After years of riding a rigid frame chopper, my ass, back and legs had had enough. I bought a '75 “Shovelhead” -an old funeral escort bike that had been ridden into the ground. I rebuilt everything, with S+S flywheels, pistons, rods and carburetor. New and fast, it was now a small (86”) stroker motor. I did the 4 speed tranny the same, all Andrews close ratio gears, heavy duty clutch with belt drive. I stuck it all in a Harley Davidson Swing arm frame from a 1958 Duo-Glide. This was Harley's first frame with rear shocks. It had their lowest struts, built only in '58. I replaced them with air shocks which enabled me to raise and lower the ride height that I usually kept “KneeHigh”. I built a 2” over wide glide with offset brake on a 21” front wheel. This was all before Harley started building bikes with some of these same mods!!
John Kosmoski House of Color painted it Wet Black. Dave Bell, hotrod illustrator, pin-striped the tank with orange flames. I found a patent leather covered TRACTOR STYLE seat- it matched the paint. A single seat, I had a small pillion pad on the fender...for looks only- I rode solo! I would name it “the THE LAST RIDE” from its funeral escort days.
This was the best bike I would ever own. Then I married the woman I was living with and bought the house we were renting, put in a new furnace with central air. Besides my bike, I had a '57 Chevy with a glass tilt front fender hood, a 327 hotrod motor, 68 c-10 1/2 ton. Times were good.
Me and a friend had started a recycling business, reloading toner cartridges and re-inking copier ribbons. We had a million dollar a year business. We were one of the first. Wanting to expand, he started selling to investors. Things were looking good. We were also growing at home, with 3 sons.
Early one Sunday morning, I got a call from my partner's wife, “Have you seen the paper?”
“No.”
“Well, you're not gonna believe it! There are pictures and a story of my husband getting married in a hot air balloon over the Minnesota River!”
“When did he do this?” I said.
”Yesterday!!”, she screamed.
We would find out my partner had five wives!
Well, our investors and the state of Minnesota frowned on this and moved in taking over our business, blocking me out. They took everything, selling it off to get their investment back. Times got tougher- lawsuits, restraining orders. I would end up selling my toys to pay for the house- I had been four months behind. The Last Ride was sold, then the 57...it didn't matter, they would foreclose on us anyhow.
We were now homeless. We would move into a “burnout” after spending the summer camping in State Parks. I showed my sons the joy of dumpster diving and siphoning gas without swallowing it. We went through a lot of mouthwash. Anyhoo, as a family we became tight, learning how to depend on each other. We knew we would make it. Next week I will tell you how becoming successful would tear us apart.
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