The 1898 Ladies Iver-Johnson has been sold to the same gentleman in Switzerland that now has a total of 32 of my restorations in his possession. My understanding is that, upon his retirement a few years down the road, he will open up his full collection of antique bicycles for public viewing in a museum he is creating in his home village. He reminded me in the note attached to his wire transfer of the funds for this purchase that it was another Iver-Johnson bicycle, a men's roadster, that was his first from me, 7 years ago.
While I am extremely grateful for his enthusiasm for my work I am, at the same time, saddened that so many of them have landed in a foreign country and not here in our country where all of them were manufactured some 100 plus years ago. In answer to comments I've heard from a few Wheelmen members over the years that these restored bikes might better serve our associations goals if they remained in the our country; I would respond that most, if not all, of the bicycle that went to Switzerland were first offered for sale here in the U.S. either at bicycle shows, on the internet, on our own web-site, or at The Copake Bicycle Auction and their Friday swap meet. The prices I put on my restorations reflect my material costs, my labor, and my costs for nickel plating, and when required, replacement rims, spokes, some accessories, and occasionally a saddle restoration . I restore old bikes as a hobby, certainly not as a business; thus I really cannot afford sell thing at a loss. Without my patron in Switzerland I'm afraid I'd have to find something else to fiddle with in my retirement.
