DPD 1936

Dallas Police Department with their new 1936 Texas Centennial HD motorcycles. The lodge is still there at Harwood and Young streets.

January 2012 Asylum Mobilitarium

January 2012 Asylum Mobilitarium

There is an excellent history of the Dallas Harley-Davidson in Allen dealership on their new and improved website. Take a look and read about how it all started.

A few years ago, while a Dallas Police motorcycle officer, I wrote an article in the Dallas Police Shield magazine, which I still have a monthly column, on how the motorcycle section started with the DPD. Detroit P.D. was first with H-D’s in 1907, but Dallas was close behind.

First let me say that the DPD rode Harley-Davidsons from 1909 to around 1978. I remember them as a young officer in 1977. Then because of the questionable nature of 1970’s era AMF Harley’s and admittedly helped by the “Chip’s” TV show, Dallas, as well as most departments west of the Mississippi, went to Kawasaki’s in the 1970’s. They were fast, and well cheap, just right for a big city police department!

In 1935 the DPD bought a few Indian three-wheelers, but it’s been either H-D or Kawasaki all these years. Since 2005, DPD has gone back to Electra-Glide’s and are about to complete the 45 or so motor fleet again with all Harley-Davidson’s.

I research DPD history for The Shield as well as H-D history for this site sometimes using the Dallas Morning News Historic Archives from 1881 to the present day. It’s a great tool that can sometimes solve mysteries.

Shrouded in the mists of time is what came before Conley’s H-D? The historic archives give this answer in many issues of the paper over the years that are accessed simply by punching in dates.

Harley-Davidson was mentioned as early as 1903-05 where Harley’s were entered in the Fair Park motorcycle races along with Indian, Excelsior-Henderson and other makes. I have found an example of at least one death of a rider during these races in the area where the old Starplex once was.  

In 1909, Dallas Police Commissioner Seay delayed the purchase of the departments first two H-D’s because “one or two” dealers, were exploring the option of “giving” the bikes to the department for the advertising advantages. On May 15, 1909 the DMN wrote that two H-D’s had been “purchased” and that several officers were learning to ride.

One must remember that early on, marketing director Arthur Davidson sometimes would contact bicycle shops, sporting goods stores, and almost any business that wanted to get in on the “motorcycle craze,” and offer them the opportunity to sell one or two Harley’s. Some want ads of the time stated “Wanted motorcycle and typewriter mechanic.” These were not dealerships as we think of them today but they did sell Harley-Davidson’s. Some of these did become exclusive H-D’s dealers later.

Examples of small time operations are obvious in the advertising sections of the paper. Around 1915 at 233 Elm there was Chas. Ott Bicycle and Gun which advertised a Christmas special of Thor and Reading Standard motorcycles.  Also there was a guy, J.W Ruff, who in the teens billed himself “The Motorcycle Man” and sold used motorcycles including Harley’s at 396 Commerce St. as well as his residence on Holmes St. in South Dallas.

There was an official H-D dealer conference in Dallas at the Southland Hotel on 9-11-1917 with L.R.Smith, H.Johnson, and J.H. McBodge representing “Dallas” dealers. In 1919 another two day conference was held with representatives from the company in attendance again at the Southland.

In ads of the time I see that a Harley-Davidson Sales Company occupied 203 S.Pearl in 1917. This would be around Jackson and Pearl. In researching DPD history I found that the City bought five new H-D police motorcycles on January 18, 1936 for $2275.00 from this dealer. On May 24, 1936 12 new H-D’s were purchased for the low bid of $6761.00. These were the silver Texas 1936 Centennial bikes used for the month long event at Fair Park. I’ve obtained print ads from Harley- Davidson with Dallas officers on their new “Centennial bikes” racking up in front of the Hall of State at Fair Park in 1936.

There was a “Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Supply Company” at 2932 Commerce St. on 9-23-1939. The store experienced a burglary the night before where 2 bikes, goggles, tools and other supplies were stolen. This possibly was an aftermarket motorcycle shop that specialized in Harley –Davidson repairs.

There is an ad in the DMN in 1949 that the Harley-Davidson Sales Company was now at 2815 Commerce Street. On March 29, 1955 the DPD bought 22 solo and 15 Servi-Cars from this location for $36584.00. $11200.00 was allowed in trade-ins of old DPD bikes apparently!

The last ad I have found for Harley-Davidson Sales Company was in 1949. I believe that this is what eventually became Conley’s H-D. At some point Conley’s moved to 2834 Main Street. I remember talking with old DPD jockeys who remembered going to Conley’s and hanging out “over the chain” watching the mechanics and waiting for their City bike to be serviced.  Interestingly, an Indian dealership was across the street where the head shop type place is now. The last ad I found for Conley’s on Main St. was in 1969 when a ’68 Sprint was offered for $625.00.

I’m a Dallas boy and remember the Conley’s AMF dealership at Forest Ln. and Plano Rd. with the big #1 on the sign on Plano Rd. This moved to “The old Shiloh” dealership that I went to in 1995 to order my first H-D.  Big Greg, Little Greg, and Doug Locke owned the dealership at that point.  Around 2000 the Allen dealership was built by these owners, and later the Shiloh location begat the current Garland dealership.  

There is a lot of motorcycle and Harley history in Dallas, you just have to dig a little!

Later "Hell's Angel's" B-17

This time it's 1944, the Hell's Angel's" is now nose art. Capt. Monahan's crew, some didn't come back. There was a 1 in 6 chance if you were a crewman in the 8th AAF, that you would not make it back. Again this is the 303rd Bomb Group based at Molesworth England.
Some of the 303rd made it back to the staes, and some were most likely on bikes at the infamous Hollister rally in 1947 that started the "Bad Boy" biker image.
Some say this is where the "Hell's Angel's" M/C got their name, others the 1920's film, well maybe it's both.

"Hell's Angel's"

About 1942, the first B-17,at Molesworth England to have "Hell's Angel's" painted on the ship. It was near the waist gunners window, not the nose. Later the AAF banned painting anything on the fuseladge since squadron letters were authorized to be placed there for aircraft ID.
The 303rd Bomb Group of the 8th AAF decided to call themselves "Hell's Angel's" much to the dismay of this crew. However this aircraft had nose art depicting the "Hell's Angel"s" logo but without the flying "Whatzit?" shown here.
The bomber survived the war only to be scrapped in October 1945.

Steve McQueen

One of my heroes. This scene from the movie "Le Mans," shows him wearing the famous "Monaco" watch, then a new product from Heuer, now Tag Heuer. The company came out with a "Le Mans' version for McQueen's (would have been) 75th birthday in 2006.

The Old House

We had this home in our family since 1965. So many great memories, I won't go into all that but there ya go. We finally sold it on my birthday, and the day we left, the '3' on the front of the house mysteriously fell in a downward position. This had never happened before.
Maybe the house is saying goodbye. That's what I hope it's saying. Luckily, I met the man that is buying the house for his growing family. He assured me that he understood the sadness of selling the house, and that he would take care of it. I believe him. Time will tell.
Goodbye Old House, you've been a good friend all these years.

November 22, 1963

Yesterday I was talking with some friends. We were discussing the JFK assassination in Dallas in 1963. We are all of age that we remember where we were that day.
I told them that I was a second grader at John Ireland in The Grove. I was home sick that Friday however and was home from school. The first thing That happened was that Walter Chronkite came on TV with obviously an important message. I was newly minted 8 year old so I knew what puffy eyes and a slightly cracking voice in an older person meant.
The veteran newsman took off his glasses and told the nation that the president had been killed in Dallas Texas. I'm not sure if the fact that he had been killed in my hometown and where I was residing, made the announcement any more horrifying. I ran out side and stood on the back porch. It was by noon a clear day in Dallas after raining all morning. Mom was hanging clothes on the line in the back yard. I yelled from the porch that President Kennedy had been killed. She said "Bill quit storytelling," or words to that effect. It seems the words were "Bill, quit lying." But I'm not totally sure.
My other memories is being in front of our really big Sears Silvertone B/W TV in the living room. I seem to remember seeing the moment, that Sunday morning, where Jack Ruby shot Oswald. I'm not sure if that was just a memory of another time thinking about that Sunday.
Another thing that I remember is the fact that for years, going on vacation with the family, that Mom would tell us not to tell people that we were from Dallas. There was so much anger towards this conservative town, and the media hyped it up, that it was just better to keeps ones hometown, to ones self.   

The Old House

We finally sold the house that I pretty much grew up in. Moved in during the month of May 1965, I was 9 years old. So many memories, my family are the original owners. The neighborhood has had changes over the years,, even though the street is in good shape. My birthday was Monday, that's the day it sold. I was over there with the A/C guys, who had put two others there in the last 25 years or so, and I met the new owner. I explained what the house meant to me and my family. He shook my hand, and with sincerity, said his family would take care of The Old House.
What more can you do? I was the last Croom in the house, that meant something to me at least.
 Last week, one of the numbers on the front of the house flipped upside down for some reason. This as far as I know, had not happened in the 46 years we were in the house. Saying goodbye? Sorry to see you go? I believe in such signs. I want to believe in this one.
Before I left Monday, I flipped the number back to it's proper place, said my long goodbyes to a place that will always be home to me. It's so sad, but I'm lucky that I had so many happy years in that old house. I will miss it, we all will. I'll ride by on occasion, stop in front, and check on it, tell it how much we miss her.
Times flies Dad always said, after you turn fifty. Yes it does and it hurts.

Pvt Robert Vance, Normandy, July 1944

Near St. Lo France

Pvt Roy Zimmerman, July 27, 1944. He'a an M-P obviously, and riding a Harley-Davidson WLA, maybe a 1942 model. The bike has the scabbard with a rifle, or machine gun, ammo box on the front forks. The helmet he's wearing looks like an old football helmet. I know that the riders wore helmets, but I thought most were the tanker type. Great pic with an even greater sign.

Sez it all

November 2011 Dallas Police Shield

November 2011 Dallas Police Shield

We are coming up on the 70^th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. I recently went with Honor Flight #6 to D.C. with 30 plus WWII veterans. A couple of them were actually Pearl Harbor heroes, still sharp and doing well. They wore out their guardians on the trip! WWII veterans are dying at a rate of 1000 a day. There are only 2 million WWII veterans alive today it is estimated. Thank a hero sometime. If not for them, since we are west of the Mississippi, we might be speaking Japanese now. If you lived east of the mighty river, German.

The day after the attack by the Japanese, things were the same in the City apparently. On December 8^th, it was reported that the week before, Traffic Patrolman (later Chief) J.M. Souter was working the intersection of Elm and Field when a citizen jaywalked in front of the now well known Chief. This author remembers when it was really big deal to jaywalk downtown. Point control officers would write DPD officer’s tickets. Now, its open season downtown, no one cares.

Anyway, Souter was surprised that the culprit admitted he was guilty and that he should have known better. Souter awarded the jaywalker with his honesty by letting him off. It’s amazing to me that with America at war for only a day, a story such as this actually made it into the pages of DMN history.

Also on this weekend a Patrolman Henderson was arresting a 200 pound drunk women at the Interurban Terminal on Houston Street. At first she wanted to fight, then thought better of it when Henderson said that just because she was a woman and outweighed him, that he would fight back if need be. She asked for a time out, then grabbed her checkbook and wrote out a $5.00 check to herself. She then asked Henderson if he would cash the check, since she would probably need bail money. Henderson stuffed the women into the paddy wagon with the woman still holding onto the check.

Detective Clarence Archer was in a bad mood, he was chasing a burglar in Trinity Heights when he tripped and ripped out the knee out of pants to a new suit he had just purchased.

During this time there was a drug called a “Goof Ball.” It was cheap, and the drug of choice with bad guys of the era. It was described as a sleeping pill, and I’m not sure how that related as a drug to keep one high, low, or what. It was sold for 50 cents each on the street however. Jail Supervisor Patterson removed fifty of these tickets to heaven from a prisoner who stated that he was going to make big money upstairs in 106 by selling them to other prisoners.

A husband hit his wife on the head with a shotgun on Sunday December 7^th. He then loaded her up on a streetcar and headed downtown. The two showed up at police headquarters at 106 S. Harwood. The man explained to the doctor at the police first aid station that he wanted his wife’s head sewn up. She was eventually sent home but the husband was arrested by Detective Lieut. John Daniel.

Yes, Dallas police still working hard and citizens were still being crazy even though we had been plunged into a war not of their own choosing.

I finally found a story related to the fact that the U.S. was on some form of war footing. It was on the morning of December 8^th, 1941 that the DMN reported that FDR had the day before authorized the arrest of Japanese nationals regarded as dangerous to the peace and security of the U.S.

On Sunday night December 7^th, Dallas police had taken into custody and held for immigration officials six Japanese, four of which were nationals. Two were citizens of the U.S.

The six were not charged, only “held” for investigation.

Hiroshi Mashino told officers that he had recently taken a course in machine tool operation at Oklahoma A&M. He wanted to get a job in Grand Prairie at North American Aviation. DPD detectives asked him if he really wanted to build planes to bomb his own people. “Sure,” he said, “I’ve never been over there. I think they are all wrong.”

Inspector of Detectives Will Fritz said that the holding of the Japanese was entirely a local police matter, and had no connection to the FBI.

W.H.Croom, II # 3973 retired

Honor Flt #6

Tomorrow, I'll be the guardian of Art Peterson, 91 years young to D.C. to visit the WWII memorial as well as the Korean War memorial, Vietnam Wall and other destinations. Art flew PBY Catalina flying boats like you see here. It's an honor to fly with 20-30 other WWII heroes on this AA flight as well. 

My other bike.

I actually need to try golf someday.

September 2011 Dallas Police Shield

September 2011 Dallas Police Shield

The stories and history of the Dallas Police Department, at least in this authors mind, is rife with legend, mystery, myth, and total fabrications. This is one of those stories. You be the judge.

 One day in the early nineties, some obscure City MBA in the dark, dank basement of City Hall, was looking over the list of options for the 1994 DPD squad car. It had already been decided that the vehicle of choice in 1994 was going to be a Chevy Caprice. The DPD had bought them in 1989, went to Ford’s for a couple of years, and then in 1991 went to the then new “Whale Tail Caprice’s”

As DPD officers usually were, if they didn’t have a strong opinion one way or another, they just flat line. Such was the case of the plain, but big 1991 Caprice. The car was just…bland. The only good thing was that the new billboard stripes had started to appear on some Caprices, and actually had won some national awards. The old, three leaf marijuana door symbols were finally gone.

Well, the City Hall whiz kid was busy studying the option list that he could pick from for the new squad car. “Why was I given this job”, he said out loud as the City Hall air-conditioner was wheezing and coughing, again he noted dryly. The City had recently laid off all their in-house air-conditioner techs, so they could buy additional trash trucks, and now had to call low bid “AAAA-ABC” air that had no clue what was on the roof of the massive building. Whiz Kid didn’t know anything about police cars; he was a numbers guy, a real live bean counter. Plus, he tried to avoid police as much as possible. The only thing he knew about cops was what he saw on “Adam 12”, and they drove AMC Matadors.

 As he was scratching his head and started checking the option boxes, his phone rang. He had been called to a meeting down the hall. Leaving the paperwork on his desk, he left for his latest chewing out by his boss. As luck would have it, his buddy sitting at a desk next to him was a car guy. Making sure all the other office people were on mandatory smoke break, whether they smoked or not, he slinked over and looked over the option list. He then thought it would be really funny to check the box that had “LT1”next to it. He knew the “LT1” was a high performance engine option sometimes placed in Corvette’s. The “LT1” engine option box was right next to the “Librarian” option box. A low bid but big City issue red City sticky note arrow had been placed there by somebody pointing to the “Librarian” option so that there would be no screw-ups as happened once in the early seventies and the wrong engine would be ordered. Laughing to himself he said what the hell and moved the sticky note over to the “LT1” option and checked the box. Yeah no one will notice. He also checked police shocks, police suspension, heavy duty this and that, you name it. He drew the line on a CD option with the AM-FM goodtime radio. Too obvious he thought.

Whitewall tires? Hmm, wasn’t there a chief one time that wanted white wall tires? Again too obvious and ridiculous at the same time he thought.

The Whiz Kid finally came back sulking and not being in a good mood after his chewing out just wanted to get out of the office. Heck it was already 1:30! He stood at his desk and glanced at his paperwork. “Huh, I must have gotten farther along than I thought on this” he said to himself rubbing his chin. Now this guy drove a KIA or something, and was defiantly NOT a car guy. He didn’t know what an “LT1” was. But it sounded good enough for city work, so he turned to his always helpful buddy, “Let’s knock off early and go grab a beer.” So our unsuspecting hero tossed the option sheet into his out box on his way out and the two guys went down to Adair’s on comp time to check out the female FBI agents who hung out there off duty.

Yep the 1994 Chevy Caprice gets my vote for the best squad car the DPD ever mistakenly bought. Yeah, I know about the early seventies Gran Fury with the 440 Magnum. It could go like hell, but had no seat belts, couldn’t stop because of the drum brakes, and with the bias-ply tires, just didn’t corner too well either. But it had an up-right shotgun rack and a killer air-conditioner!

W.H.Croom, II 3973 retired dmntia1995@aol.com

asylummobilitarium.blogspot.com

Sturgis

Had a great time traveling through Colorado on the way...stayed in Vail for 5 days and rode Independence Pass, then met up with some cool folks who we had lunch with in Aspen.
JD and Karen came up on Sunday. Tuesday we rode to Sturgis by way of Wyoming. Sleeted the afternoon of the Weds. we rode into Deadwood. Rained most afternoons, hailed one day...
Going the week before is the way to go. I did it in 2004 and enjoyed it this time as well. Scott towed his bike up, rode to Spearfish Canyon and devils Tower on a Friday, no rain it was great.
We stayed at Deadwood Gulch which I would highly recomend .On the way back rained hard in Wichita Kansas, warmed up to a blast furnse temp in Oklahoma. 3200 miles or so, great trip...

August 2011 Asylum Mobilitarium

August 2011 Asylum Mobilitarium

Arguably the most famous Harley-Davidson is Peter Fonda’s ex-L.A.P.D. bike “Captain America,” from the film Easy Rider. Next may be the “Billy Bike” that the late Dennis Hopper also rode in the famous movie.

Among all other Harley’s probably one would rank the iconic World War II Harley-Davidson WLA “Liberator” as being up there as one of the most famous bikes of all time from Milwaukee. Recently I was contacted on Facebook (apparently not one of the 6 million that have left FB this year,)by a friend of mine that reported that his Harley dealership in another state, was giving away posters of the new “Captain America” movie that features our hero riding a WWII WLA. I believe he had to give blood (literally) to obtain this poster that I have found out, is rapidly becoming collectable. He was gloating somewhat knowing that Willie Hank would want one. Alas, I contacted a good friend of mine at a local HD dealership who said they had been (trying) to give those things away but nobody wanted them! Yep they were gone.

I found out that there were five WLA’s built for the film, and that at least one will go to the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee. One will be auctioned off at Barrett-Jackson in the Fall for charity, and the others are spoken for as well. The character was created during WWII by Marvel comics as a patriotic super hero fighting the Axis. He rode a WLA Harley in the original magazine fighting for the forces of good. The trailers I’ve seen show the subdued backgrounds and clothing that one would expect of a country that was part of a world war. Also, the characters are all impossibly good-looking.   By the time you read this, we will know how the movie rates.

  As we’ve noted before, HD built around 88k WLA’s for the American military and other countries during the war. Russia received most of the exported WLA’s. There were different versions depending on the requirements for that branch of the military, or even a different country. A modified bike was built for the Navy, which was a model U. The Canadian Army had their requirements which when developed, was called a WLC. Strangely, Canadian WLC’s were not supplied with the famous machine gun scabbard that graces most WLA’s. WLA’s and its cousins were built from 1940 to 1952.

Basically the WLA was a civilian Flathead 45 that had its frame strengthened, the fenders moved out to provide clearance for mud and other debris. The electrical system was upgraded for the expected heavy load from radios, lights and other military equipment.

New for Harley was a hand clutch, foot shift that probably kept the founders of HD up at night since they considered that set-up not very Harley like. Only the British did this up to WWII. There was a skid plate a mere 4 inches off the ground since for some reason, Harley didn’t expect its bikes to go off-roading during war time. The WLA was capable of speeds only up to 68mph, built the machine was well built and according to reports, extremely reliable.    

Indian built military motorcycles for the U.S. during the war too. The company saw the first contracts coming in 1942 as sort of a breath of fresh air. The company had not recovered as the war started from the Depression and saw these contracts as a new start. However the famous mis-management at the top once again did no favors for the Wig-Wam. Harley decided that it would not completely ignore the civilian and police market during the war. Indian went full tilt in production and didn’t slow down (as HD did) when the end of the war was in sight.

Indian did not recover from WWII and lasted only until 1953. Harley was then the only American motorcycle manufacturer left standing in the mid 1950’s of the literally hundreds of start- up companies that began operations at the turn of the century.       

August 2011 Dallas Police Shield

August 2011 Dallas Police Shield

Facebook lost 6 million users last year in the U.S. I have my opinions about the social networking device but that doesn’t matter. Before it implodes like the British publication “News of the World” and in the meantime the DPD FB page recently showed pictures of the department’s squad cars since the early forties. Yes, we had black-and-whites before the new Chargers!

Here are some personal DPD squad car memories for what it’s worth. Remember the gum ball Vis-A-Bars that your had to hit with your flashlight to make them turn? The term Vis-A-Bar was a brand name. No matter what the City bought later, to most officers during this time, the thing on top of the car was called this.

The dreaded and damaging City car washes would roll over the bars, press them down, and the chains inside that turned the lights would finally slow down due to friction of the bent bars. Nobody found a way to straighten the bars either! We finally went from all red to red and blue around 1982. Officers really wanted the blue lights. Many D.I.S.D. squad cars mysteriously went from all blue lights, to red and blue! Speaking of the killer car washes, if they ever worked, the one at Central had oil that it would spray all over the car. It would harden later and was hard to get off.  

In 1973 I was involved in a wreck downtown. I was 17 but remember the “Freeway car” that showed up. The Traffic officer had a white hat on, the car had a blue hood and trunk, the rest of the car was white. It also had a full length Vis-A Bar! To my Grove raised mind, he looked pretty cool! Plus, he charged the other guy with the wreck since the officer was also from the Grove. Kind of kindred spirits!

When I hired on we drove 1977 Pontiac Le Mans. These had red bucket seats. The year before, the 1976 Le Mans had blue bench seats. The reason for the buckets is so you and your partner would have one less thing to dislike about each other. That being how far the seat was pushed back! These were great cars. We used to turn over the air cleaner and it sounded really cool to us 21 year olds! The garage people repeated said don’t do that and threatened us with ratting to our supervisors since they said it would screw up the timing, plugs, tires, first born, you name it.

My first squad car with a full length Vis-A-Bar was a 1985 Plymouth Gran Fury. This car was the first DPD squad car to have an AM-FM good time radio! Wow we thought we were up there with the L.A.P.D! The radio shop installed my first computer during the Fair about 1987 in this car. I knew one Tactical officer that received a 1983 Dodge Diplomat. This may have been a mid-year or test car, since there were not many on the department. It had an AM goodtime radio. I believe that this may have been the first (marked at least) squad car to have anything other than a police radio.

Then there was the infamous 1975 AMC Matador. Maybe the worst car in the history of the DPD. The air conditioner was great but the interior had a cheap plastic smell. It was slow as hell. Of course the police equipped Matador that was shown to the City buyers had all the go- fast stuff. But equally of course the City went the cheap way out and bought the librarian version.

The 1979 Chrysler Newport’s had police radios and switches that were mounted sideways. I always wondered what City whiz-kid thought this up. The unit was attached to the dash instead of the floor for some reason. In 1980 it was relabeled a Gran Fury, both were good cars. This was another car that had the turn over the air cleaner option! Before that there was the big, big 1978 Plymouth Gran Fury that had a shotgun mount under the dash that made it almost impossible to retrieve the weapon if you needed it fast.

Next month, the best squad car the DPD ever mistakenly bought.

W.H.Croom, II #3973 retired. www.asylummobilitarium.blogspot.com

   

 

  

July 2011 Dallas Police Shield

  July 2011 Dallas Police Shield

K.R. Vance, #1782 writes that one of the many characters that he remembers was Joe Pat Gately. He was a master electrician and craftsman apparently. Unfourtunantly he could not get off the booze so he went to jail a lot. He worked the jail elevator and generally was considered a good guy by most officers.

I’m not sure but there is a story along these lines that I believe involved this Joe Gately. The officer who told me the story said that there was a long time trustee that worked the jail elevator all the time that he knew. As happened every shift, one night the officer went up the jail elevator with a prisoner. As the officer exited the elevator, the jail operator suddenly grabbed the officer’s service weapon and pulled it out of its holster about the time the door was closing. The officer panicked, but not enough to alert the nearby jail sergeant. He asked a fellow officer to watch his prisoner, and with a shaking finger starts to punch the buttons to call the elevator. Visions of days off or being fired raced through the officer’s brain. He went over and over the fact that he had forgotten to put his weapon in the locker downstairs. Soon the elevator door opened, and there was the trustee operator. The officer pushed the trustee back and closed the door, luckily they were alone. As the officer started grabbing and chewing out the trustee, the jail operator put his finger to his lips to silence the officer’s angry words. The trustee backs up, and slowly brings his untucked jail shirt to show that yes, this was the officers pistol, and he just saved the officer a lot of grief. He had seen the officer’s mistake just as the elevator door was closing, and took a chance that he could possibly save the officers job. He did.

Police officers all have a sort of gallows humor to keep us sane. Sometimes then as now I’m sure, we would get into a conversation with the guy we’ve just arrested, again, for the umpteenth time. We would joke with the prisoner, invoking sometimes that gallows humor. But there are other times that in their more lucid moments, these people would give us an insight into their former lives, that didn’t involve getting drunk and going to jail. We would thoughtfully listen and think, well, this could be me, if I’m not careful.

 Yes, it’s sad to hear how a dramatic moment in their life, or a series of those moments that lasted over years, brought the drunken person to the backseat of a squad car. I remember working downtown in the 130’s in the late seventies. There was one man that rumor had it, had been a CEO of a large Dallas company, he had fallen on hard times, and now roamed Jackson Street by the old Continental bus station.

Rusty Robbins # 1391 writes in response to my question a couple of months ago. I asked if the charge “Drunk and Disorderly” was the same as just “Drunk in Public?” He was in patrol from 1956 to 1968. He says that yes, the charge was used for about any drunk offense. He writes that an officer would bring a drunk person in front of the desk sergeant at the old jail. The sergeant would often only glance up over his glasses at the officer who would hold up two fingers. The jail sergeant would then bless or not bless the arrest by giving an up or down thumb gesture, sometimes not saying a word, then going back to reading his newspaper.  

Recently I was contacted by Kathie Mullenax Lee. She was three years old when her father, DPD Officer Leonard Mullenax was killed in 1962 at 2501 Elm Street, at the Sherman Hotel. Officer Mullenax was working Vice at the time and was investigating a bootlegging operation. He had been a motor jock previously in Dallas and had passed his sergeants exam and was up for promotion. Kathie is looking to converse with any officer who was personal friends with her Dad, and has any information other than what the papers wrote, of her father’s death. You can e-mail her at katmandue@comcast.net.

July 2011 Asylum Mobilitarium

July 2011 Asylum Mobilitarium

Recently I obtained a print of legendary “Wrecking Crew” racer Jim Davis. It shows him on an early Harley-Davidson board track racer. With his evil grin, mud, scars and a generally banged-up look about him, it’s a good example of the reckless death defying racer of the early 20^th century. The men that made up the Harley-Davidson, Indian, and Excelsior teams were hard living men. They were also the heroes of early 20^th century motorcycle racing.

Harley was racing in the teens, but always with a kind of reluctance. Walter Davidson, who among other duties, was the first marketing director for the young company. He pointed out that even though Harley was winning in the Dodge City Kansas 300 mile race, an impressive three times at this preeminent track of the time, the police department in that city was riding Indians!

Motorcycle racing in the 1910’s and early 1920’s was dominated by the board track racers. The tracks were called “Motordromes.” The media at the time derisively called them “Murderdromes.” Dallas had such a track in the teens, at the State Fair of Texas, near the concert venue that used to be called Starplex. The banked ovals, made up of 2x6 boards placed on edge were often in disrepair because of unscrupulous track owners. The boards would become soaked with the oil from the brakeless and non-circulating and oil spitting racing motorcycles, causing the boards to split, warp and break. Some riders would fall off their mounts at high speeds, and become impaled on the large splinters sticking up at odd angles. It was a dangerous sport, with little safety equipment for the bikes, riders, or the ticket buying race fan. Adding to this, racing promoters constantly calling for higher speeds to thrill the crowds, causing many wrecks involving riders who were the sports super stars of the time.

Davis, Jake DeRosier, Charles “Fearless” Balke, and other Wrecking Crew members rode specially built factory racing bikes called “Two Cammers.” They had straight pipes and were very loud, with an ear destroying “popping sound.”As I mentioned earlier, the bikes had continuous loss oil systems. Instead of re-circulating the engines oil, the engine would spit out the heavy fluid on the already oil damaged track, and of course whatever unlucky racer happened to be behind the bike spitting out the black stuff!

As the tracks began really showing their age, and some track owners refusing to make repairs to the racing venues, there were the inevitable deaths and injuries, to the riders and spectators. Newspapers and radio began the term “Murderdromes” after six spectators were killed in September 1912 at a race in Newark, N.J. after a bike flew through the crowd after dumping it’s rider on the boards.

In board track racing, many manufacturers including Harley-Davidson believed that the many dangers evident in board track racing caused motorcycling in general to be perceived negatively by the public. Even the reckless, devil may care riders may have contributed to this. For all the racing honors that were bestowed on these men, they were the bad boys of the sporting world. Leading a transitory life style and the excitement of these races sometimes encouraged that bad boy behavior.

One group of motorcycle racers who arrived in Chicago for an event at River View Park Motordrome pooled their resources and rented a brothel for three days prior to the race!

It’s no wonder that the ultra conservative founders of Harley-Davidson were reluctant to sponsor the racing teams!

June 2011 Asylum Mobilitarium

June 2011 Asylum Mobilitarium

I finally received author Rin Tanaka’s book, “Harley-Davidson Fashions, 1910-1950,” from the Harley-Davidson museum in Milwaukee.  As with Tanaka’s other books on vintage motorcycle clothing, this book features excellent photography and descriptions of items such as leather helmets and puttees, that most motorcyclists today have never seen, but at one time everyone who rode a motorcycle wore.

It’s interesting to see motorcyclists clothing evolve over the years. In the teens, bike riders wore coats that were bulky and mostly made of fabric. Zippers at one time were an expensive item apparently. Zippers on jackets and pants did not see wide spread use until the late 1930’s.

The photos of riders dressed in outfits that looked like military uniforms in the 1930’s are especially interesting. Jodhpur riding pants, cavalry boots, and leather and cloth flying caps were all the rage. There were rallies, some were put on by the AMA and called “Gypsy Tours,” where the trophy for “best dressed club,” was a coveted prize. What’s ironic is that some of the men and women wearing these club uniforms would be wearing a real military uniform in just a few years after WWII began.

After WWII, some veterans, especially air crew members, brought home their leather jackets and began riding motorcycles. Clothing manufacturers took note of this popular trend, and realized the safety aspect in wearing leather. After the film “The Wild One,” came out in 1953, there were few throttle –twisters that didn’t have a Marlon Brando type “Schott” or “Langlitz” black leather jacket hanging in their closet.

The traditional motorcycle jacket worn today hasn’t changed much since the fifties. What has changed is that the belt that you see on most jackets nowadays did not come about until riders complained that cold air would rush under the backs of their jackets when at speed. The built in belt that you see on most jackets is the result of manufacturers trying to solve this problem.  

Harley-Davidson has been making motorcycle jackets and clothing since their first catalog came out in 1910. They still sell traditional leather jackets, but also have taken a nod from other manufacturers in offering modern fabrics that shed water, have built in armor, reflective capability and other advances in biker clothing.

Tanaka’s next book I hear will be the history of Harley-Davidson clothing from 1950- to the present. Once again he will be given access to the more than 100,000 photos that are available to researchers in the museum. I’ll be especially interested in seeing the products that were offered during the AMF era. Apparently the jackets, gloves, pants, and helmets that were offered during the 1970’s are really collectable.

During the days of AMF ownership, many if not most riders of Harley-Davidson’s grudgingly bought bikes from a company that most thought was ruining the brand. Some riders, when they brought their new purchase home from the dealership would scrape the letters “AMF” off the tanks of their bikes to show their disgust with the massive conglomerate that also made pool tables and bowling balls.

Traditional buyers of Harley bikes in the 70’s may have figured that if they wanted a new Harley they would have to buy one from AMF, but if they wanted a jacket, they could protest and go somewhere else. And they did. So for this reason, if you find a piece of vintage motorcycle wear that has “AMF” anywhere on it, buy it.   

You’re kids can sell it on E-Bay for big bucks 30-40 years from now.

June 2011 Dallas Police Shield

June 2011 Dallas Police Shield

I recently finished Captain Eddie Walt’s book, “The Hall Street Shootout,” that I mentioned last month. If this audience, young and old, wants a taste of what it was to be a Dallas Police Officer at the end of the so-called “golden age” of the DPD, you should pick it up.

Initially what struck me was that the officers at that time were ill-prepared to deal with a situation that we now would call a “barricaded person.” This was no fault of their own. There were no real SWAT teams then. There was a Tactical unit, but it was used more for “shotgun squads” and “saturation patrol,” than making entry into a house where a crazy person lived.

Saying this, the DPD officers that surrounded the suspect’s house, and eventually made entry that day, did heroic deeds with what they had.

It’s interesting to note that the new “wonder oil/cleaner,” what we now call WD-40, had been used by many officers on their service weapons to clean them. What they didn’t know at the time was that the cleaner also did a number on the ammo. Several officers that day tried to shoot back with their service weapons, and many hammers fell on primers that had been destroyed by the cleaner. Who knew?

Most of the officers then made good use of their shotguns however.  But there was the rule that you could not load the shotgun at the station. The rounds were usually rubber banded, and kept in the car. With calls holding, many squads would have to race out of the station at shift time, and well ah, you wouldn’t stop on a street somewhere and load up. This ridiculous rule was on the books because some officers would jack one in and “Boom,” there goes the station’s sally port roof.

Back in 1969, and as late as 1977 when I hired on, an officer had the option to carry several different types of weapons, including long guns, since there were not enough shotguns to go around. Some officers brought their own from home. One officer had an M-1 carbine and let loose with a few rounds! And he didn’t get days off! Amazing but true.

When I was in SWAT, we used a lot of tear gas rounds! I mean the City spent a lot of money on these expensive items. Helicopter fuel was Tactical’s biggest expense, tear gas was second! The reason is that we would pump round after round into a suspect’s house, mostly because the rounds were not accurate and most would hit the side of a house, and land near a perimeter SWAT member, who would let the gas man know later what he thought about his shooting skills! But those rounds usually did the trick and the suspect would come out coughing and spitting up a lung. And of course the occasional DPD officer who was late putting on his gas mask!

In 1969, shooting tear gas was a bigger deal than today. Dallas had escaped for the most part the civil unrest hitting other major cities in this country in the 1960’s. There were riots in the streets about the war in Vietnam, racial issues, women’s rights, etc. Dallas still is a conservative city, but in 1969 it was much more so. The city leaders were scared out of their wits that it would happen here, and we would quit making money! We did have the downtown riot in 1972 after the shooting of a child, but for the most part, Dallas was all about making money, and we kept the so-called lid on things. And the students that went to SMU were not the radical types like at Berkley, Columbia, etc. That was the major educational institution in Dallas at the time (and still is I guess,) and thankfully it didn’t happen here.

Anyway, to shoot tear gas in 1969, you would have to get a chief or someone like that to sign off to unload on a house. The images of other cities using tear gas on its citizens to quell disturbances during civil unrest didn’t sit well with the behind the scenes guys on the powerful “Dallas Citizens Committee” that really ran things back then. I’m sure that there were closed door meetings with the DPD telling the Chief not to use gas unless you have to. Initially, the officers had a hard time finding a chief to give the word, but one was found and the word was given.

The description of Hall and Thomas in the 1960’s brought back a lot of memories to this writer, who remembers that intersection as a rookie in 1977. Wow, the area now is all Biffs’, Buffy’s, BMW’s and trendy bars! Amazing. Better? I’m not so sure. The area in 1969 had its own character, good or bad, it was genuine. Now, I’m not so sure.

Check out Captain Walt’s book. This like I said is a real slice of the DPD life in the sixties. Well worth a read.

W.H.Croom,II #3973 retired

dmntia1995@aol.com,www.asylummobilitarium.blogspot.com

  

March 2011

1999 HD Heritage Springer

Earl Werner

Had dinner and great conversation last night with Earl Werner. He has the distinction as being the chief engineer on the C-5 Corvette, after 30 years with GM, and Chief engineer with HD, developing among other models, the V-Rod. Earl is on the right next to Willie G.

May 2011 Asylum Mobilitarium

May 2011 Asylum Mobilitarium

I saw on Facebook recently from the Harley-Davidson Museum that a new book has been released by author, Rin Tanaka.  I have a book that he wrote in 2005 titled, “My Freedamn! 3. The book was all about vintage jackets and t-shirts. It is kind of a coffee table book that chronicles motorcycle outer wear from basically the 1940’s to the 1970’s.

As most (some, well a few) PCH’ers know, Willie Hank is a big fan of vintage motorcycle duds. There used to be a place in Wichita Falls called “Ghost Clothes.”   I visited the establishment in 2004 on the way to Sturgis. You would find old Indian, Harley-Davidson, Schott, and Sears Roebuck leather jackets, chaps, t-shirts, as well as rare HD AMF motorcycle clothing.

Sears-Roebuck?  Really? According to the book, 1960’s Sears, and Montgomery-Ward motorcycle jackets, with the red velvet lining, go for big bucks. There is a cool couple and old friends of mine and many PCH’ers, Ron and Mary Barker, who own an authentic Sears-Roebuck jacket from the 60’s. Ron kind of grew out of it over the years so Mary wears it well now. I told her once that her jacket was worth a heck of a lot of money, and she still wears it proudly!

By the way, last time I checked, Ghost Clothes was unfortunately out of business. But you can still find authentic, vintage leather clothing on several websites. But be aware, motorcycling in Willie Hank’s opinion is about prayer and karma. In the karma realm, wearing another biker’s jacket with tears, scratches, pins, patches, bug splats and other grease and grime of the road, borders on bad karma.

If your brother, sister, father, mother or close friend hands down a favorite road worn piece of  clothing, that’s cool, that’s motorcycle history, but don’t buy a jacket off E-Bay and pass it off as your own.  

I said all that to say this. Rin Tanaka has come out with a new book on biker clothing. Harley-Davidson agreed in 2007-2008 to let Tanaka photograph many of the items in their vast archives of historic and vintage clothes from 1903 to the present.

It’s available from the Museum for $40.00. You have to call; they don’t have web based ordering system yet at the HD Museum.

I’m a fan of the “Car in the Barn,” series. Jay Leno has written the forwards in a couple of the books. There is “Cobra in the Barn,” “Corvette in the Barn,” and “Vincent in the Barn,” which is about finding old motorcycles in garages, back yards, and yes, barns!

In one of the stories, there are a couple of guys who flew to Russia because they had a lead on some old Harley-Davidson WLA bikes. They were picked up at the Moscow airport and driven 100 miles or so outside the city by a couple of guys they took for Russian Mafia. Scared out of their wits, they worried as they were driven to a secluded house.

Well, there was no barn so the guys thought, well this is it, and we’ll be robbed and dumped   in a nearby ditch. They approached the house that was very, very dark. No barn or garage, suspicious looking Russian guys, no cell phone service, no silly Facebook  (checking in) “Scary Russian farmhouse ,” our hero’s thought that their number was up.

As they were led downstairs at the farmhouse, sweating profusely, one of the Russians flipped on the light in what turned out to be the basement. To the Americans surprise, there were fifty or so WWII WLA’s that had been in the farmhouse basement for 65 years.  Long story very short because of this limited space, the good guys have gone back several times and brought back many boatloads of historic Harley-Davidsons to restore.

Harley built 88k military bikes in WWII. The second best customer besides the U.S. was the former Soviet Union.

Willie Hank, Historian

May 2011 Shield magazine

May/June 2011 Dallas Police Shield

Last month we spoke about some of the colorful characters that make police work so interesting. I recently received an e-mail from retired officer David Lane #2214. I always enjoy hearing stories from officers, both retired and otherwise. Lane spoke of our friend Herby Navarro that Charlie Tull wrote me about some weeks ago.

Lane mentioned that around 1968-69, IACP recommendations were implemented, and as a result all 4x6 book in cards were pulled. It was found that three guys, including Herby, led the pack for Drunk and Disorderly arrests since 1946. The breakdown for the three was one had 1200 arrests, the other 900, and the third, about 700-800 arrests for being what we called Public Intoxication in my day. It’s not known where Herby ranked but he was up there obviously.

 Was PI different from D&D? I welcome any input on the question.

In a tidbit that would probably get you days off today, and an entry into the Dallas Morning News archives, reporters showing up as you leave the gym to interview you, etc. some officers would allow Herby, when he was taken to jail, put the arresting officers “out to jail” on the police radio. As we discussed last month, the dispatchers knew Herby, and would many times answer, “10-4 Herby.” Yes, for the good old days!

Herby was one of those guys that you just couldn’t dislike. He was a character, but somewhat dealt with by the good officers of the time with a kind of humor that is part of a police officer’s makeup. I’m sure there are others of this status out there today. I really hope so.

I know that when we retired officers get together, it’s all about how glad we are that we made it to retirement. I’m also sure that in these retirees, there is the thought sometimes that we wished that we were back working again. Maybe it’s the longing to be young again. I don’t know. It’s all about the memories my friends.

Today’s officers should cherish these times. Someday, one of them may be writing this column!

I want to take a moment and mention Captain Eddie Walt’s book, “The Hall Street Shoot Out.” I haven’t spoken to Captain Walt and I hope that he doesn’t mind me mentioning his book.

Most young officers today only know Hall and Thomas as a place to get rent free apartments, good looking women, and that there are some pretty cool bars in the neighborhood. Hell, I’ve been to the Rockin’ Taco in the area recently on my bike! It’s really changed. But when I got on in 1977, it was still a rough and tumble area. One of the first calls I remember is with Bill Turnage and I rushing up some stairs in the old hotel at Hall and Thomas going to a disturbance.  However, on the other hand there was Henderson’s Chicken’ Shack that I remember as having the best chicken I’ve ever tasted!

Captain Walt’s book brings out the true flavor of the neighborhood in the late 1960’s. Many of the officers mentioned in the book are a “who’s who” in the annals of the Dallas Police Department.  One interesting item in the book is the fact that at one time, because officers were accidentally shooting off rounds when loading shotguns, officers were forbidden to load their shotguns except away from the station. Well, guys were usually sent to calls as soon as they got out of detail, so they forgot to stop somewhere safe, away from the station, and load their shotguns.

At the “Hall Street Shootout,” several officers grabbed their shotguns from under the seats of their squad cars, and found that the guns were empty! The rounds were bound together by rubber bands; they never got around to loading the shotguns. Later, this General Order was changed.

Captain Walt’s book should be required reading for every Dallas Police Officer. You can purchase it at the DPA, and the Headquarters building. Check it out!

W.H.Croom, II # 3973 retired

www.asylummobilitarium.blogspot.com

dmntia1995@aol.com   

Dad

I could see that Dad wasn't feeling good when I visited him Wed. He was taken to the hospital yesterday morning with stomach pains, bladder infection, etc.
It's so sad to see ones Dad in this condition.
Hopefully with the meds,he will be back in shape by Monday.

Move

Sad day yesterday. Started the big move from the old homestead. It's been a big part of my life since 1965. Finally broke down, as did several others. Mom doing okay after a big cry. Lots more work to do before it's over. Hopefully by June 1st it will be sold and we can get on with the rest of our lives. Don't know if thats a good option or not.

Croom Ireland

Croom Ireland, which I visited in 1993, has a football club! I have asked to purchase a patch from them, we will see...

The Grove

There's a lot of pride...

April 2011 Dallas Police Shield magazine

April 2011 Dallas Police Shield

Last month we discussed the different characters that make police work so interesting. Yes, it’s all the color and drama and the little slices of life that keep police officers laughing in their sorrow. They have to keep to their sanity. Who in their right mind would do such a job? We did!

Charlie Tull recently sent an e-mail and reminded me of a guy that lived in or near “Little Mexico” in the 60’s and 70’s. His name was Herby Navarro. He was in 40’s and apparently loved the police. He loved the DPD so much that he had a crude tattoo on his shoulder where our patch was located. The tattoo of course was “Dallas Police Department.”

I’ve read over the years that different generations of Dallas officers would describe a somewhat strange occurrence where some civic minded folk would get drunk and head to a busy intersection and start directing traffic. I recently found a piece from the early 1940’s where a known “exceptional person” as the DPD computers would now describe them, would go downtown and after a few too many, would take over an unmanned intersection and go to work. According to some officers at the time, it was thought that this particular do-gooder in the article might have been a former officer since he did such a great job untangling traffic!

Herby would get drunk, then get out of jail and head to Cedar Springs and Maple and work traffic. The dispatcher, who was probably tired of the Herby calls, would tell the nearby officers that “Herby is working traffic again.” All the officers knew who it was and where he was.

Yeah, I could just see traffic all running smoothly, then the officers would pick up Herby and take him away, then the traffic would get screwed up again. Then the police would get complained on by the local citizens for taking him away. Right??

But, I guess he wasn’t drunk since he just got out of jail. Was he just a good director of traffic? Or did he stop off and grab some MD 20 20 or Thunderbird before he went to work? 

Tull said everyone actually liked Herby because he liked the DPD. Last time he saw Herby was about 1981 at the Fair with a group from Terrell State Hospital. You know, I’ll bet if Herby ever saw an officer getting the crap beat out of him, he would have jumped in to whack the bad guy.

Retired officer Gayle Tippit always sends some good stuff.  He writes that in the early 50’s Tip answered a call in Oak Cliff where the apartment was way torn up. Obviously a violent fight had happened. Female clothing all over the floor, and in the bathroom, a naked body of a woman in the bathtub, blood all over, and signs of several fresh injuries on the body.

Homicide Captain Fritz and Beck (?) show up. Fritz says; “She fell into the bathtub, injured her head and died.” Tip says; “Captain”-and Beck cuts him off with “The Captain says she fell in the tub!!” Tip said he just shut up.  He was outranked, and in THOSE DAYS, especially since Will Fritz had a somewhat legendary status even then, an officer just shut the hell up. That’s the reason Tip stayed another 20-30 years.

Funny, I read a story recently in the DMN where an officer was bragging on a social networking device that they had chewed out a supervisor. When did this become okay? Is there not a special order or something about announcing to “everyone” instead of only “friends” (Ha) what a stupid thing that you’ve done and bragging about it? Wow I got cranked up.

Tip wrote that Fritz’s assistant in the above scenario, the mysterious “Beck,” had a son that happened to live across the street from Tip. Sheriff Bill Decker hired him as a Dallas County deputy. Tip relates that the son was so ate up with it, that he would mow his lawn, in his shorts, with his Sam Browne on, plus pistol! He cooked on a grill in his front yard dressed the same way! One day two deputies drove up while the short wearing deputy was cooking, and drew down on him!  They ended up pointing guns at each other yelling “Put the f*&^%$# gun down!” After that episode, he never put on a Sam Browne except with a uniform.

I remember we had guys like that. There was one officer called “Machine Gun ……..” I won’t use his last name, but it was kind of the same thing. Some guys just were ate up with it. Actually, I hope that there are guys and gals serving now that have that “thing.” It’s better than the social networking device “thing” listed above.  I would rather answer a call in east Dallas with “Machine Gun” any day.

One last Tip story and I have to be careful. In the early 50’s, prostitutes ran rampant in Dallas. There was ole “Dirty Dorothy” trying to make a living on Jackson Street downtown. Tip had another early 1950’s rookie in the car so he decides to mess with the rookie and Dorothy. No A/C, windows down, Tip pulls up next to Dorothy. She leans in and takes advantage of the shocked rookie. The rookie screams so she runs to the other side where Tip is driving. Tip knows the deal so he attempts to roll up the window with the young rookie still screaming like a little girl, and Dorothy laughing her head off. Tip tells Dorothy to back off as he turns right and sees a well dressed couple trying to calm down the rookie so they could ask directions to the Baker Hotel!

Tip said he just climbed under the driver’s seat and hid!

Questions?  Complaints? Write me!

W.H.Croom, II #3973 retired

Dmntia1995@aol.com

WWII WLA

WWII Harley-Davidson WLA in France

April 2011 Asylum Mobilitarium

April 2011 Asylum Mobilitarium

Harley-Davidson and motorcycle culture 101. Yes, there is etiquette involved in the two wheel world. Never ever sit on another person’s Harley unless you ask them first. Unless you are Jennifer Anniston. Then do as you want.

Don’t ever criticize another rider’s bike, compliment only. Someday you may need that person when you’re broke down. Always nod knowingly and act interested when viewing another rider’s cell phone pictures of a putt to Mansfield.  Flip flops are not to be worn on a Harley. Some other brands they are expected, so take note. If you are recently divorced and it’s 103 degrees, try not to succumb to wearing shorts. At Duke’s it’s okay, at Strokers you will be stared at.

Don’t brag on your riding skills, it may come back to haunt you. Except if you can do a killer u-turn with someone on the back. It doesn’t hurt to wave, even if it’s a Brand X rider.

Friends are rare after a long motorcycle trip.

A “Harley” was once a term to also describe a juvenile delinquent. Really! Hydra Glides were introduced in 1949. The Duo-Glide in 1957. Sparkling America was actually a paint choice on the 1971 Super Glide. The “Bat Wing” fairing is the 40 year old thing on the front of Electra-Glides.

Pipes are just that, not mufflers! A “heavy weight” is the motorcycle market that Harley dominates. AMA is a lobbying group for all us biker types to join and contribute. The Shovelhead came out in 1965, which begat the Evolution engine which saved Harley in the eighties. We now have the Twin Cam and its close cousin, the Revolution.

Patches. Harley folk are passionate about their vests and things to hang on ‘em.  One of the first that new riders sew on is the famous DILLIGAF. It’s the patch of choice for the newly minted, unsure rider who is trying to fit it. It has always been a question in my mind what does a rider who has a 30k toy, DILLIGAF about? Making money? Friends, family? This country? To have such a toy, he or she must care about their job to afford such a machine. Chances are they did not tell their boss that this morning. DILLIGAFing your job means no Harley-Davidson.

Another one that is quickly sewn on is “Loud Pipes Save Lives.” That has never been proven but does it matter? Blue hairs can’t hear anyway, ghetto cruiser Honda’s have their own single obnoxious pipe with the white guy rap blasting. Madison is texting her BFF about Brad breaking up with her and has no clue what lane she is in.

Related to DILLIGAF is FTW. What’s funny is the patch wearer on the 30k Harley probably is Joe Suburbia who lives in Plastic Plano, Frisco, Richardson, and has three kids and a Killer Mommy Van. He’s got it pretty good! What exact part of the world does he want to…well you know. It’s laughable. There are some riders who can get away with wearing this patch. They are probably not HOG members. And, if you live in south or west Dallas, yes wear it please. I would too.

Helmet Laws Suck. Really popular with the weekend warrior. It also can be a bumper sticker which may be the last thing a rider sees when he crashes into the back of a KMV and says “Oh S*%$!” Keep staring at the sticker as you are loaded up into an ambulance, all the while the driver of the KMV you hit is yelling at you for making him or her late for their kid’s soccer game.

Rideius Interuptous-a wreck. Donwanna Rideious Nextoous- a rider you don’t want to ride next to.

Seeing The Elephant- a term to describe the Civil War battle experience and the inevitable bike accident.  

Asylum Mobilitarium-All things in the Cosmos related to and caused by the two wheeled culture, its machines, and personalities.

I was asked recently by a female type, “Willie Hank how does one act like a been riding for years, uninterested in it all gal while at Strokers, or any other biker hangout?”

Okay, this is from the source, sort of.  First stay in clumps with other ladies, only glancing around when no one is looking. The rest of the time, act like you’re hot and have long, frequent conversations with a “mystery caller” on your cell phone.

If you do look around, yawn, then put on your best bored look and ignore all the great unwashed trying to get your attention. In doing the bored, scanning the crowd thing, do this; Turn, hair toss, laugh at some lame unspoken joke, turn back. Turn, hair toss, laugh, turn back. Repeat until the Brad Savage of your dreams comes up to take you to Southlake girl!

Freddie Mercury said, “Get on your bikes and ride!”

Willie Hank

Youths Gone Astray 1955

www.asylummobilitarium.blogspot.com

  

The Wild Bunch,1966

DMN 2/2011

The perils of Facebook

By

Letter to the Editor
mailto:letterstoeditor@dallasnews.com

1:59 PM on Sat., Feb. 19, 2011 | Permalink

Re: "Facebook posts add to officer's troubles -- On leave in hospital fracas, she runs into social network policy," Friday news story.
I'm a retired Dallas police officer, and yes, I'm on Facebook, too. I read recently that some people believe that whatever activity that they do in life is not complete unless it ends up on Facebook. OMG.
And I'm asking, "When did it become OK to chew out a supervisor?" Back In the day, it would be Deep Nights at the Auto Pound for you. LOL!
Everyone stay off Facebook with daily activities and "checking in." Nobody cares. And it will get you fired. Try finding a job after that.

Bill Croom, Richardson