For those of you who are not aware of it, Ray Etherton has sold his business (Classic Bikes) to a new proprietor, Martin Coopland. This is a blessing to me. Having done business with Ray for many years I have to admit that it was usually a frustrating experience. ray would often list items for sale and then take months to consummate a deal, only to fess up in the end saying something to the effect of "well, i had to search for your items". Bottom line is that he never did have items that he published on his periodical list, but used it as an oportunity to find a broad range of interested enthusiasts. Hardly a "straight up" guy.
It was never so simple as identify-component-on-list-PAY-SHIP_RECEIVE. No, Ray was always in a state of frustration. It was rare to catch him in a relaxed mood and enquire about something without fear of getting your head chewed off.
He did have some good deals over the years, I'll say that much. And Martin Coopland will (hopefully) listen to his customers and provide a much better service. Let's hope he doesn't do EBay (as he told me he won't for a couple of years anyways).
Martin can be reached at 011 44 1324 559571. Take note of this number. Classic bikes has been a great resource for me and it can only improve. I'm not sure what happend to teh Bates name, which Ray owned.
Ken Denny
boston