Post by oldchopperguy on Oct 29, 2013 13:11:21 GMT -5
Well guyz & galz...
While looking for pix, I came across the only photo of me on "Old blue" back in 1962. She was an ANIMAL! And, of course, the origin of my moniker "OldChopperGuy". Hard to believe a half-century has passed since building the old gal. (However, I still have scars on my right leg from her 250 ponies shearing off the kick-starter and blowing my then 375 pounds over the ape-hangars...) OUCH! The photo isn't so great. All my pal had was a box-Brownie camera and grainy Tri-X B&W film, but it's the only pic I ever had of the chopper and me. In this photo, she was still in primer, with a crude rear fender made from a Harley Big-Twin front fender. In her final form, she was ELEGANT... With a sidecar fender on the back, gutted Sportster mufflers replacing those straight-through "shotgun" pipes and EVERYTHING that could be dismantled, chromed.
Below that is a current shot of the Missus and me today, cut into a pic of "Minnie Mouse" (The "official" nickname, I guess, by the Wife for our "new" old Kymco...).
screenshot on pc
screen shot on pc
For the younger riders out there, take note: These last 50 years seemed to go by in less than 10. You're old before you know it, so make the very best of your youth... It lasts only a VERY short time. In this era of everybody and their cat making a fine art of "being offended" I must mention the fact that we bikers were a most patriotic bunch. We got a lot of flack for wearing Nazi helmets. Those helmets were war-trophies taken in battle by our Dads in mortal combat. We wore them proudly as a testimony to the sacrifices our parents made, preserving the right of those at home to trash us for that very show of our pride in America. Did we care? NOT ONE BIT... It was a different time and place. Two years after that picture, I was in the Army myself, and returned to more flack, THIS time for wearing an AMERICAN uniform... Go figger...
All our BEST wishes for many years and many happy miles to one and all!
Sincerely,
Betty and Leo in Texas
PS: Reviewing these pix, I suddenly realize that in the 1962 photo of me on the chop, I was 16 years old. And... 6'2", weighed 375 pounds and was hard as nails. Today, at 67, I'm 6'1" and 235 pounds... and a LOT softer in both word and deed. Time mellows one considerably! (Not to mention the full inch I lost from a couple-hundred-thousand miles riding hard-tail choppers)... LOL!
While looking for pix, I came across the only photo of me on "Old blue" back in 1962. She was an ANIMAL! And, of course, the origin of my moniker "OldChopperGuy". Hard to believe a half-century has passed since building the old gal. (However, I still have scars on my right leg from her 250 ponies shearing off the kick-starter and blowing my then 375 pounds over the ape-hangars...) OUCH! The photo isn't so great. All my pal had was a box-Brownie camera and grainy Tri-X B&W film, but it's the only pic I ever had of the chopper and me. In this photo, she was still in primer, with a crude rear fender made from a Harley Big-Twin front fender. In her final form, she was ELEGANT... With a sidecar fender on the back, gutted Sportster mufflers replacing those straight-through "shotgun" pipes and EVERYTHING that could be dismantled, chromed.
Below that is a current shot of the Missus and me today, cut into a pic of "Minnie Mouse" (The "official" nickname, I guess, by the Wife for our "new" old Kymco...).
screenshot on pc
screen shot on pc
For the younger riders out there, take note: These last 50 years seemed to go by in less than 10. You're old before you know it, so make the very best of your youth... It lasts only a VERY short time. In this era of everybody and their cat making a fine art of "being offended" I must mention the fact that we bikers were a most patriotic bunch. We got a lot of flack for wearing Nazi helmets. Those helmets were war-trophies taken in battle by our Dads in mortal combat. We wore them proudly as a testimony to the sacrifices our parents made, preserving the right of those at home to trash us for that very show of our pride in America. Did we care? NOT ONE BIT... It was a different time and place. Two years after that picture, I was in the Army myself, and returned to more flack, THIS time for wearing an AMERICAN uniform... Go figger...
All our BEST wishes for many years and many happy miles to one and all!
Sincerely,
Betty and Leo in Texas
PS: Reviewing these pix, I suddenly realize that in the 1962 photo of me on the chop, I was 16 years old. And... 6'2", weighed 375 pounds and was hard as nails. Today, at 67, I'm 6'1" and 235 pounds... and a LOT softer in both word and deed. Time mellows one considerably! (Not to mention the full inch I lost from a couple-hundred-thousand miles riding hard-tail choppers)... LOL!
