Another New Guy

Thanks Gary,

Always looking to learn as much as possible about bikes and hope to have something to share also.

Later on, Bill

Well G Man, You may want this in parts cause, it could get quite lenghty. The "Shop" was in our family from sometime in the 40's. I'll have to check with Dad to be sure (he's 81). Started out as a gas station/blacksmith shop and garage. My Great Grandfather died , so my Uncle Henry and my Grandfather (was in the 6th grade)had to quit school and work the business. Guys started coming around to ask them to work on their motorcycles and were refused. My Grandfather finally gave in and worked on them. Well, after he would work on one, he had to take it for a test ride and before long, he was working on them quite alot. He had a Harley 1st but ater a while he, and my Grandmother, rode that Harley to Springfield Mass and came back on a brand new Indian. Well, before long, He got an Indian franchise. My Dad has a photo of my Grandfather standing on the showroom floor, in the middle of some new 1947 Indian Chiefs. I really need to get a copy of that picture! Over the years, he had franchises to sell (besides Indian): Norton/AJS/Matchless/Royal Enfield/Jawa/CZ/BSA & Parilla up until he died in Dec of 1968. Well, I guess that's Part I and I'll close by saying that folks brought all different brands of motorcycles from all over Arkansas for them to work on. Later on, Bill

Hey tradrockrat,

Sorry to take soooo long to get back. I've been kinda
busy with all kinds of projects and about 90% of them were
"Honey Do" Projects. I would consider myself fortunate to have
that 10% free time,except my daughter took about 35% of that.
I know that adds up to more than 100% and therein lies the
problem. That picture of my GrandDad is about an 8 x 10, I think
but, the first thing is gonna be to get the picture or at least a
copy of it.
My wife and I work with 2 "Special Needs" young men
(18yrs old) through an agency here called Bost Human
Developement. I've got one bike (not a Yamaha) that is an 80'
CB750K w/ a Sidecar, that I'm setting up for transportation to
be able to take the young man (James) that I work with, out on
rides. I think he'll really like that.
Another short part on the Motorcycle Shop: When I
was in the 7th grade, my friends had motorcycles and I didn't
and with a motorcycle shop in the family, I was not happy. So, I
approached my Dad and he said, IF I graduated from the 7th
grade (I wasn't too interested in school), I'd get one when
school let out for the summer. Well, school came to an end, I
graduated and I was ready to go to the Shop that Saturday!
When we got there, my Dad said that it was upstairs. Now, I'd
been going up there nearly since I was able to walk and I had
never seen a whole motorcycle up there. I went up there and
came back down 2 or 3 times (he kept sending me back up
there) and on my last trip back down, my Dad said, "It's Up
There. You Just Have To Put It Together (as he handed me a
Parts Manual, for a 1958 Jawa 125)! Well, I don't have to tell
you I could not imagine making a motorcycle out of a bunch of
parts! You have to remember that I was 14yrs old at the time.
I had to gather parts and assemble everything except the
wheels and my Grandfather built the crankshaft. Think about it, I
took a set of crankcases and assembled a motor w/ the trans
from a bunch of parts. A friend of the family recovered the seat.
I guess that's about it for Part II.
Later on, Bill