Being that tax time is here, I thought I'd run this at ya!1972. A new gig, buyin' and selling old Harley parts. After building my '49 ”Sweathog” in welding school, I found out how many people wanted a bike. The Rigid frame,
“Flatheads”, “Knuckleheads”, “Panheads” were cheap and plentiful. Everyone wanted a Chopper.The movie Easy Rider and the Magazine that stole its name after adding an 's'- Easyriders- had made these bikes more popular than pussy! Well, almost. Dudes were selling their British and Japanese bikes- not German bikes though, them dudes kept their BEEMER'S...Anywhoo, I was doin' good. Buying at swap meets, garages and barns- I always got a title card- along with the boxes of parts, I'd get enough pieces to build a Harley. I was doubling, hell, I was tripling my investment. The TROUBLE came when The State of Minnesota came looking for their share. I hadn't been collecting a sales tax!!After not paying attention to their demands, the State threw me in jail.
They took all my parts and pieces- I needed a dealers license- and was required to collect the tax to pay the State. My argument was that I already paid. That didn't fly.I needed a job so I could get money to pay the State. Being a good welder, I was recruited to work on a prototype. The job was to build a Bobcat-type vehicle
with tracks on it. When we were finished, the owner offered the three of us who worked on it 1% to be paid in monthly checks pr we could have a barrel of suds. We lived in the Now! We took the BEER!We heard he kept our 3% along with his 2%. He made out. Only two of us still above ground. He was dead within a few years.
Now about the custom bike building business, it would grow to become a multi-billion dollar industry, producing its own stars. Arlen Ness and Donnie Smith of Smith Bros and Fetrow were ones I knew. Others mostly from the West Coast, most LONG SINCE GONE! These guys were the bike builders. They had the ideas. They built the“Jigs” to make custom frames, and springers, girders and all the other parts. Except for Jesse James, these new ones- the tv stars- are actually “Assemblers”, ordering the parts from distributors who buy them from China. Take a look at the Custom Bike Builders who started in the 60s !!!
http://www.arlenness.com www.donniesmith.com Anyhoo, I went to work for Donnie Smith @Smith Bros and Fetrow as a metal polisher. They were manufacturing custom springers and girders, frames struts. These parts needed to be polished like a mirror before they were chromed. It was good dirty work. Minnesota dropped all charges after I paid up the back taxes and I got all of my parts back after proving I owned them. These days, with the “Computer-run” machines, Complete Custom Bikes are built without a HARLEY part on them! Ride On! Rat
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