Hang around bikers long enough and they’ll all tell you things don’t always go as planned. That is proved over and over again in this collection of tales told by journalist and motorcyclist C.G. Masi.
Join Masi and his band of merry bikers as they try their best to have good, clean fun while riding from Point A to Point B. It’s all crammed into five road trips taken during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
As they set out on their adventures, the friends have big dreams about making money doing what they love best – riding bikes. One of them wants to travel the country and make a living taking photographs. Masi wants to earn a living writing stories about his great adventures.
And then there is Fred, who dreams of restoring a 1949 74 c.i.d., Hydra Glide Panhead. His mission will be the catalyst that leads to each rider falling victim to the different types of trolls that lurk under the next bridge or around the next corner in Shakedown Blues.
It all started one winter several years ago, on a cold Saturday morning. Bob had stopped by to borrow a star wrench and stayed to drink coffee for a while. We were idly tossing ideas back and forth, trying to figure out how to make money riding bikes. As most bikers know, that's nearly impossible. The number of people who make money on bikes divided by the number of people that burn money up on bikes is so close to zero you could shave with the difference. Nearly everyone who makes money on bikes is either a Harley mechanic or sells parts. Almost nobody makes money out of actually riding the things. Anyway, in the middle of this eternal and hopeless discussion the phone rang. It was Fred, and Fred was a bit breathless. “Charlie, where can I find a good Harley mechanic?” Like I said, most people who make money on bikes are either Harley mechanics or they sell parts. Fred hadn't gotten to the "parts" part, yet. “What do you need a Harley mechanic for?” At the time Fred was riding a 750 Honda. “My father just gave me his old bike. It's an old Harley.” “Hey, Bob!” I said, “Fred's father just gave him his old Harley.” “What kind is it?” asked Bob. “Fred, what kind is it?” “I just told you....It's a Harley.” “Yeah, but what kind of Harley? Is it a knucklehead, a panhead, a shovelhead...what?” “I dunno, how can you tell?” Fred didn't know a hell of a lot about Harleys. Despite an early childhood spent on the back, riding with his father and mother to rallies, he'd never gotten involved with the actual machinery. To him, Harleys were a dream out of the mists of time, or something to aspire to. They were an ethereal mystique from the cover of a Grateful Dead album. They weren't quite real. "Look at the cylinder heads. What do they look like? A knucklehead has fins sticking up that look like knuckles, a shovelhead looks like the back of a shovel...." "No, these look like a couple of bread pans turned upside down." A moment of silence. “Bob,” I said quietly, “Fred has himself a panhead....” It turned out that Fred was sitting on a 1949, 74 c.i.d., Hydraglide panhead in original condition. I probably would have changed the oil, gassed it up, screwed on a borrowed licence plate, and hit the road right then. Fred made a different choice. He decided to restore it.
C.G. Masi is a teacher, scientist, engineer, journalist, author, and veteran motorcycle writer. He holds advanced degrees in astrophysics and business administration. As an award-winning magazine editor he’s also helped launch four magazines. His first book, How to Set Up Your Motorcycle Workshop (Whitehorse Press), is in its third edition.