Since I wrote my last post yesterday, Cycle World International Motorcycle Show, I’ve been thinking
about my days as a grease monkey. Please note, no offense to the real monkeys,
but grease monkey is slang for mechanic.
This past summer at the local supermarket I was browsing the
magazine section and noticed the August 2009 edition of American Iron Magazine.
I’ve always been what Harley fans not in very nice term call a “rice burner or
rice rocket” rider. Since I got involved in motorcycles in 1974, I’ve been an
adrenaline junkie, so I’ve preferred fastest bikes, thus my choice, Japanese
Kawasaki motorcycles.
American Iron Magazine targets people who love Harley
Davidson bikes. What caught my attention was a cover picture of an old
supercharged Harley Davidson flathead bike with a sidecar installed. Not just a regular
sidecar, this guy made a sidecar out of a 200 liter oil barrel. The funny thing
is he did it so he could take his little child with him on his rides. Kind of
weird choice for a sidecar if you asked me, but its original, the picture is
priceless.
Even though under any circumstance I would never pay
attention to this magazine, in a way I am glad I did. Because inside the
magazine they are featuring a motorcycle shop from Puerto Rico, Caribbean Custom Cycle Shop . American Iron magazine staff
went to Puerto Rico to cover a new bike they were building to be featured on
the TV show American Thunder.
The picture of the sidecar made out of the 200 litter oil
barrel reminded me of the first sidecar I installed on a motorcycle back in
1989. If you look at the picture included, you
would be able to see me wearing a red shirt along with some of my coworkers
next to a brand new 1989 Honda Goldwing 1500 featuring the sidecar I mentioned. At the time the picture was taken, I had just returned from road
testing and fine tuning the installation. It was an exhilarating experience.
When Honda introduced the GL 1500, the bike became an
instant sensation. Especially since it was the first production bike featuring
a “reverse gear”. Back then, I was assistant manager at Carl’s Honda in
Canarsie, Brooklyn, and I was fortunate to be chosen to do the sidecar installation.
Riding a bike with a sidecar is a whole different
experience. Just to make sure the installation was safe I was allowed to take
the bike home for a day, for “road testing” purposes. People’s reaction to the
bike was priceless. At the stoplights some
people would just stare at the bike driving down the road. My apartment in
Brooklyn had a big garage, so I was able to store the bike for the night.
That night I took a friend for a ride, rode along the Brooklyn Belt
Parway to Sheepshead Bay and then we hang out in Coney Island. My friend
refused to sit inside the sidecar, I don’t blame her. I wouldn’t sit inside
either. The bike became an instant sensation everywhere we went. Like I
said, just showing off the “reverse gear” was a huge thing, imagine the looks
on people’s faces when you add a sidecar to it. Those were great times.
On a side note; how times have changed. On this
same American Iron magazine, they
announced the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Drag Racing 2008 champion, Eddie
Krawiec, riding a V-Rod Harley Davidson. This is a first for Harley Davidson since Motorcycle Pro
Stock Drag Racing has always been dominated by “rice rockets” Japanese motorcycles. Maybe I need to
start reading more Harley Davidson magazines.