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Ned
I was born in Iowa, am 85 years old, a retired mechanical engineer,
and have been riding for about 40 years. I usually ride alone, but
always my destination involves meeting and camping with other bikers.
I wanted a motorcycle ever since I was about three years old and heard a
motorcycle coming down the street. I watched it go by and knew
that someday I would have one. Circumstances dictated that was not
to be for many years. When I was in the South Pacific during World
War II, I built a motor-scooter, using bomb carrier wheels and a
Briggs and Stratton single cylinder engine. No brakes, so stopping
was always exciting. Many years later I got my first bike, a Honda
450. My two sons also had bikes at the time, and we three, with
our wives, would take day trips around the Seattle area. Now I am
the only family member still riding. The longest trip my wife and
I took was essentially a Four-Corners ride, tranversing most of the
United States. We were gone seven weeks and covered over 10,000
miles. When my younger son won a Harley in a contest, he let me
ride it once. That convinced me to sell my bike and get a Harley.
That was about 20 years ago and I've been riding Harleys ever since.
I had a sidecar on one of those Harleys but it wasn't a Liberty sidecar
and I didn't change the triple-trees, so it wasn't fun to ride. I
recently had a Liberty sidecar mounted on my 2007 Harley Road King, and
it is a great ride. It draws attention wherever I go, and gets
"thumbs up" from everyone who sees it. For me, it's the only way
to go.
Ned Akerman
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