1942 Knucklehead and 1959 Panhead

Hey, Kevin Baas here. Baas Metal Craft, vintage bike addiction. Here with "Fix My Hog" again. We're out at my bike show. It's amazing turnout.

So many cool old bikes here. Good people. Sunshine. The beers are flowing. A lot of happiness.

The camaraderie, man, this is what USA is all about, man. We gotta get out. We gotta live life. We gotta enjoy it. And looking at old bikes, there's nothing that puts a better smile on somebody's face and seeing a cool old bike with a cool old story.

So we're gonna walk around today and show you all these bikes, talk to owners and we find them, like right here, look what we got. We got a '42, Jim Koskovich, 1942 Knucklehead. Now I know this has a little bit of a story to it. Little bit of a story. So you might want to tell the people watching what makes this bike so unique or rare?

How many years have you known this bike? And then how many years have you owned it? I've known this bike pretty much all my life. Friend of my dad's owned it. My dad was a pilot for Northwest Airlines.

Guy he was flying with had this thing and he bought it. I think second, he was a second owner. He bought it in the late 40s and I was born in '52 and in '56, I probably had my first ride on this when I was four years old, whatever, he'd bring it over to our place on the farm, my brothers and I, we'd pile on the back. We'd pile on the seat. I don't remember if anybody sat on the tank or what, but I've known this bike all my life, kept track of the guy.

I really liked his bike. I've driven Hondas, Triumphs, whatever. And through the years I go visit old Ed and talk about his bike, help him take it out, run it around up and down his driveway. And in the 70s, he asked me if I'd wanna buy it someday. And I says, Ed, I'd love to own this bike.

He says, well, when I sell it, you got first dibs. He said there's a couple other guys wanting to buy it. There's a rep from AJ Foyt that came one time and he wanted to buy it. And he says, oh, I didn't sell it. But you got first Dibs.

10 years later, he gets a hold of me. He calls me up. He says Jim, time to let the bike go. So in the mid 80s, he called me up, Jim, the bike, I'm selling it. Ed, give me two days, see if I can round up the money and gave him a call a couple days later, emptied out whatever bank account I had.

The best part about this bike and what this thing has is not the history alone, but it's original paint unrestored. So this has not been repainted. This is the original factory paint. The Harley's and the Davidson's probably touched this when it went through the factory back then, it's crazy. And for him to get it, he's keeping it in his family forever.

It's got a matching side car that goes on it but what's great about this bike, an unrestored original paint bike. This usually is in a museum. He rides it. He rides it everywhere. He rides it more than guys do on their new bikes.

I got receipts signed by Howard Belmont in the mid 40s, he had $150 or $200 worth of chrome done on it in the mid 40s. So I got those original receipts at home. They're kind of fun to look at. About the only thing that was restored on it is the seat, as you can see, cause he does quite a lot of miles on it. I did this myself Man, if you're looking at all these bikes, you gotta just understand it.

Everyone has a soul to it, has a story to tell. Every single bike you see here has been somewhere else, been in other people's ownership. And we're just caretakers. You know, we're just passing on to the next guy after we're done and gone. And these bikes will live on forever and they have such a history.

I wish they could talk, you could just hear where they came from, who all had them, all the road trips, all the good stories, man, they just got that soul. It bleeds awesomeness, man. It makes me smile. Makes me happy. Look at all these old bikes here.

It's amazing. At the bike show today we're putting on, beautiful collection of bikes, man. We've been looking at choppers, bobbers, you name it, knuckles, pans, flatties. Right here we got a beautiful 1959 Panhead that a good friend of mine Andrew owns. And this one's got a really cool story.

So Andrew, let everybody know kind of a little bit about this bike, the history of it and what it means to you. Well, my old man bought this bike in '82 from my mom's cousin. And I grew up on this bike taking rides on the gas tank in diapers at about one. That's cool. So I understand you rode this bike all the way to Milwaukee for the Panhead reunion at the museum, huh?

Yep. All the way down 94 from up in Big Lake. How many hours did it take you? I took about 10. I get about 90 miles to the tank here.

Any breakdowns or anything? No, lucky. I had the wife chasing me with her trailer just in case. And that's what's beautiful about these man. It's a work of art, but it's not a piece of art that goes on the wall.

This is a rider man. You put the miles on it. And it's a lifestyle, the saddle bags, normally one's for extra parts, the other one's for tools. There you go. You just don't know what's gonna happen.

I love it. Well thanks again for bringing it here, man. Appreciate it. It's a beauty.