The Land of Broken Dreams

    • 2 posts
    May 22, 2014 10:15 AM PDT
     When I was coming of age in the late 50’s Kohl’s Cycle Salvage was about my favorite place to be, kicking thru the weeds looking for old motorcycles, with bonus points for the odd ones.

    At that time Indians were so common as to be boring.

    I moved away and mostly forgot about the place, While I was gone the Japanese revolution happened and Walter Kohl got a building to put his cycles in.

    Was nosing about the internet and found this. Broke my heart for a couple of reasons.

    Open the link and look at some really great pictures 

    Originally started by a man who was a motorcycle dealer and enthusiast, Kohl's Cycle Salvage would buy bikes from other dealers who went out of business or take trade ins. Motorbikes were cheaper and for a time the business flourished, to such an extent that in the 1970's Kohl purchased this building to warehouse them. In the late 1990's Kohl sold the business to another man, who became ensnared in a tax battle with the city over the building. The property was in poor repair and they were asking for much more money than the business generated, so he stopped paying and the building was seized and condemned. After suing the city for ownership of the contents, the new owner gained access to the building in October of 2010, selling a tiny percentage of the bikes but scrapping the rest. 

    On July 30, 2013 the building burned under suspicious circumstances. It was demolished shortly after.

    http://www.abandonedamerica.us/kohls-motorcycle-salvage

     

  • May 22, 2014 11:45 AM PDT
    Wow....that would be a heck of a find. Shame they let it all go to weeds. Kohl sounded like he really loved motorcycles.
    • 2 posts
    May 22, 2014 12:13 PM PDT
    Trippin wrote...
    Wow....that would be a heck of a find. Shame they let it all go to weeds. Kohl sounded like he really loved motorcycles.
     He did and better that that he tolerated me kicking about his place. Zundapps and Arials and so many long gone names were hiddden in his weeds back in the 50's
    • 1 posts
    May 23, 2014 3:13 AM PDT
    It is man like him that helped spread the motorcycle bug, may he rest in peace. As for the bikes that are forever lost what a shame as I still love to look through what others consider junk. I still do swamp meets although I am not looking for anything in particular, never know what you might find. Glad you had some one that would let you wonder throughout those weeds and sparked the motorcycle bug for you.