Your Collection: Yamaha PW50
This weeks collection comes to us from Joshua McCollum in PA.
My name is Joshua McCollum, and this is my baby, and where it began for me. I am thirty two, and got this as my first bike when I was six. I have had this little bike for a long time, and when I got it, I was hooked, and have loved moto ever since. I wish this thing had an odometer on it, because it could possible be the first pw 50 to ever hit the "million mile mark"! It went thru years of me abusing it way beyond me being "of proper size" for it, then went thru a couple siblings, cousins, etc. Needless to say, when I decided to dig it out of the back corner of my dads garage, it was hammered. It means so much to me, I tore it down, and it took me a few years to fully restore it because it was very difficult to find all the right parts to meet my strict criteria. I own an autobody shop, so I had a slight advantage on re-finishing everything. I hunted for over a year to find brand new yellow plastic, and never had any luck, so I decided to prep the original stuff, and paint it with some good automotive basecoat/clearcoat paint by dupont. I sent everything metal out to the sandblaster, and either powder coated it or painted it upon return. I wanted to restore it to exact factory specs, so I hunted down some old sales brochures, and made sure everything was exactly the way it was in the sales brochure. I literally re-furbished every part and piece, and was able to use most of the original parts. I took all the nuts/bolts, and other hardwear, and ran it thru a vibratory tumbler for a cycle of resin pyramid refinishing, then ran it thru a cycle of dry cob shine to put the finishing touches on all of the hardware.
My son is five years old now, and has already ran his cycle on his pw 50 that my wife and I purchased for him when he was two and a half, so I have cleaned his little bike up, and plan on putting a shelf up where we can set up both of them as a reminder of a place we both came from in getting involved in the awesome sport of motocross. I love my wife and son more than words can describe, and in second place, is motocross! I read everything on every major site, and never miss a moto whether it be motocross, or supercross. I have got to be one of motos biggest fans, and this is where it all began...
Do you have something cool you'd like to show off? Submit a piece from your collection as well as your name and mailing address to madavis@graphicslab.com and win rare collectable stickers from Throttle Jockey. You will be notified via e-mail if you are the winner!
*Please note that while international readers may submit their Collections, we are only able to award and ship prizes to winners within the United States.