This was before ergonomics when the jobs were very physical and the testosterone and primitive male egos ran exceptionally high.
My job was that of a “Relief Man”. I would take over doing each one of six different jobs. Giving each a 10 up to 15 minute break. I had to be just as strong and in more cases stronger than any single one of them. To be able to handle the job depended on the amount of effort and pitching the weight correctly so the difficulty could be minimized. It was also somewhat of a bonding and a learning experience.
Even though I was just another “one of the guys” on the team, I still felt a little more like an outsider since I didn’t or hadn't owned a Harley but had always wanted to. These guys were all Shovel Headed Harley Davidson owners.
It was just natural that the subject of motorcycling would come up and there would be more dialogs and eventually it heightened the intensity within me to want to make that big leap into getting my own Harley. It was if I was being reintroduced to motorcycling after a hiatus of being away from it for more than ten years.
I realized that I had the need to be in the wind, once again. All the hype only seemed to make me want my own Harley even more and the need to get back into the wind was growing stronger every day I worked with these guys.
Right after the Sturgis 50th anniversary was when I first heard of some pretty tremendous tales. The stories they told of their adventurous travels were only heightened and intensified by my adrenaline.
I call these guys, the Blue Collar Bikers. They are not motorcycle enthusiasts. But rather more of your old time traditional or Old School bikers. I had originally thought each owned a shovelhead but at least one of the guys on the toy tab line had an Iron Head Sportster. This was considered a subdivision between the ranks of the other Harley Riders and some of them would snicker saying Sportsters were really not considered a grown up bike.
Another one of the arguments was the fact that these “SUPER Bikes” although faster out of the hole, were also less powerful and less expensive than the Harley Davidson Big Twins. What gave the dispute more bite was the fact that if you ever bought a Sportster chances were you would never graduate up to ever owning a Big Twin.
The theory was by the time you fixed the Sportster up to what you wanted or needed it to be, making it comfortable or fast enough with all the extras; you wouldn’t have enough money to purchase a Big Twin. Not only that, but when you went to sell the bike you couldn’t get what you had spent on it back.
Most would either take the loss for the upgrade of a bigger bike if they traded in and anyone buying it got the benefit of the additional chrome and upgrades as part of the deal in buying a used Harley.
There are so many people that I have talked to since, that claimed they could never afford a Harley. Yet what did these Blue Collar Bikers know or have that I didn’t other than their own Harley? All of these guys rhad owned their Harleys outright. NO one spoke of or had to borrow money to pay for them. That just wasn’t done. You saved your money up and bought one outright or worked up and traded. Paying as you go was the way of life.
The only exception to this was one of the guys had acquired his brothers 1965 customized FL from California. His brother had it willed it to him.
One day he wore in this leather jacket, and begun making comments about it. It wasn’t just a coat but an American Made “Riding Leather”. He explained that Its sleeves were a little longer to allow your arms to reach out for the handlebars and the leather was made with a thicker more road resistance American Cowhide which was of excellent quality. The “Brooks” leather also had its brand name stamped into each of its chrome snaps and was the first I knew of to have the revolutionary zip out 3M lining.
It also had a deep interior breast pocket which I was informed that could easily fit a snub nosed 38 in it. Otherwise the leather looked like a typical or traditional motorcycle styled jacket.
One of the guys that I knew and that lived fairly close to me had a ‘84 Harley that he was willing to sell for 4500.dollars. It was the last year for the shovelheads. Although I didn’t have any money or any way of buying it, I did want to see and get a better idea at least of what a Super Glide Harley actually looked like.
He had taken the bike apart and had repainted it and the frame a most grotesque shade imaginable; I referred to as Dickhead Red. There would be no way in hell that I would ever want to be seen on a motorcycle, especially a Harley that was that color. But the benefit of taking a look gave me the idea that perhaps I might find an older model for about the same or nearly the same amount of money. This would be the target amount to aim for.
One morning, while sipping coffee and coughing my head off as I continued smoking a cigarette, one of the guys noticed and said something to me that struck a chord. It sparked my thoughts and caused me to change my entire way of thinking. He said; “With as much as you smoke, if you gave up cigarettes, you could afford a Harley”
It may only have been meant as a sarcastic statement at the time. Maybe a cruel joke; but it struck me in nearly the same way as the “You ain’t shit unless you own a Harley line.” I took it at face value and began to examine the possibilities, literally. It opened my eyes and gave me hope on how I would accomplish what otherwise would have been unthinkable or an impossible task.
The more time I thought about quitting the faster my wheels started turning. I was serious about wanting to make this a positive thing.” If I quit smoking could I improve my health and with the money I saved could I really buy a Harley? “I was a chain smoker, and would light one cigarette right after another, going through at least two packs of cigarettes every day and sometimes even more, every single day.
I knew the habit was bad for me and I had wanted to quit and be healthier but could this be enough of a motivator for me? Could it be a reason to stay focused if it were true? With the way I coughed I thought “Hell I don’t even enjoy smoking anymore.” Which did I want more?
How serious was I and was this wishful thinking or a foolish question? Thinking I could never be able to give up smoking anyway. So I got out a pen and paper and to humor myself I started doing the math. At the time packs of cigarettes were $ 1.65 a pack and by multiplying the packs by 2 since I was smoking at least that, and then by days of the week and then by the month and then the months of the year…. It became a time thing. If I stayed on track, and saved at this rate I could possibly have a Harley in just over three and a half years.
By marking the amounts of money on a desktop calendar I faithfully began filling a cigar box that I kept under my bed with the money each week. Then I would mark it all down in a list, making sure I was contributing in accordance with my figures. This went on for several weeks, months in fact. Until one day I got out the cigar box to straighten out the bills and to cross check my figures.
As I started to count I realized I was short. Yes someone had helped themselves into my cookie jar so to speak.
Oh I was so pissed. I felt violated. All this work when I had been tempted on smoking so many times. I knew that saving the money and buying a motorcycle was going to be a long uphill battle and it was now going to take me even longer.
I wanted to retaliate but I knew I needed to take immediate action so this would never have another chance of ever happening again. Years before I had benefited from having help with a loan on my first financed automobile through the ACU ( Automotive Credit Union). There I could transfer funds from my payroll check directly and make the deposit go into a separate account. A Harley Fund so to speak which was actually a savings account. So, I set it up.
Adding a slice of my overtime pay to the Harley fund was going to get me on that Harley a lot sooner. By not taking from the household budget at all so with a look at my pay week and healthy estimate of my volunteer overtime I managed it so that when the whistle blew and my 8 hours shift was over I considered the money I was making then to be that for the cookie jar, and started putting it into my Harley fund time. What it meant was all the overtime that I was working would shorten the length of time before I could buy my Harley. It wasn’t long before I started looking for other ways to raise even more money. For example by going to work on the night shift I could get an additional 5 % more with a shift premium and decided to go to nights just to do that.
In the mean time my brother Paul was selling his Honda Shadow that he had bought new. It was a 700 or 750cc. It was a Harley look alike but was a reasonably dependable quick and a reliable shaft driven motorcycle. My other brother Gary had ridden it a while and bought and put a new rear tire on it. The decals were off the gas tank and Paul had removed the “foreign” Manufacture Badges. Paul had also had the seat recovered with a fabric. It looked more like a real biker’s motorcycle and less of your typical want-to-be motorcycle. I wasn’t trying to be a “want ta be” Biker. I had a very clear idea of what I wanted. It was just a different approach then most.
I took it out for a test ride and was impressed with it. The price was right, I decided to go ahead and I bought it.
Right after the Sturgis 50th anniversary was when I first heard of some pretty tremendous tales. The stories they told of their adventurous travels were only heightened and intensified by my adrenaline.
I call these guys, the Blue Collar Bikers. They are not motorcycle enthusiasts. But rather more of your old time traditional or Old School bikers. I had originally thought each owned a shovelhead but at least one of the guys on the toy tab line had an Iron Head Sportster. This was considered a subdivision between the ranks of the other Harley Riders and some of them would snicker saying Sportsters were really not considered a grown up bike.
Another one of the arguments was the fact that these “SUPER Bikes” although faster out of the hole, were also less powerful and less expensive than the Harley Davidson Big Twins. What gave the dispute more bite was the fact that if you ever bought a Sportster chances were you would never graduate up to ever owning a Big Twin.
The theory was by the time you fixed the Sportster up to what you wanted or needed it to be, making it comfortable or fast enough with all the extras; you wouldn’t have enough money to purchase a Big Twin. Not only that, but when you went to sell the bike you couldn’t get what you had spent on it back.
Most would either take the loss for the upgrade of a bigger bike if they traded in and anyone buying it got the benefit of the additional chrome and upgrades as part of the deal in buying a used Harley.
There are so many people that I have talked to since, that claimed they could never afford a Harley. Yet what did these Blue Collar Bikers know or have that I didn’t other than their own Harley? All of these guys rhad owned their Harleys outright. NO one spoke of or had to borrow money to pay for them. That just wasn’t done. You saved your money up and bought one outright or worked up and traded. Paying as you go was the way of life.
The only exception to this was one of the guys had acquired his brothers 1965 customized FL from California. His brother had it willed it to him.
One day he wore in this leather jacket, and begun making comments about it. It wasn’t just a coat but an American Made “Riding Leather”. He explained that Its sleeves were a little longer to allow your arms to reach out for the handlebars and the leather was made with a thicker more road resistance American Cowhide which was of excellent quality. The “Brooks” leather also had its brand name stamped into each of its chrome snaps and was the first I knew of to have the revolutionary zip out 3M lining.
It also had a deep interior breast pocket which I was informed that could easily fit a snub nosed 38 in it. Otherwise the leather looked like a typical or traditional motorcycle styled jacket.
One of the guys that I knew and that lived fairly close to me had a ‘84 Harley that he was willing to sell for 4500.dollars. It was the last year for the shovelheads. Although I didn’t have any money or any way of buying it, I did want to see and get a better idea at least of what a Super Glide Harley actually looked like.
He had taken the bike apart and had repainted it and the frame a most grotesque shade imaginable; I referred to as Dickhead Red. There would be no way in hell that I would ever want to be seen on a motorcycle, especially a Harley that was that color. But the benefit of taking a look gave me the idea that perhaps I might find an older model for about the same or nearly the same amount of money. This would be the target amount to aim for.
One morning, while sipping coffee and coughing my head off as I continued smoking a cigarette, one of the guys noticed and said something to me that struck a chord. It sparked my thoughts and caused me to change my entire way of thinking. He said; “With as much as you smoke, if you gave up cigarettes, you could afford a Harley”
The more time I thought about quitting the faster my wheels started turning. I was serious about wanting to make this a positive thing.” If I quit smoking could I improve my health and with the money I saved could I really buy a Harley? “I was a chain smoker, and would light one cigarette right after another, going through at least two packs of cigarettes every day and sometimes even more, every single day.
I knew the habit was bad for me and I had wanted to quit and be healthier but could this be enough of a motivator for me? Could it be a reason to stay focused if it were true? With the way I coughed I thought “Hell I don’t even enjoy smoking anymore.” Which did I want more?
How serious was I and was this wishful thinking or a foolish question? Thinking I could never be able to give up smoking anyway. So I got out a pen and paper and to humor myself I started doing the math. At the time packs of cigarettes were $ 1.65 a pack and by multiplying the packs by 2 since I was smoking at least that, and then by days of the week and then by the month and then the months of the year…. It became a time thing. If I stayed on track, and saved at this rate I could possibly have a Harley in just over three and a half years.
By marking the amounts of money on a desktop calendar I faithfully began filling a cigar box that I kept under my bed with the money each week. Then I would mark it all down in a list, making sure I was contributing in accordance with my figures. This went on for several weeks, months in fact. Until one day I got out the cigar box to straighten out the bills and to cross check my figures.
As I started to count I realized I was short. Yes someone had helped themselves into my cookie jar so to speak.
Oh I was so pissed. I felt violated. All this work when I had been tempted on smoking so many times. I knew that saving the money and buying a motorcycle was going to be a long uphill battle and it was now going to take me even longer.
I wanted to retaliate but I knew I needed to take immediate action so this would never have another chance of ever happening again. Years before I had benefited from having help with a loan on my first financed automobile through the ACU ( Automotive Credit Union). There I could transfer funds from my payroll check directly and make the deposit go into a separate account. A Harley Fund so to speak which was actually a savings account. So, I set it up.
Adding a slice of my overtime pay to the Harley fund was going to get me on that Harley a lot sooner. By not taking from the household budget at all so with a look at my pay week and healthy estimate of my volunteer overtime I managed it so that when the whistle blew and my 8 hours shift was over I considered the money I was making then to be that for the cookie jar, and started putting it into my Harley fund time. What it meant was all the overtime that I was working would shorten the length of time before I could buy my Harley. It wasn’t long before I started looking for other ways to raise even more money. For example by going to work on the night shift I could get an additional 5 % more with a shift premium and decided to go to nights just to do that.
In the mean time my brother Paul was selling his Honda Shadow that he had bought new. It was a 700 or 750cc. It was a Harley look alike but was a reasonably dependable quick and a reliable shaft driven motorcycle. My other brother Gary had ridden it a while and bought and put a new rear tire on it. The decals were off the gas tank and Paul had removed the “foreign” Manufacture Badges. Paul had also had the seat recovered with a fabric. It looked more like a real biker’s motorcycle and less of your typical want-to-be motorcycle. I wasn’t trying to be a “want ta be” Biker. I had a very clear idea of what I wanted. It was just a different approach then most.
It had several immediate benefits and I already knew it would save me even more money riding it while I continued to save up for my first Harley. Besides the savings on fuel cost it also satisfied my need to get back into the wind. I did need a few items before I would be able to ride it. A motorcycle isn’t just a vehicle, it’s an extension of the rider, there is always some assembly or adjustment required.
I didn’t want to wear my old Stars & Stripes ¾ helmet from my mini bike days. It is the same that Peter Fonda had in "Easy Rider". Who knows it might have still fit, but I broke down and bought a new white police style DOT approved helmet from a after market motorcycle shop. It was while I was there I tried on and then bought my first Brooks Riding Leather.
I wasn’t riding a Harley yet but at least I was in the wind and was well on my way to start saving up for one.
I didn’t want to wear my old Stars & Stripes ¾ helmet from my mini bike days. It is the same that Peter Fonda had in "Easy Rider". Who knows it might have still fit, but I broke down and bought a new white police style DOT approved helmet from a after market motorcycle shop. It was while I was there I tried on and then bought my first Brooks Riding Leather.
I wasn’t riding a Harley yet but at least I was in the wind and was well on my way to start saving up for one.
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