I got a note......

I got a note from Part-timer Steve's Dad on the photos of his '71 Superglide that I ran here a couple posts down, and I thought you'd all like to read what his Dad shared with me. This is straight from the source, and thanks Gary, for filling in the story, and I'm glad I provided you an opportunity to stroll down memory lane again:

Rich, Just a note to tell you that I had no idea that Steve got hold of those old '71 Superglide photos. Yea, back in my younger days I had alot of energy. Tore that Superglide apart the first winter and went to work. Threw out the boat tail rear end (what a mistake!), traded the fat bobs and other items with a friend, Dennis Crowns, who had a custom motorcycle parts license, for custom parts that were needed. (Dennis had his chopper featured in Easy Riders Magazine back in the early 70's).

My wife's younger brother, Mark, was about 11 years old at the time and what a worker he turned out to be. He helped me grind all of the welds, sand, body-fill and mould all imperfections in the frame. I sent the sheetmetal and frame down to Madison, Wisconsin to a friend, John Carden, who did all of my paint jobs. John also hooked me up with a chrome plater in the Madison area for my shiny stuff. We had to make do with local welding shops, home-made tools and ingenuity in order to get it finished.
In all, I tore that Superglide down 3 times during the early 70's.
Yes, Rich - that was a Minestroni seat - man, you know your stuff!
My wife, Sandy and I had a great time on that bike.
Thanks for the memories...
Gary Glennon

Greasy Kulture #12

Greasy Kulture #12 is on it's way out, time to order your copy if you don't have a subscription. Check out my column on Dave Strociek and Strociek Engineering, plus first print coverage of the Born Free Show, and the usual quality features that make GK a must-have each issue.

And, another killer cover shot by Mark Kawakami/Joyrides Art Co., of John Edwards' Panhead, with some new, not yet seen changes to his bike.
http://www.greasykulture.com/

http://joyridesartco.blogspot.com/

Hey, how cool is this?

If you've followed my blog, you know all about Part-timer Steve, who helps me out here. You've seen Steve's custom in this blog, and in Street Chopper last fall. What you might not know is that Steve comes from a long family line of motorcycle riders.

When Steve came over today, he handed me these photos, and said "Hey look, my Mom finally sent me pictures of my Dad's bike that he built in '71". I had to scan them, and put them up here for everybody.

Steve's Dad's bike in 1971 - 6 over front end, no rake, no front brake, spool hub, cobra seat, and a Sporty tank.

If I got the story right from Steve, his dad took a brand-new(!) '71 Superglide apart to give it the treatment. He didn't have a place to do the work, so he dis-assembled the bike at his now wife/then girlfriend's house, and did the work in her basement.

The bike is period perfect for a swingarm bike in '71. I also want you to note that the frame is painted to match the sheetmetal, this was no half-way project. Steve also told me that when his Mom and Dad got married, they took their honeymoon aboard this bike!

Same bike, 1974 - new paint, rear fender, and the Superglide's OEM fender is on the front. Check out the Paughco electric start diamond outer primary, and the Minestrone king & queen seat!

Steve's dad still rides from his home in Wisconsin to Sturgis every year (on a later model H-D, the Superglide is loooong gone) and still camps out when he gets there. Steve and his brother ride up and stay with him in Sturgis - all three of them have a group of friends that they reunite with in the campground, and have a great time every year. I've met Steve's Mom and Dad, and they are really genuinely nice people.

Like they say, the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree........

Von Dutch Monday IX

Von Dutch wandering around Lance Reventlow's Scarab racing sports car pits at Riverside in '58. Dutch did all the scalloping, lettering, striping and the "Scarab" emblem on all of Reventlow's cars.

Quotes from Von Dutch:

On striping and painting, in 1958: "Too much of the same thing, and nothing new in sight. It was interesting to go from cycles to rods, then to Detroit cars, then to sports cars. Now where? About the only new things for me are bicycles, and there aren't enough of them".

On changing his name to Von Dutch: "Who'd ever remember a name like Kennith Howard? I needed something unusual - a tag the customer would only have to hear once to remember".

On what he charged, and why: " There's a struggle you have to go thru, and if you make a lot of money it doesn't make the struggle go away. It just makes it more complicated. If you keep poor, the struggle is simple".

"That's why I never overcharge anybody, and never made this thing commercial. You can't do good work if you're thinking about the money angle all the time. To me, the work is important, that's the number one".

And finally, Von Dutch just being Von Dutch: "The easy thing in life is realizing that everybody else is full of bullshit. The hard thing in life is realizing you might be full of bullshit, too".

Benji Rabanal....

Benji Rabanal (circled above) then, around '67-'68......

So, who is Benji Rabanal? Benji has been a boxer, a surfer and a shaper of boards for Bing, Stoner, and Noll, a motorcycle flatrack racer with the likes of Savage, Tetter, and Mann at the old Ascot track, a bare knuckle brawler, and a builder of rods and custom bikes. He's also the father of Superco Trevelen, who Trev affectionately refers to as "Pops".

I've spent more than a couple hours talking with Benji, when Trev had his shop in Downtown L.A., and Benji is one of the most facasinating guys I've ever run across. Although not in the best of health these days, the guy is still hard as nails, works along with Trev on his projects, and can come up with an old story to match any topic you can think of.

Benji Rabanal today....

You need to do yourself a favor and get ahold of Garage Magazine # 16 while you can, and read Eddie Jolly's excellent article he wrote on Benji. Plus, there are some priceless Rabanal family photos you'll only see in the article anymore, unless Trev decides to put them back up on his website/blog. There's a really cute photo of Trev when he was a tiny guy (in a diaper!), sitting on the gas tank of one of Benji's custom Triumphs.