Just wondering...
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Cruiser
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 175
Likes: 0
From: Florida
Just wondering...
What it took that got you hooked on Harleys. For me it was back in '55 when Sal Passalaqua came roaring down 23rd Ave. in Brooklyn on a yellow and blue what i think was a Hydra Glide, the sight of those big fenders and the streamers on his handle bars plus the sound of the engine did it. I said to myself, "I want something like that when I grow up. Then I watched Mary Anne De Luca, wearing a tight pink sweater, get on the back and off they went. I thought, "I want one of those as well." Only took me 50 years.
Road Captain
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 619
Likes: 9
From: Auburn, GA
It was 1989 and I was 15. I was in a "band" at the time and my buddy had a poster of the brand new 1989 Softail Custom on the wall in the practice room. I spent hours in that room and stared at that poster for most of them. That was the baddest-assed thing I had ever seen. At the time Harley riders were still thought of as bad dudes, too.
Then, when I was 17 I realized I couldn't afford the Harley, but knew I HAD to have a bike, so I started with Hondas. It was a while before I finally got my Softail, but, I was right; it is the baddest-assed thing ever.
Then, when I was 17 I realized I couldn't afford the Harley, but knew I HAD to have a bike, so I started with Hondas. It was a while before I finally got my Softail, but, I was right; it is the baddest-assed thing ever.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 2,936
Likes: 20
From: Driftless Area
When I was about 10, the neighbor had an old 900, no electric start, almost thru him over the bars when he'd first start it from cold. I thought, man that thing has got some power. Right then I got on the power trip thing. Then Came Bronson, don't think I ever missed a show, didn't care what the plot was, just wanted to see and hear that Harley.
Road Warrior
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 1,733
Likes: 38
From: Linden, NC
My dad actually. He owned a '61 or '62 Sportster, purple, with one of those plates on the front fender. He loved that bike. Kept it in their bedroom during the winter months in Connecticut. Every year he, my mother, and a few other of friends would head out to Daytona and Laconia for the races (no trailering for them). Even had old 8mm (if I remember right) home movies of the trips that we'd watch when they all got together for a party during the winter months. Used to tell me that after a days ride, it would take an hour before he could stop shaking cause of the vibrations the bike made, and always swore that one day he'd buy a BMW cause of the smooth ride. Eventually he did.
Those memories have always stuck with me. Unfortunatly, cancer caught up with him and he passed away in May of last year.
Those memories have always stuck with me. Unfortunatly, cancer caught up with him and he passed away in May of last year.
Last edited by Weevil; Mar 13, 2009 at 01:46 PM.
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Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 8,642
Likes: 6
From: Forest Lake, Mn
What it took that got you hooked on Harleys. For me it was back in '55 when Sal Passalaqua came roaring down 23rd Ave. in Brooklyn on a yellow and blue what i think was a Hydra Glide, the sight of those big fenders and the streamers on his handle bars plus the sound of the engine did it. I said to myself, "I want something like that when I grow up. Then I watched Mary Anne De Luca, wearing a tight pink sweater, get on the back and off they went. I thought, "I want one of those as well." Only took me 50 years.
Now, what was the ?.
My Dad rode HDs in the 30's and 40's. When we were kids in the 50's, my uncle had a Mobil gas station in Sioux Falls, SD, and he had a Servicar, that had the red Mobil Pegasus, on the back of it, used it as a service vehicle. He used to give us rides on/in it.
We were already into minis, etc, by then. First Doodle Bugs we got, I was 6.
Then when we were 'bout 13 or 14, neighbor boys came roaring down the gravel road, on a panhead. They paid a whopping $150 bucks for it. Painted white, with a PAINT BRUSH!!! Remember, my Dad working on it for them.
My first HD was a 52 Servicar, old Honolulu PD bike. Worked good in Hawaii, slow as a turd, and NOT a lot of island to cover.
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Road Master
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,070
Likes: 2
From: Lafayette, LA.
It was one of my earliest memories somewhere around 61 or 62. I was 5 or 6 back then and a friend of my dad stopped by our house on a red and white FLH with the red tint halfway down the wind shield, white seat and saddle bags, and fringe everywhere. I thought that bike was more cool than the Beatles.
