Hi, Kevin---
Thanks for the reminiscences of Dr. Clifford Graves. Wish so much I could have met him.
Dr. Graves' Rene Herse tandem (orange in color, I believe) sold on ebay a couple of years back. Somewhere I think I have the auction photos. If I find them I'll post 'em. It was a pretty large size, a 24 or 25-inch captain's cockpit. Is that the machine you recall?
I remember there being a debate on CR about Dr. Gaves' height. Some folks, looking at a picture of him, thought he was quite short. But looking at his tandem and the size of the tubes (especially the head tube) I believe he was actually a 6-footer. The ebay seller had not listed the dimensions of the machine.
I remember bidding on it and Matt Gorski rooting for me and asking me afterwards if I'd won it, which I did not. I think it might have gone for as much as five grand. I'll have to see if I can dig up the auction info from my archives.
Cheerio,
Peter Jourdain Whitewater, Wisconsin USA
http://www.bicyclingbackwards.com
"For here is entertainment in excelsis, the sight, the sound and the scent of things....Why cycling for joy is not the most popular passtime on earth is still a mystery to me." ---Frank J. Urry, "SALUTE TO CYCLING"
From: Dr. Paddle <drpaddle@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [CR] Timewarp Rene Herse Auction To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Date: Tuesday, February 1, 2011, 8:28 PM
I visited Dr Graves' garage many times as a teen. I recall he had at that time (1968 to about '71) a couple chrome Herse touring bikes (one that broke apart for shipping) and a chrome Herse racer. He also had a tandem that may have been an Herse, and a tricycle from another manufacturer. At the time I hung out there, he was a bachelor so there wasn't a wife's bike. (He married in the mid-70s, I think, to Katrina Hippen?) I had the pleasure of riding the racer in a ten-mile timetrial a couple of times, and the tricycle once. Doctor was a wonderful guy. My memory may be incomplete or corrupted, of course. Consider the era...
Kevin Montgomery
San Diego, California USA
From: Matt Gorski <milanocc@gmail.com> Subject: [CR] Timewarp Rene Herse Auction To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Cc: sterling@tns.net Date: Tuesday, February 1, 2011, 3:23 PM