worth much as a whole because of the paint condition, rusty fenders, and home made seat. But I knew that it had a bent seat post, crash bar, and was a Firestone, so it had to be worth something.

I had a local guy (in our small town) try to sell me his 65 (?restored?) stingray for 550.00 claiming there was(room left to make money),?? really??
he compared it to a museum quality COPPERTONE original paint 65 ray that sold for approx 800.00 on ebay (i looked it up in completed).
This just goes to show us that ebay and random local sellers dont always mix.This local guy WAS NOT a bike guy by any means just some guy with a bad rep who sells anything he can make a buck on.

 

[Pilot592]

I had a local guy (in our small town) try to sell me his 65 (?restored?) stingray for 550.00 claiming there was(room left to make money),?? really??
he compared it to a museum quality COPPERTONE original paint 65 ray that sold for approx 800.00 on ebay (i looked it up in completed).
This just goes to show us that ebay and random local sellers dont always mix.This local guy WAS NOT a bike guy by any means just some guy with a bad rep who sells anything he can make a buck on.

I had a similar situation happen to me. I think stingrays are always being over priced. There are some that are worth it, but most of the time its people selling their childhood stingrays that have more sentimental value than monetary value.

 

[Michaels]

Nice buy, I'm a new guy but I think that was a great price. And I would not worry about painting the last one, not really a mistake, its what you wanted right? Its your bike to do as you please. The firestone bike is cool, I have a Firestone outboard that would go well with it.

 

[Pilot592]

Nice buy, I'm a new guy but I think that was a great price. And I would not worry about painting the last one, not really a mistake, its what you wanted right? Its your bike to do as you please. The firestone bike is cool, I have a Firestone outboard that would go well with it.

The owner of the Monark I painted told me that she didn't know what brand it was because her father had bought it in the 60's at a farmer's auction. I think the bike was painted back then and the patina on it was on the new paint, not the original. My mistake was taking it and painting it with spray cans.