Some History

No matter how old I was, motorcycles have been a consistent part of my life. It's not difficult to open up an old family photo album and find pictures where I am strapped to the back of a motorcycle on a car seat, or being held by my father with one hand on the front of the seat. Indeed, ever since I was an infant I have been surrounded by them. Motorcycles constituted a huge part of my father's life with him spending hours upon hours riding and maintaining them. On my mother's side, her father and brother have also always maintained and ridden motorcycles. However, it would be unfair to say that they are typical "bikers". My father didn't own all types of Harley-Davidson (HD) merchandise, nor did he ride new bikes. In fact he never once owned a new HD motorcycle, but preferred to tinker and modify the old 1930's and 1960's motorcycles. His collection of 3 motorcycles from these eras, along with enough parts to stock a shop always cemented in my head his love of motorcycles.


I attempted in my younger years to share in his passion. I could never afford a HD bike, so I worked a summer and bought a used 1980's Suzuki. This allowed us to ride a bit together, but not how I always hoped we would. In fact, he had an old Panhead motor in the basement which I wanted desperately to make into a bike. I would, in High School, sit in my basement and circle items from the J&P Cycle Catalog to buy in order to build the bike. These plans, however, never came to fruition. By the time my life finally became stable and I became successful enough to afford these parts, my father passed away very suddenly.


In his passing three motorcycles were left along with the parts to maintain them for years to come. But as I crossed from my twenties into my thirties, these things became less important. Trying to keep his bikes and maintain them in his memory became less realistic. Maintaining his mechanically genius legacy was something I would not be able to handle, especially with a wife, full time job and the prospect of children.


My uncle had convinced me to sell the bikes, at least two of them, and just purchase a Road King, like he had. It took him the better part of two years to do so, but in retrospect I am glad he did.


And here we are, two years since my father passed away, my third year at my dream job and now the owner of a Road King Police edition motorcycle. Within this blog I will attempt to serialize all the adventures I have with the bike, from riding to modifications and perhaps, but hopefully not, breakdowns.


I decided to create this blog about 4 months after actually purchasing the bike and beginning to make modifications so some events will be told out of order until I catch up. I hope some of this information may help you in your own motorcycle endeavors.