Black Leather Jackets

This is one of those things from my formative years that had an effect on me. I had forgotten about it until I came across a pic on Instagram. It looks like two stripped down Duo-Glide Pans and a Knuck, either with a Vard front end or an early Hydra-Glide? Note the blacked out rims and forks. For many years an Excel black leather jacket, black t-shirt, Sears Engineer boots and cuffed Levi's were the uniform to go along with my greasy black mop and dreams of rockabilly glory. It wasn't until years later after my hair was gone and I outgrew my leather jacket that I was able to buy my first Harley. Some dreams never die...

Lee Bender

Lee Bender got in a pretty bad wreck yesterday. From the looks of the pictures his forks got clipped by some careless driver. A split second later and it could have been much worse. He broke several bones and got a pretty bad gash on his noggin but avoided a concussion. From what I can gather he went through surgery this morning will be be on the mend for a while. We hate to hear about anybody going down. All of us who ride do so with knowledge in the back of our minds "there but for the grace of God go I". Once the healing is done Lee will have some bills to pay and lost wages to make up. So, if you have a little extra please send it his way and help a brother out. You can make a Paypal donation to middlewestern@yahoo.com Get well soon! UPDATE: Turns out it was an uninsured driver who pulled out in front of Lee then fled the scene. You've got to be a very special kind of scumbag to leave an accident that you caused while someone may have been dying. I hope they get theirs. Meanwhile, Mr. Bender seems be doing alright and is home from the hospital. Don't be shy about those PayPal donations, any little bit helps and you could be paying it forward if God forbid it is your turn to take a spill.