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#581
Well when I was 15 1/2 I opened a used motorcycle parts store. I approached my Dad's boss who had 15 years of old motorcycle parts laying around and and empty building next to the Yamaha shop my Dad was service manager at and asked him if I sorted out all the parts and sold them if we could split it 50 /50 and he agreed. I ended up working around 30-40 hours a week there on top of going to school.
That was in 1969-70. From there he got into IRS trouble and Yamaha was looking for another person to take over the dealership and my Dad was approached but he was to scared or something, to make a long story endless the new owner got the dealership with one condition that my Dad was general manager.
So he hired my older brother to run the parts department and the only way I got a job was I spent the whole summer typing out the parts bin labels and setting up the parts department for free.
School started and I went on what they called 4/4 I got school credit for working in the service department. After 9 months I was almost 17, being the service manager for $2.45 an hour working 45 hrs a week and going to school.
My older brother and I started racing motocross and did for about 5-7 years he longer than I.
I turned pro after 3 years. He did sooner since the shop sponsored him and not me (waaaah) but every time he'd get the latest greatest parts I'd get his old ones.
He wound up #8 in the state.
I eventually went to work for L.A. County Fire Dept. fighting brush fires which was hard work but got to fly in in helicopters.
Then made my first huge life mistake and got married. moved to Arizona and helped open a bodyshop with a older friend of mine who used to build custom choppers. He actually had 2 on the cover of Chopper Magazine.
Anyways the last time I rode on the dirt was when I visited my older brother who now was Yamaha corp sponsored and he let me ride the very first L.A.Colosium race during a practice
.
Eventually I moved back to Lancaster and rode the street since then(knock on wood) and never went down. I once got a ticket for riding a wheelie about a half mile on a 750 Honda not only for the wheelie but also for speeding 75 I think.
Anyways when I got injured I had almost completed building my first custom Harley chopper and it got repoed along with everything else, being it took over 6 months to get my first check even lost the second wife with that one. So I've always wanted to get my first Harley I could actually ride.
The one in the picture wouldn't work for me anyways I'd definitely need a soft tail.
Fabe