Rat Bikes

I have this old Royce Union that may qualify.  I have since stripped it to bare frame and it sits in the corner.

Royce Union Junker by Jim_Gude, on Flickr

During my college years, some of us would find fixable bikes in trash bins, or at the county dump. We would then raid the trash (rubbish) bins behind local bike shops; we would scavenge old discarded cable, chains, brake shoes, tires and patched tubes. Some lucky days we might find an old saddle or some other precious part. We would then piece together a junky old bike that could haul us to class. You often could sell the old thing for five or ten bucks. More often, we would get a buck or two (or beer) for fixing another student's clunky bike. A student dragging his feet in order to stop made for an excellent prospect. Back then you could buy canned food that was missing it's label; they went for a nickle. Sometimes we would take our profits and each buy a can; we then would try to make some sort of meal with the stuff. One fellow tried to pass off cat food as Chicken Liver Pâté; I passed on that. Things have changed, today student loans have made starving students rare; sadly, they will never have such wonderful memories.  I think struggling for an education builds character.