Another One Bites The Dust

Well, another true original has gone the way of all flesh. Indian Larry has ridden his last ride.

For those of you unfamiliar with Indian Larry, he built custom motorcycles in Brooklyn. He made very traditional choppers, similar to what you saw in Easy Rider. The thing that impressed me about him and his bikes more than many of his competitors on the Discovery show Biker Build-Off was that they ran. Consistently and flawlessly. He cranked the bike up and rode it. All the other builders went through iterations of solving some minor or major problem on the road. His bikes? Not a problem.

The other thing that impressed me was his attitude. He mentioned once on one of the shows that he had been arrested and did jail time for armed robbery. He didn't make any excuses for it and he didn't blame anybody else. He accepted full responsibility and moved on with his life. That attitude is rare anymore.

It's a shame he died prematurely, but when you engage in risky behavior, that's a chance you take. Especially when you refuse to wear a helmet.