My fascination with engines and horsepower goes back to my earliest memories of being around big farm tractors and farm equipment. I remember the day my father brought home a powered lawn mower. I was the oldest so it was my job to mow the lawn. When Dad would leave for work I would unscrew the muffler and put in a straight pipe. Don't think it made more power but it sure sounded cool!
My first experience with 2-wheeled motorized transportation came when I was 12 or 13 years old. I purchased a bicycle someone had mounted a Briggs & Stratton engine on. Paid $7.00 for it. Remember that was a lot of money in 1961. It was a cobbled up piece of junk that I worked on considerably more than I rode.
Realizing I could build something better than this, I put together 5 or 6 motorbikes in a 2-3 year period, improving on the design as I went. My Dad taught me to lace and true wheels so I could put in a 2-speed rear hub-to gain more speed. A skill I still use today. They were quite reliable and were my main means of transportation until I was old enough to get a drivers license.
Spent my high school year's hot rodding Chevrolets, cruising the drive-ins and street racing. That all ended in 69 or 70. Bought a BSA, then another BSA. Bought my first HD in 1972. A 1970 sportster. Needed a lot of TLC. I fixed it up and repainted it. After riding it for a summer, I decided this wasn't what I wanted. I picked up a knucklehead basket case with a rebuilt engine for $500. Put together a nice chopper in the winter of 73-74. Custom paint, lots of chrome, Cool!!
People seemed to like what I was doing with my bikes and started to bring me their's to work on. In 1979 I quit my job as a bricklayer and worked in my garage full time. In 1984 Greg Becker offered me a job in his new Harley Davidson dealership. Let's see, brand new Harley Davidsons, factory tech support, special factory tools, YES, I accepted. The rest as they say is history.