Ok, this relates to a bicycle, not a motorcycle, but sorta weird

[Gone in 60]

This relates to another bike. Ok, a bicycle. With our efforts to get healthy this year, Mrs. G mentioned a few days ago that we should get our bikes cleaned up and roadworthy and start pedalling again.

Our bicycles have been hanging from the ceiling in the garage from pulleys for the past several years. My Trek commuter bike was new in 2006, so I did some research to see what the new version of my bike is, and what technological improvements have been made in 18 years. Ok, disc brakes, lighter materials, stuff like that. And it's on sale for a thousand bucks.

Putting my El Cheapo hat on, I figured I could find one or two of those on FB Marketplace for a bit cheaper. Turns out I found plenty of them. Peculiar that there are several listings on Facebook and Offer-up for the same bike... 2022 Trek FX3, size medium, in Galactic Grey. All in the same region of Southern California, shown either as "Still in the factory box" or "Brand new, no miles". All for close to or at half of what they cost new. One listing says "I have ten of them new in the box."

Sound suspicious? I thought so. Did a little digging to see if a container of these bikes went missing somewhere in our area.

Perhaps... This article says that a container of them was lost in 2022, either at sea near the Port of L.A. or maybe sometime afterwards. The railroad that would have taken them away from the port is named.
https://www.bicycleretailer.com/industry...2C%202021.

[Nachodaddy]

We were stationed in Japan in 2008 when I got the bike of my dreams. The base recreation center sold things like bicycles and skiis and a lot of nice stuff. They had a sale offering a very nice $720 bicycle for $320, so I bought it. I knew nothing about bicycles, having grown up long before the fancy multi-gear and speed bikes were available. This bike was very light and fast and had lots of gears, but it wasn't long before the riding position was making my 70year old body ache. I was in good shape, running six miles a day most days. But riding bent over with my head pulled up to see, was painful. The bike started gathering dust. On our return to the US, I sold the bike. The man who bought it knew a lot about bikes and was buying it for his wife. He explained that this bike was way too small for me and told me how to get one the right size and also said I would be better off on a different style of bike. After doing some reading about bicycles, I went on Craiglist and found the Trek 7.2, which had been highly recommended in one of the articles. It was on sale for $150. It looked new, so I was immediately suspicious that a $400 bicycle was priced so low. The guy selling it worked for a place that cleaned out residences after evictions. They stored things like that bike for 90 days, and if no one claimed it, they could sell it. I have put many comfortable and enjoyable miles on that bicycle. I sold the first bicycle for what I paid for it, so the $400 bicycle for $150 was still a great bargain.

[Gone in 60]

Well, I've inquired on three of the ads for these mystery clone bikes, two on Facebook and the guy on OfferUp who says "I have ten of these new in the box".
None of them have gotten back to me.

Mostly for sport... I'd be surprised if I did get a response.

[Nachodaddy]

Well, I've inquired on three of the ads for these mystery clone bikes, two on Facebook and the guy on OfferUp who says "I have ten of these new in the box".
None of them have gotten back to me.

Mostly for sport... I'd be surprised if I did get a response.

It is amazing to me that there are so many people who respond to ads who have no interest in actually buying anything, but just want to waste your time. At least on the Forum, we don't have that problem.
Good luck.

[Gone in 60]

Hey, if any of these people got back to me and the deal was legit, I’d jump on it. This is a sweet bike, and for half price, heck yeah. But, someone who acquired a quantity of bikes new in boxes through nebulous means might be a little sketchy. I’m not too surprised that I haven’t heard back from anyone.

[3rd Gear Steve]

Maybe related to the listings you’re seeing, maybe not - but an interesting read anyway:

https://www.wired.com/story/silicon-vall...co-mexico/

[Charlie Bravo_imp]

My son, who used to be really into the ten-speed thing, bought me a five-speed beach cruiser, built by Schwinn. I liked it, except for the goofy handlebars that made me lean too far forward and were a pain in the neck. I had an ape hanger bar in my collection of moto odds and ends, and, just for a goof, swapped the beach bars for the apes. What an improvement! Since i wasn't racing, I could sit up straight and enjoy the ride.

[Gone in 60]

Maybe related to the listings you’re seeing, maybe not - but an interesting read anyway:

https://www.wired.com/story/silicon-vall...co-mexico/

Very interesting, 3rd Gear Steve. I imagine in some of my FB Marketplace searches for a new bike, I have come across some listings like the ones in that article.

Updating from my original post, in the past few days, I have purchased a "newish" version of the bike I mentioned. While I have been enjoying reviving my old 18 and 30 year old rides, I made the mistake of going to a bike shop and test riding the new model. Wow, what a difference a few decades make! I became obsessed as I do, and did my standard research (staying up till 3 am for days on end, just as I did to find my CB1100, Bonneville and Interceptor 650), and found one sold by a legitimate seller. He's moving out of the country and jettisoning most of his stuff, including a near-new bike. What you want is out there - just takes dogged searching to the exclusion of things like eating, sleeping, and communicating with your spouse.

But, I kept looking at the nefarious listings of the "New in Box" bikes. They're still out there, yet none of them got back to me. Maybe they all sold and as these are likely "shell" FB accounts set up to sell the bikes, why bother taking down the listings.

One of the listings showed the label on the box. I did some digging on the model number on the box, and found out that it is a non-U.S. European variant of the bike currently selling in the U.S. Did a container-load of bikes bound for Europe mistakenly get loaded on a ship to L.A. Harbor? Maybe they're like "lost luggage", and sat in a holding warehouse with no paperwork until they were sold off and bought up wholesale by bike sellers? Who knows.