For this issue I enjoyed talking with Joe Jones owner of NOS Parts NOW located in Boyne City Michigan. Joe became interested in motorcycles at a very early age. As a toddler his father a VJMC member would take him around to all the local vintage motorcycle shows and swap meets and ride him around on the back of his bike or in a sidecar. Joe told me his dad grew up in the '60s as a teenager with Hondas and later developed a passion for early American motorcycles. He got back into Hondas right about the time he can remember being exposed to all the vintage shows and swap meets and that passion rubbed off on him. He said his dad is a genuine motorcycle enthusiast.
Joe's first ride was on a 50cc Beta trials bike but from then on it was bikes like the XR Hondas. When I asked him how many motorcycles he owns now he said "Too many." But it depends on who he is talking to; sometimes it's "Not enough." When he is talking about too many it's because they take up valuable space he could use for parts in his warehouse. His favorite motorcycles are ones that were given to him by his dad. Number one is a 50cc CRll0 factory racer with DOHC and eight-speed gear box that set land speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats in the early-'70s. It's very special to him because of its history. He has some great pictures of when it was being raced and from other events in which it participated. Another favorite is a 175cc Honda Juno with a horizontally-opposed twin-cylinder. It was Honda's first scooter and never made available in the US. They are very rare here. The last one is a zero-mile new old stock Honda S90 that never sold that his father picked up from a dealer. He has several other rare and interesting bikes but these three have to be his most special.
Joe doesn't have a daily rider because most of his time revolves around his family and business. Most of his riding right now is with his young son around the house on mini-trail bikes. His son rides a 1974 Honda Z50 and Joe rides a little bigger Honda trail bike. His favorite motorcycle movie is On Any Sunday which he watched many times as a kid.
He officially started NOS Parts NOW in 2011 but has been swapping parts back and forth his whole life. He also spent many years working at a classic car restoration shop that fit in with the vintage motorcycle restorations he was doing at the time.
Joe has seven employees. They sell mainly OEM NOS parts and any associated materials such as catalogs literature memorabilia and regalia. Basically it is anything from dealers related to vintage motorcycles. He buys a lot of old dealer inventory but occasionally buys from collectors which may include some good used parts. His business spiked during Covid and has continued to grow since then. He spends most of his time tracking down buying and cataloging parts. They sell strictly through their website and eBay store. If you are looking for something it is important to keep checking occasionally because you never know what he will find. They have a wishlist option where they can notify you if and when a part you were looking for comes in. Also another essential part of his website which I am most excited about is the free digitized copies of old parts catalogs. It makes things so much easier looking for parts if you have the correct factory part numbers in-hand when searching. It eliminates a lot of mistakes. You type in the part number; and if he has it it will pop up with all the related information. Joe also said you can use the part number to search elsewhere if he doesn't have what you are looking for. It makes everything so much easier for both him and the customer.
Lastly Joe told me ''At NOS Parts NOW we strive to offer our customers the best online shopping experience possible. Unlike other sites we only post inventory that we have in stock. We always ship within one business day after payment is received; many orders ship the same day. All of our parts are GENUINE OEM parts unless noted in the item description. We buy and sell NOS (New Old Stock) vintage Japanese motorcycle parts for Hondas Kawasakis Suzukis Yamahas and more."