My Harley

When i was a kid i used to go to my Grandma's house and check out my Tio's Harley.( Uncle Tommy ) It was a cool bike, i didn't know why it was cool, but i just knew it was. We used to get on it and pretend we were riding it till my Grandma would come out and tell us to get off, apparently Grandma knew it was cool too. That bike sat there year after year and nobody ever rode it, it just stayed covered up with a canvas. I was only about 7 or 8 at the time, but the bike made an impression on me. Some years later my neighbor bought his son a small motor bike and i knew i wanted one, but i didn't have the money to buy one of course. One day my neighbor fell on his motor bike and he was pissed off cause i was laughing at him, so he says you think you can ride it and i said yes. He told me to go ahead take it for a ride. I know he was hoping i would fall, but i got on, fired it up and took off, what a trip. I took it for a short ride and then took it back. The kid wasn't too happy, so i guess he did want me to fall.

When i was a teenager my brother Mundo bought a brand new Norton 500, beautiful bike. One day i asked him if i could ride it and he said no cause i didn't know how to ride it. So i started walking towards the bike and he's saying "no stay off it" and i kept walking to the bike and he keeps saying no. I got on the bike and he's telling me "no you can't ride it" I think he's curious to see if i can ride it, but at the same time he's thinking "well if he kills himself, at least i can tell Mom i told him not to ride it" I fire that Norton up and took off, all the while i can hear my Bro saying "no don't do it" After that i used to ride that bike everywhere, in fact people thought it was my bike. Poor Mundo he could never tell me no and mean it, God Bless Him for that. When i learned how to ride it pretty good, i headed out towards Princeton ( the town ) got it on the straight away and had it up to 95 mph. No helmet, no glasses, i could hardly see, there were tears pouring out of my eyes. What a thrill. A bug hit me on the forehead and made me slow down. Man that hurt, it left a welt. Needless to say i wanted a bike after that. Bought me a car, but could never afford a bike till the 70's, i bought me a Triumph 500. It was a pretty cool bike, but i still wanted a Harley. Some years later i bought a 650 BSA for 50 bucks. It had been in a fire. Took it home and put it in the back room of our house and started taking it apart. B comes home and walks in the back room and says what in the heck are you doing. ( not her exact words ) i said i bought me a bike. nuts, bolts gas tank, oil, tires and all kinds of parts all over the place, the room pretty much looked and smelled like a motorcycle. Love that smell. We'd been together long enough for her to know that once i set my mind on something, you can pretty much forget about trying to talk me out of it, besides that my wife's always been cool. I took every nut,bolt and screw off that bike . i painted it myself, and basically rebuilt the whole thing. When it was done i fired it up and took it for a ride, there's not too many things you can compare that feeling to. There's just so much pride in an accomplishment like that. You can't compare going out and buying a new bike to rebuilding one yourself, there's just no comparison. I never told my sister Lolly, but i can say it now, I took Jeff for a ride on that bike when he was just a little kid, he loved it. He was telling me about that one day last year when he came down to visit. I also took him out in my Chevelle Super Sport when he was a kid and just smoked them tires. He said it was a real thrill. Did i have an influence on Jeff ? I think not, I believe Jeff was going to be Jeff whether he knew me or not. Jeff thinks out of the box and he'll tell you what he thinks, something i admire in a person.

I didn't own another bike till i was 64 years young and it was my first Harley, a 1977 Shovel head Lowrider. I bought it from a friend at a very reasonable price. It was partially assembled. You know how it is when a women has a baby and all the women go over and check out the baby, well that's how it was when my biker friends came over to check out my bike, i think a couple of them even pinched the gas tank. I was so proud. i met this Dude who has a Harley shop out in the country and i told him i wanted to learn about Harleys, he said well you sure bought the right bike for that cause them ol Shovels are always needing something fixed on em, but they're pretty cool bikes. About $2,500 worth of parts and labor later i fire it up and take it for it's first ride. No license, no tags, no insurance and no helmet, just me and my Harley. What a trill.

With this recession and the way things are, i told my wife i was going to sell my bike and she says she doesn't want me to. I told you my wife's cool. I have it in my American Pickers garage and every once in awhile i'll go and put the battery charger on it and start it up and remind my neighbors that i still have my Harley. I put some straight pipes on it last year and took it for a ride around the block setting off car alarms, no license, no tags, no insurance no helmet and thankfully no police, what a thrill. I know, Uncle Bud's a little crazy, but that's what happens when you think out of the box, right Jeff.

My cousin David

Back in the late 60s and early 70s, i used to go visit my cousins in Santa Cruz. There was this one time that sticks out in my mind, i was there at Steps house and Ralph,David and Ruben were there along with a couple friends of theirs. We were partying of course, after awhile i was asked if i wanted to go with them to a friend of theirs house, of course i said yes, so off we went. I was sitting in the back between David and Ruben. Along the way the guy driving says "hey there's so and so and he's hitch hiking, i'm going to stop and give him a ride. This American Indian Dude gets in the car and they introduce him to me, can't remember his name, but i remember he was a very serious Dude and he was involved with A.I.M.( The American Indian Movement ) We talked for awhile, then the guy starts talking about Dennis Means. Means was one of the radicals back then and at the time he was being sought by the F.B.I. i'm sitting there tripping,because this guy was talking about some pretty heavy stuff. Then the guy turns towards Ruben and David and says, these guys and Step are my brothers. He says, i gave David and Ruben Indian names, I call David "Standing Buffalo" and i call Ruben " Soaring Eagle" or something like that. David didn't bat an eyelash, as soon as David heard something about a bird he just started talking like a parrot saying "Polly want a cracker" and a bunch of other bird talk. I couldn't help myself, i just busted up laughing and the more i laughed, the more David would talk like a bird, before you knew it we were all cracking up even the Indian Dude. I can still picture David talking like that as if it just happened yesterday.

There was another time when i was living in Colusa, i was still a kid. David and Ruben were working for the city as garbage men ( G-men as they used to call themselves ) We used to go with them sometimes and help them and check out what was being thrown away. You'd be surprised at what some people get rid of. We'd have to be there at about 3:00 am. One time there was this rich lady that had this little dog that used to bark and cause a big commotion every time the garbage truck went through the alley, nobody paid it any attention. One time David told me that they were backing up the truck and the little dog comes out and starts barking and then all you heard was a little yelp and that was it, so they go check it out and sure enough they ran over the dog ( croak ) well the next time they're going through the alley the lady that owned the dog comes out and says " my dogs missing have you guys seen him" David said we had to tell her so we apologized and told her what happened and the lady got pretty emotional and then she asked them what did they do with the dog and David said we threw him in the back of the truck with the garbage. The lady said "YOU DID WHAT" and she started cussing at them and saying "oh my poor little dog, how could you do that" Now don't get me wrong, David had a heart of gold and he would never hurt any animal on purpose and It's sad what happened to the dog, but if you heard David tell this story, he would have you crackin up. He was a funny guy and great story teller. This is why i say there will never be another one like him.

I remember one time David asked me what was the matter cause i looked real bummed out. I told him i had problems and he looked at me and said what the hell are you talking about, your too young to have problems, you don't even know what problems are, i was only about 13 or so. He gave me a real tongue lashing, but he also made me see that what he was saying was true. He compared "my problem"to the problems of our folks. Made me realize that what i was complaining about was nothing compared to what our folks go through. Thank you David, you were not only funny, but you had good sense too.

We all know what a big time Niner fan David is. He used to come over our house and watch the games sometimes and my wife would fix us some good food and him and i would kick back and watch the game and just enjoy the hell out of ourselves, One time he calls me up and says to come pick him up and he'll go watch the game with me cause the Niners were in the playoffs. I told him i'd be over on Sunday to pick him up. Come Sunday i go over to my Tia's house to get him and he comes out with Niner shoes, Niner socks, Niner pants, Niner shirt and this giant foam hand that says were number one and this big inflatable red and gold Niner helmet, he had to take it off to get in the car, but once in the car, he puts it back on and tells me "take me down main street" so off we go down main street with David waving this giant foam hand that says were number one at people walking down the street and at cars passing by. I'll bet you to this day there are people in Woodland that say "remember that time we seen that car go by and that guy was waving that giant hand out the window saying Go Niners"....God Bless you David, you were one of a kind.