Regarding the auction ending today, Sunday:
If anyone is considering this bike, please do check out the webpage I've been building up and adding to as I mess with my own bike (the same model) - recieved only a couple weeks ago from another eBay purchase. LOTS of detailed info for you, and also related links as I dig up additional data.
http://community-2.webtv.net/
Of all the bikes I own, this is by far the heaviest in weight, and yet it rides very smoothly and I don't notice the extra ten pounds! under my pedals... at least not on my short (sub-20 mile) rides around town. Still don't know how I'd feel about long or serious tours.
This bike definitely gets more attention and comments than bikes easily costing or worth ten times as much. Neighbors I've never even spoken to before, are suddenly, irresistibly, drawn over to ask about it. LOTS of chrome, so it's as if you're pulling up in front of Starbucks in a 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz convertible.
Definitely a "fun" bike to own. And, yet it's practical for hauling panniers full of heavy groceries home from the local market. Wearing a Beret is not required, but you'll suddenly want to buy a long bagette of French bread - just to lash it across the front rack.
Bob Hanson, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA