Motorcycles today are very popular and we see many on the road. Motorcycles once were looked on as bad news for the average person. Hells Angles and other early clubs of bad boys riding their cycles raged havoc on American cities from coast to coast.
In 1957 while in high school I had a friend who was the only boy in school that had a motorcycle. Pat had a new 1957 Triumph motorcycle that was one bad fast ride. Pat was an early motorcycle innovator. He would drag race cars on his Triumph, he wore a leather jacket, no helmet and was popular with some of the girls. Girls liked boys who lived on the wild side. Now why didn't I think about this when I was a teen?
Pat probably invented the wheelie? He was doing these way back when.
Our high school was about a mile from where I lived and one day Pat pulled up beside me as I was walking home. " Nick get on back and I will give you a ride home." I climbed on and was about to take my first motorcycle ride, man was I thrilled!!!
. My heart rate quicken as the rpm's increased. Man this is fun. Over the viaduct we went and instead of going straight through the light Pat made a left turn. "Hey Pat this ain't the way to my house," as the motor begins to scream and Pat puts the Triumph into a higher gear. We are now speeding down a long straight road leading out of town. I begin to hold onto Pat with my arms tight around his waist and he laughs because Nick one scared wimp. I beg Pat to slow down, "Please slow this thing down." I knew we were going fast but I'm not looking to see how fast we are going. Finally about a mile down the road Pat comes to a stop. "Nick, I never did hit fifth gear and we were going 110 MPH. At the time I wasn't impressed with the speed but was sure I needed to check my pants. LOL!! I make it home and I don't remember if I thank him or not??
Pat would ask me several times if I wanted to ride and would laugh when I said NO WAY!!
Pat was an early daredevil if there ever was one. He would own and drive a stock car, worked at his families garage. Later in life Pat settled down and raised a family. He became a policemen in our town and was the first motorcycle cop around the area and later became a detective. A boy who gave the police fits in his youth now works in law enforcement. Imagine that???
In 1957 while in high school I had a friend who was the only boy in school that had a motorcycle. Pat had a new 1957 Triumph motorcycle that was one bad fast ride. Pat was an early motorcycle innovator. He would drag race cars on his Triumph, he wore a leather jacket, no helmet and was popular with some of the girls. Girls liked boys who lived on the wild side. Now why didn't I think about this when I was a teen?
Pat probably invented the wheelie? He was doing these way back when.Our high school was about a mile from where I lived and one day Pat pulled up beside me as I was walking home. " Nick get on back and I will give you a ride home." I climbed on and was about to take my first motorcycle ride, man was I thrilled!!!
. My heart rate quicken as the rpm's increased. Man this is fun. Over the viaduct we went and instead of going straight through the light Pat made a left turn. "Hey Pat this ain't the way to my house," as the motor begins to scream and Pat puts the Triumph into a higher gear. We are now speeding down a long straight road leading out of town. I begin to hold onto Pat with my arms tight around his waist and he laughs because Nick one scared wimp. I beg Pat to slow down, "Please slow this thing down." I knew we were going fast but I'm not looking to see how fast we are going. Finally about a mile down the road Pat comes to a stop. "Nick, I never did hit fifth gear and we were going 110 MPH. At the time I wasn't impressed with the speed but was sure I needed to check my pants. LOL!! I make it home and I don't remember if I thank him or not??Pat would ask me several times if I wanted to ride and would laugh when I said NO WAY!!
Pat was an early daredevil if there ever was one. He would own and drive a stock car, worked at his families garage. Later in life Pat settled down and raised a family. He became a policemen in our town and was the first motorcycle cop around the area and later became a detective. A boy who gave the police fits in his youth now works in law enforcement. Imagine that???
hi nick, well i was brought up with these , my brothers had them and my youngest brother david was presidant of the m.v. motor cycle club in the uk before his untimely death . i too loved going pillion passenger on some of the best bikes of that time, i loved speed very much, now i am not to keen at all lol. the m.v augusta was my brothers favorate bike, he had three vintage bikes and kept them all imaculate , in fact he spent hours and hours in his bike shed messing with engines and things . hugs and love paula xx
ReplyDeleteMy uncle, Richard Hendershot was a race car driver in Hutchinson Kansas. When he wasn't racing or building a car he was out on his huge motorcycle- it was like getting up onto a horse! I stopped watching the speedometer when it passed 90 - I didn't want to lie to my Mom
ReplyDeleteI've never ridden a motorcycle, but it does look like fun. My ex-brother-in-law use to be a preacher and he rode a motorcycle. The church he once pastored could not get use to a cycle riding preacher. Did not bother me one bit, but you know how funny some folks are. Beautiful picture of the bike. I thought you were going to say it belongs to you and missus.
ReplyDeleteI remember my first motor cycle ride I was 4 my brothers all had bikes and they all went fast..When I asked my dad if I could have one, he said no. But the next day I had a mini bike. I love bikes..I could not wait for Polaris to come out with there special 50th edition special...That is what I bought.
ReplyDeleteAnd most cops were bad boys growing up...LOL Well the ones in my family at least...LOL