FORT DODGE (AP) — One of Don Nevins’ own personal projects is a bit of an eye catcher.
For one thing, it’s a Triumph Bonneville — a British-made motorcycle in an era where such things are not often seen on the road.
For another thing, it’s an unusual model year.
“It’s the first year of the Bonneville,” Nevins told the Fort Dodge Messenger. “It’s the only year they put this nacelle on it. The next year they went more with the traditional headlight on it.”
It took a good eye to spot its pedigree — the bike had been advertised under the wrong model name.
“I found that in a chicken coop,” Nevins said.
He’s got plenty of experience with the rare motorcycles, though. For more than 20 years, Nevins worked with his brother-in-law at Baxter Cycle, which he said is one of the biggest English bike dealers in the United States.
Today Nevins owns his own restoration business, Cycle Service, in Fort Dodge.
In addition to his own bikes, the workshop under the Veterans Bridge has a collection of a dozen or so bikes of various makes — Nortons, BSAs, Triumph, Matchless, as well some more familiar Hondas and Yamahas he’s worked on.
“I do a few Japanese. But primarily it’s the British stuff,” Nevins said. “There isn’t too many repair shops left for the older British motorcycles. Not too many people restore them anymore.”
That scarcity means his customers are from all over, Nevins said. He works on restoration and repair projects from Nebraska, North Carolina, Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas, and Minnesota, to name a few.
That’s one reason Baxter Cycle, in Marne, grew to be so large back when he worked there, Nevins said.
“It’s just grown from something out of a garage into this big company now. It’s worldwide,” he said. “We used to send container loads of bikes back to England, Norway, New Zealand, Australia, Japan. Just all over the place.”
Nevins started Cycle Service in 2006.
“My wife got an offer for a job up here. I figured I could work on motorcycles here,” he said.
And he’s been interested in British bikes for a very long time.
“I didn’t actually own a bike. My brothers had one when I was younger, but I could never afford one,” he said. “After I got married I scrounged enough cash together to buy one.”
His first was a Triumph that he bought from his brother-in-law in the 1970s, which he did the work on himself. Ever since then, he’s been a big fan.
“Back in the ‘60s they were crazy,” Nevins said. “Eighty-five percent of their market was here in the United States, and they were really popular. They won a lot of races, set some land speed records. But when the Japanese started coming in, they just didn’t keep up with them.
“Japanese (bikes) came in with electric start, they didn’t leak oil, they were really reliable, and they were cheaper. That was their downfall, not keeping up with the Japanese stuff.”
BSA went out of business in 1973, he said, and Triumph in 1983.
But Triumph went through a few different hands, and now produces machines reminiscent of its glory days but with a modern twist.
“They’re doing a retro kind of bike, and it’s been really popular. It looks like the old one, and it’s got quite the following.”
The old bikes are a good investment, and keep their value or even increase in value, he said. But he’s not sure how much longer they will be around.
“The people who own these bikes or want them restored are getting up there in age, and I don’t think the younger people are going to follow. I think it’s going to become like the Model As,” he said.
The old British bikes were simple machines. The 1969 BSA currently on Nevins’ workbench has a kickstarter and point ignition-no complex electronics. The carburetor that usually sits behind the engine hasn’t been reattached yet.
“I rebuilt the whole motor. Every nut and bolt’s been taken apart, plated, whatever,” he said. “I’m waiting for the front wheel to come back from the truer.”
Nevins’ 1959 Bonneville that he rescued from the chicken coop wasn’t owned by an enthusiast.
“He was a heating/air conditioning guy, and he got this for partial payment for a job he did. He just wanted it gone,” Nevins said. “He didn’t know what it was, really.”
The bike was a popular one for Triumph, named after the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah where motorcycle speed record attempts were held.
“They’re not the fastest thing out there anymore, but in their day they were,” Nevins said. “It’s about as old as I am.
“I got that bike when my daughter was 6 years old. Now she’s 30.”
Next to it in the shop is another rare Bonneville.
“That one I just got a motor and frame, and built it up from there. It’s actually the last of the 650s. Then they went to the 750s,” Nevins said. “It’s a ‘74. It’s a pretty rare bike.”
A man brought him the motor looking for a rebuild. It turned out he was planning on making a chopper. But when Nevins saw the numbers on the engine and frame, he knew the bike was more special in one piece.
“Being that rare of a bike, he didn’t want to do that. I had another motor here and frame, and I just traded him,” he said.
Nevins has also been involved in vintage bike racing at Daytona, during his time with Baxter Cycle. He also did work on a bike for the movie, “Thunderheart,” starring Val Kilmer.
“That was as long time ago,” Nevins said. “I can’t remember who actually rode the bike. It wasn’t Val Kilmer.”