When the barn doors at Jacob’s house are opened, you would expect be greeted by the standard landscaping equipment of rural properties and the stagnant odor of farm animal feces. What you wouldn’t expect to find inside are relics of an era that existed long before the barn’s owner ever did. A 1985 Honda XL600, a 1991 Kawasaki KDX250, and a 1982 Honda XR200 consist of those relics. Fixing up old bikes with decades of history beneath the wheel is exactly the kind of work that entertains both Jacob Chwialkowski and I.

“It began with a simple snowblower,” Jacob says. When he moved into his new house east of Legend High School, a late 80’s Toro snowblower and Honda XR200 were left behind; dusty, dysfunctional, and deteriorating. “It took a few months to fix the snowblower, and when we did, we traded it for a non-running vintage enduro bike, a 1982 Yamaha DT100.”

A carb clean and tuning, new spark plug, new seat cover, throttle cable, and a painted exhaust were all it took before it was up on Craigslist and sold for $800.

“We took that money and bought two more project bikes, an early 90’s Honda CR125 and a 1987 Kawasaki KDX200, which we fixed up and sold to a Wyoming restaurant owner for $2100,” Jacob described.

Thus began our immersion into the business of bike flipping, a business that is not only highly profitably for two high school students, but very enjoyable as well.

The operation is relatively simple. Both Jacob and I monitor Craigslist for people that are getting rid of bikes, mostly non-running, at a low price. If we find a bike we think has turntable value, we will jump on it and try to cut a deal with the owner. Once bought, the bikes go back to Jacob’s barn where they are power washed and cleaned. Then, the real work begins.

There are a multitude of things that can be wrong with a bike: a clogged pilot jet, faulty ignition coil, or improper cam chain timing. Once the problem is diagnosed, we fix it. On average, we will put about $75 in new parts into a bike. These parts can range from exhaust brackets to headlights, a simple spark plug to an ignition unit. Once the bike is clean, running, and has had its prior problems fixed, it’s ready to go back up on Craigslist. With the profits from our most recent sale, we buy more bikes, and the cycle continues.

To date, Jacob and I have fixed up and sold 10 dirt bikes, ranging from 80’s enduros to 90’s racers. Each one has its own unique history, and with it its own unique problems. Each time we open the barn door, a new adventure awaits. And it is this kind of adventure that keeps us coming back.