How a passion for antique motorcycles is born, by: Jerry Hooker
My life began in the year before the end of WW11. As my parents would recall, I was a very adventuresome young man and likely as not to ride into some sort of trouble. Non-motorized transportation was my first introduction to what would later become a fascination with two and three wheeled vehicles. My first vehicle was a wooden duck that rolled around on four wheels and quite nicely conveyed me to the bottom of our basement stairs. Fortunately both the duck and I survived. My grandchildren now ride the same duck. I do not know if this first adventure implanted some fearlessness in my mind, but the thought of riding a motorcycle was not at all traumatic for me.
It was not until I reached my early twenties though that I acted upon my interest. My first real exposure and lust for a motorcycle came in the shape of a Norton Atlas. That would have been around 1962, the year I graduated from high school. At that time I could not act on the impulse, but the thought of doing so was like a small ember constantly burning in the back of my mind. It was not until 1966 as a matter of necessity that I joined the ranks of two wheelers. I was in California having enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and could not possibly afford an automobile, but a used 1963, 305 cc, CB77 Honda was not an unreasonable proposition. I learned to ride it on one Sunday afternoon and the next day was off on the freeway headed for San Jose to see the woman of my dreams or at least the one who at the time fancied me. The motorcycle was all about going where the girls were and that was mostly to the beach.
My affair with the Honda was fairly short lived as I was transferred to Viet Nam and then England selling the Honda before leaving. In England I became entranced with veteran motorcycles and attended old time rally’s where they were displayed in their magnificence. Had I know better then and had any money I would have jumped at the two early belt drive machines that were offered to me at what would now be nearly give-away prices. Alas, the lack of money usually kills the pursuit of extravagant expenditures.
In late 1969 I was out of the Air Force and in the back of my mind that little ember started to grow and I knew that I had to have a real motorcycle. Early in 1970 I took the plunge and purchased a new Moto Guzzi,750cc Ambassador. I wanted to travel and cover a lot of miles in relative comfort. My first real adventure came in 1971 when I decided to head west through Canada to British Columbia from my home in S.E. Michigan. That trip fell short before I reached the Mackinac Bridge when the crankshaft broke in half at 22,000 miles. Getting it home and repaired was a very frustrating experience. Not only had the Guzzi failed me, but finding out that Italy takes most of the summer off on holiday, it was a long wait until a new crank could be obtained. A manufacturing defect was the blame, but it ruined my summer and cost a lot in labor charges. I no longer trusted Mr. Guzzi and promptly sold him having bought a new 1972 BMW R75/5 while the Italian was still in the garage. The change in motorcycles has never been regretted as Mr. Beemer is still my sole ride thirty eight years later. He is too close to me to ever be replaced and my goal is to ride him a minimum of fifty years. As I get older the merits of the sidecar are much more apparent as the thought of falling over does not trouble me.
The Beemer and I did complete my trip to British Columbia in 1972. That was a three week adventure that I will never forget. In years to follow, and tens of thousands of miles later, I have seen a great deal of the Midwestern and Eastern U.S. as well as Eastern Canada. In 1976 my wife and I went east. I had installed a sidecar that same year and we loaded up for a trip through Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and on to Newfoundland. That too was a wonderful adventure. Unfortunately I think it cured my wife of any great desire for further extended motorcycle adventures. Now it is my grandchildrens time to experience the thrill of the motorcycle. Two grandsons have now joined me on separate short excursions. They were both three years old at the time and with them firmly strapped into a car seat in the sidecar they were happy as a pea in a pod. Two granddaughters await their turn in the sidecar, but they are too young and small yet to take to the road.
My first real introduction to antique motorcycles came in 1979 when I purchased a 1949 Velocette LE from a friend of the family who had always intended to restore it, but never found the time. I took up the challenge and with the help of another friend who owned a 1969 LE, we brought the Little Engine back to life. This machine was one of the very first made in the thirty year lifespan of that same model. Having no place to store the LE, I ultimately donated it to the AMA Heritage Museum in 1985 where it has been since before the museum was even built. Unfortunately it does not see the light of day very often with the AMA exhibits more often than not displaying a racing theme or one with more mass appeal than a little and somewhat odd British motorcycle would command. With the restoration of the LE, I was hooked on early two wheeled machines.
In 1995 My wife and I traveled to England on holiday and it was on one of those days in Bath while rummaging through a flea market that I came upon a postcard depicting a studio photo of a couple on an early Triumph motorcycle. I had never really thought about postcards as a collectible, but with that acquisition another flame was lit and it has grown measurably over the years. I started looking for more postcards with a motorcycle theme and shopped at antique stores progressing to postcard dealers and on to the Internet where a world of postcard opportunities presented itself. The collection grew and at some point I decided that I would make photographic reproductions of them and offer them as matted reproductions. With that in mind I thought I needed a catalog. First I developed a website at www.motorcycle-memories.com where the pictures could be displayed and purchased. As I went along I realized that I really did need a printed catalog and started formatting the pages. Soon I came to realize that what I was doing was not far off from printing a book although to be sure a lot more expensive. I queried a number of publishers who were not interested in my idea for a book and thus I decided to move forward and self publish.
I like to say that self publishing is easy enough with some basic computer knowledge, the right software and a bank that believes in lending money as long as one has enough equity in their home to guarantee the banks investment. Aside from the hours of time involved in preparation, when it comes to the actual printing costs, they can be frightening. The printers do not care if you ever sell a book because they get their money up front. Marketing the book may be the hardest part of all, but I have advertised and evolved into selling as a vendor at antique motorcycle events. As my postcard collection grew and the popularity of antique motorcycle cards became intense, the prices started to climb rapidly. I am at a point now that unless an item is unique or really special in some way, I do not bother with it. I have shifted my collecting more to vintage advertising and magazine covers depicting motorcycles. These are still affordable and I am now making posters of these early materials. My web site has grown to encompass my book as well as 600 different posters primarily from the first third of the last century.
It is partly my goal to make a little money on my investments, but I feel that it is also important that I help to preserve the history of the earliest time in motorcycling. I will help others as I can and ask only a little appreciation for my time and effort. My best friend lives in Belgium and I met him through my web site. He is an avid veteran motorcycle enthusiast and treasures and preserves the history that he collects along with some remarkable early motorcycles. It was my pleasure to help him acquire an original paint, 1909 Indian that I picked up, crated and shipped to him.
I retired two and one half years ago after my tool and die business was forced to close along with hundreds of others here in Michigan. For me it was not that devastating in that I was ready to retire, but for my employees it was a sad and difficult time. With a lot of time on my hands I am building doll houses for my granddaughters and when they are done, the next project will be a miniature motorcycle shop keeping with the veteran theme.
