Thursday, December 10, 2020

Clint Eastwood in Motorcycle Revenge

Chatsworth, California, U.S.A. (December 10, 2020) - Cafe owner Bernie Sills hates motorcyclists because of injuries to his wife and damages to his property during a renegade biker attack months earlier. When he threatens non-violent cyclists Joe Keeley and Nick West with a shotgun, a minor altercation ensues after Mrs. Sills calls the Highway Patrol. 
 


Responding Officer Jack Anders is killed in an accident involving a truck driver's negligence while pursuing Keeley and West. When Dan Mathews and Officer Dorsey investigate, Sills tries to blame the cyclists for Officer Anders' death. He exaggerates their behavior in his statements, but he is careful not to mention that he had provoked the altercation by brandishing the shotgun.



Dan advises Sills that Keeley and West are being sought primarily as witnesses to the accident and notes that Mrs. Sills seems to be seeking to distance herself somewhat from her husband's statements. When Keeley and West are located, Dan and Officer Dorsey hear a very different story concerning the incident and Dan learns of the shotgun threat for the first time.

He decides to test Sills' veracity by watching from a distance while an unshaven motorcycle officer wearing black leather gear visits the café. Sills' actions leave no doubt as to who was telling the truth.

Episode aired April 2, 1956 and was filmed in Chatsworth, California, USA

Saturday, October 31, 2020

AMA Hall Of Famer Cyriel “Babe” DeMay Dies

Pickerington, Ohio (October 31, 2020) - Cyriel “Babe” DeMay, an AMA Grand National competitor who raced from the early 1950's to the late 1960's before becoming a leading tuner and team owner on the AMA Grand National circuit, died October 26 at his home in Rossville, Tenn. He was 88.

Mr. DeMay won the flat track national at Lincoln, Ill., in 1966 and was a Harley-Davidson-supported rider for most of the 1960's. He was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2001. He was the owner of DeMay’s and Memphis Shade’s Motorcycle Race Team and also retired from Dial Soap Co. in Illinois and The International Corp.



Mr. DeMay’s first exposure to motorcycling was through his older brother, who owned a 1948 Indian Chief. At 13, Mr. DeMay got his own bike—a Whizzer—for a paper route. He then got a Cushman, but didn’t like the fact that he couldn’t jump curbs with it.

He started motorcycle racing in 1952, competing on an Indian Warrior. The following year, future fellow Hall of Famer Bill Tuman mentored Mr. DeMay, who finished the year among the top novices in the nation.

In 1960, Harley-Davidson racing chief Dick O’Brien gave Mr. DeMay a factory-built KR to race. He rode for Harley-Davidson until 1969, when he retired from racing and started helping Harley build racing engines.

Mr. DeMay’s work at Harley-Davidson in the early 1970's put a series of young champions on fast machines, including Garth Brow and Dave Sehl and future Hall of Famers Mark Brelsford, Corky Keener and Rex Beauchamp.

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Harley-Davidson President Ousted

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA (February 29, 2020) AM — Harley-Davidson, Inc. has announced that Matthew Levatich has stepped down as President and CEO and as a member of the Board of Directors.

The Board of Directors has appointed Jochen Zeitz as acting President and CEO, a current board member who has also been named Chairman of the Board. Current Chairman of the Board, Michael Cave, is now Presiding Director.


The company plans to use an external search firm to undertake a search for a new CEO, and a further announcement will be made at a later date.

"The Board and Matt mutually agreed that now is the time for new leadership at Harley-Davidson," said Zeitz in a statement. "Matt was instrumental in defining the More Roads to Harley-Davidson accelerated plan for growth, and we will look to new leadership to recharge our business. On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Matt for his 26 years of service to Harley-Davidson. He has worked tirelessly to navigate the Company through a period of significant industry change while ensuring the preservation of one of the most iconic brands in the world."

Harley has been struggling with declining sales in the U.S., its biggest market, as it tries to adapt to an aging customer base while looking to expand markets overseas.

The announcement of the leadership change, made after the markets closed, pushed Harley’s shares up 5% in after-hours trading. They had fallen 2.3% with the broader markets during the trading day.

Harley’s closing share price Friday was down 18% for the year. Harley reported a net profit of $423.6 million in 2019, but it made only $13.5 million in the fourth quarter.

Levatich will assist with the transition through the end of March. Harley-Davidson, Inc. was founded in 1903.

SOURCE: Yahoo News

Friday, January 31, 2020

Vintage police motorcycle gets a second run

New York City, New York, USA (January 31, 2020) AM — A bus driver in New York City, New York gave this 1948 motorcycle by the iconic Indian Motorcycle company a meticulous renovation to its once former glory.

Robert Preven, 59, a bus driver in New York City, on his 1948 Indian Chief police motorcycle, as told to A.J. Baime.

Mr. Preven used photographs of New York City police bikes from the 1940s to restore this motorcycle down to the smallest details. Cate Dingley @Wall Street Journal

My story begins in 1993, when I bought the motor and frame of this bike for $3,000. It took me about three years to get it running, and I started taking it to swap meets held by the Antique Motorcycle Club of America. I wanted to learn more about the bike and the Indian Motorcycle company, so I could make the motorcycle as original as possible.

Robert Preven, a bus driver in New York City, on his 1948 Indian Chief police bike. The Indian Motorcycle company produced bikes in Springfield, Ma., from 1901 to 1953. The brand has since been resurrected. Cate Dingley @Wall Street Journal

Why a 1948 Indian? When I was in high school, I went to a bike night in Oceanside, N.Y., and I ran into a gentleman with whom I am friends with to this day. I was enamored of the long, swooping fenders on his motorcycle. It was an Indian Chief, and I said, “One day I will ride a similar motorcycle.” Indians were made in Springfield, Mass., from 1901 to 1953. [The Indian Motorcycle brand has since been relaunched and still exists today.]

Mr. Preven on his vintage police bike. ‘A big thank you to the New York Police Department for their service,’ he says. Cate Dingley @Wall Street Journal

In 2009, I was at an Antique Motorcycle Club of America swap meet talking to some people who knew a lot about Indian motorcycles, and they told me that my bike had once been in service with the New York Police Department. My bike had a heavy-duty frame, which led them to this conclusion. Because of the factory’s proximity, Indian supplied motorcycles to many municipalities on the East Coast going back to the early 20th century.

The 1948 Indian Chief motorcycle in full profile. Cate Dingley @Wall Street Journal

Using black-and-white photos from the 1940s and ’50s, I began a restoration in 2009. I gave the running bike and a parts bike [a motorcycle used to harvest parts from] to a man named Elmer Lower, in Etters, Pa. I cannot say enough good things about him. We used the photos for reference to get the correct pinstriping and brush marks. For example, the periods between the letters in P.D.N.Y.C. were squares, not circles. It took Elmer three-and-a-half months to get the bike looking like it does now.

The motorcycle’s gauges. The bike uses a special starter switch, and to find an original one, Mr. Preven searched for three years. Cate Dingley @Wall Street Journal

My everyday motorcycle is a 2003 Harley-Davidson Electra Glide; I have ridden that bike to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota three times. But if I want to ride something special, I can ride the Indian. It is a “foot-clutch, tank-shift” motorcycle. You control the clutch with your left foot, and the gear-shifter is next to the gas tank.

Most of what I do with this bike is display it at antique-motorcycle events. I have had it all over the country—Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Iowa, Connecticut. My first Antique Motorcycle Club of America event of this year will be in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., in March.

I am going on 27 years with this motorcycle. I am going to ride until I can’t ride anymore.

SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal