Triumphrat

Ray548 · 02-27-2008

My father finally brought the family photo album to our house so I could scan all the photos. Especially liked this one of my Grandfather on a 1921 Indian in Irvington, NY. The photo was taken in the summer of 1920, so it could be a 1920.
I got the jewelers loupe out and I could make out the Indian logo. They sure changed the fender look over the years.

Catenaccio · 02-27-2008

Great pic! Cycle blood runs deep apparently.

alfacliff · 02-27-2008

I have one, its real bad now, of my grandfather sitting on my 46 Indian Chief back in 66 or so and me on my 250 mk3 Ducati. unfortunatly, it is a small polaroid and has flaked really bad.
cliff

mistermellow001 · 02-27-2008

Raymond, that is a very cool picture. What a great feeling it must have been to discover another page in your family history.

superfour · 02-27-2008

Thats a great piece of family history,I wish I had some of my grandfather when he rode Rudges back in the 1920's.

Lee · 02-27-2008

Ray that is very cool, too bad he did not save it in some back corner of a garage or barn for you.

jdd5300 · 02-27-2008

Great picture Ray! I recently found a similar family treasure when digging through some old pictures at my parents' house. I had been begging my grandmother to find this one just prior to her passing a couple weeks ago. As we gathered pics for her memorial service it appeared! Thanks, Nannie!

This is a shot of my maternal grandfather (on the bike) circa 1943 while stationed in Egypt. He rode for the US Army. I don't know who the other gentleman is, but I think his presence adds to the feel of the picture. The bike appears to be a Harley Davidson WLA, military version of the civilian WLD model. I don't know much about vintage HD's, but wikipedia helped me out a bit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:WLA3quarters.JPG

My grandmother told me about the picture recently which is why I was so eager to find it. Long story short, he had broken his leg riding on patrol overseas and was laid up in the hospital. At the same time my grandmother was raising my newborn mother by herself stateside. He promised her he would never get on a bike again and then this was the next picture he sent her! Stories like these remind me of how good we have it these days and adds to my respect for those who survived and prospered during challenging times.

I can't wait to enlarge this one and hang it in my garage. If nothing else it helps me justify my motorcycle obsession and I can blame it on genetics!

Thanks for starting the topic, Ray!

Jay

MVP44 · 02-27-2008

Great pics ray and JDD - makes me want to go digging for my dads pics of him when he first started riding. I don't think anyone else in my family ever rode before he did. Unfortunately I never thought to ask and they are all in heaven now - but I will definitely add that to my list of questions to be asked when I finally get there myself.

I really like when members share stuff like this - I enjoy reminiscing in the memories with you all. Good stuff

mistermellow001 · 02-27-2008

Very cool, JDD. I'm a nostalgic person, and pics like this make me no less nostalgic than if they were pictures of my own family. I wonder how hard it would be to track down who the other guy is. Colt 45's were standard issue for officers, were they not? Maybe you could track down the unit he was in and narrow it down to a few names. I'm sure the descendents of whoever that is would love it.

mikeinva · 02-27-2008

you are lucky to have that pic .I wish i had one of my grand fathers indian.Was funny growing up my uncle his son had one of the first hd sporties he got in the late 50s grandpa use to give him crap about rideing a cheap ass HD instead of a real bike lol.