To my delight and surprise, he told me he actually had a few. A FEW?! My heart was pounding and suddenly, I find myself feeling like a kid once more. Jumping for joy...of course not infront of him but literally.
So, I decide to fix a date and met up with him. He is indeed a collector of bikes! Vintage bicycles. Lots of them too. Rudge. BSA. Para bikes. Raleigh....even the Lucas Silver King, he had a show case lined up side by side! I was having difficulty containing my drool....
Then he took out a wooden case and 'Wah-lah!!' My spinning brass bell! He had 5 of them, all in used condition. What the heck , right? So I told him straight in the face. Are they for sale or do I have to 'steal' them right under his nose? haha....he got the hint at my desperation to have one and decided to sell it to me as a token of friendship. Got it for SGD$150. Expensive? To me, it's not the price. It's the rarity. As I did not have enough cash with me at the moment, I only bought this 'Dog Brand' brass bell. Really, the logo on it says "Dog Brand" and there is a picture of an embossed Bulldog.
Once back home, dismantled it for some close inspection to see how it actualy works. Then lub it and give it some light polishing. Love to see the antiquated look and not too overly polished.
Spinning it with my fingers and it gives off a wonderful 'Ring-A-Ting-Ting' resonance. Told him I'm going to get his Lucas King of the Road spinning bell, thumb activated on my next visit...
