A motorcycle graveyard
Years back when I lived in New York State, there was the proverbial “Mom and Pop” shop of all things and all eras motorcycle related, “Walter A. Kohl” as business name in Lockport, New York. Walter would fill his pockets with cash and head out across the U.S., he’d stop in a town, hunt around for motorcycles, buy them and rent a barn or warehouse to store them until he could get them back to Lockport
Suffice to say since they’d been in business since time began, they had collections of motorcycles, tools, accessories etc, stashed in warehouses all over the area, as well as an outside motorcycle junk yard guarded by an ill tempered pig. When Walter passed away, his wife, Anna, sold the business and these pictures are the “last hurrah”. This building (the main warehouse) was an ancient, long neglected, multi-story huge canning factory in utter disrepair. The buyer of Kohl’s was unable to afford the required building repairs, the Council wanted the property as it was prize real estate, hence they condemned the building and prohibited anyone entering it. Via court, the owner was finally able to gain entry, he was given scant time to clear out/sell what he could, much of the stuff ending up in skip bins as scrap, and the building demolished.
Over the years, I have seen “art” posters of this warehouse, and the people selling the posters are shocked when I tell them it actually existed. I remember it well as I visited it as often as my wallet allowed (well, more often). I bought my first motorcycle there, a 1942 WLA and had to lift 6 other motorcycles off it – just to look at it! I still have the WLA now, 45+ years later. I also bought my 1951 Sunbeam S7 from them, and Anna explained that in 1951 they had been awarded the North East U.S. Sunbeam Dealer of the Year award…they’d sold 3 Sunbeam S7s that year (and bought 2 back!). I well recall, many ventures into the shop/warehouse, mid-winter, no heating, you could see your breath, and the place seemed deserted. I’d nose around, looking at this and that, and suddenly Anna would seem to appear from nowhere, when in fact, she’d been sitting on a bike, or in a sidecar, in the shop, the whole time, but had blended in with everything. It was not unusual to arrive there and find a semi truck parked out front and someone was filling it with purchases (Indians, Horex’s, Harley’s, Zundapps, etc). Typically Walter would fill his pockets with cash and head out across the U.S., he’d stop in a town, hunt around for motorcycles, buy them and rent a barn or warehouse to store them until he could get them back to Lockport (a rare event). With no records kept of his “remote warehouses” it is not unusual, this many years later, for people to discover his treasure troves, hidden or scattered across the states. One of my favourite stories about Walter Kohl, was when, on a very early (i.e. 5 am) New Year’s Day morning, he rang me to invite me up to the Toronto, Ontario Motorcycle show. Of course I accepted. He showed up with a friend in a dilapidated motor home with his car dealer plates on it, and off we went. When we got to the show, he insisted on paying (very generous), however he insisted on using Canadian money and, (I kid you not), his friend and I stood there with our arms cradled while Walter emptied all his pockets of wads of U.S. $100 bills, filling our arms until he found his Canadian money! The two of us, arms piled to the hilt with cash, stood there with showgoers walking by gaping at us! Suffice to say, no matter where he went in the show, most knew him, or of him, as I continued to discover over the years. Most who looked at him, mistakenly thought him a dumb backwoods farmer- and they figured his wife (being female) would be a push over – all, at their own peril! (she ran the business and he was dumb like a fox!). Just thought readers might enjoy this part of motorcycle history, or, cringe and wince at the pictures and imagine (but I have a good idea) of what went for scrap! If you'd like to learn more about this location, it is a featured chapter in the book Abandoned America: The Age of Consequences by Matthew Christopher. Christopher's Abandoned America was started to capture the mesmerizing beauty and lost history of the various derelict buildings dotting the country's landscape. Visit the Abandoned America website at www.abandonedamerica.us/photo16763764.html