Thugs Day 4, Aug 1

Day 4: August 1

“The Indian in God’s Country”

I got up bright and early yesterday morning…Eastern Time. Which made it really early Sturgis time.

I drove up to Sturgis and cruised Lazelle and went out to the Buffalo Chip. Came back, had breakfast and did some laundry. Went back to Sturgis and left the Baggah at the Allstate booth and walked around downtown for a few hours. I took some pics and did some shopping.

Dave asked me if I wanted to try the Indian and I jumped at the chance. He was going out to Devil’s Tower in Wyoming and I went along. What a great bike! Light as a feather, big wheels that made for tall gearing, and the music coming out of the pipes was symphonic.

I drove it hard through the twisties and it handled great. The drivetrain has no play at all and I didn’t need 5th gear below 80mph.

The entire trip was very scenic…more than scenic. The idea of a minimalistic, great handling bike on roads through beautiful country was…beautiful. I got completely covered with bugs on the ride home, but no matter. And a special thanks to Shelia, my physical therapist, who has improved my back enough that a hard ride on a hardtail was possible.
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RIP, Bruce Rossmeyer.

Let’s all raise our glasses in his memory.

{Rant on}:

The news article I read about Bruce mentions that “he wasn’t wearing a helmet”. I wish writers wouldn’t write that when a biker dies. Was that the sole reason for his death? Would his death have been avoided with a helmet?

Do they ever point out that others have died “because they had bad genes” or “ate too many cheeseburgers” or “wasn’t taking Lipitor”?????

I’ve read all the pros and cons of wearing helmets. There are those that say a helmet, puts more pressure on your neck in a crash and those that say “dress for the wreck…including a full-face helmet”.

I think it comes down to each person’s tolerance for risk and the risk/reward balance that is a person’s choice.

Everyone else should respect that choice.

I rode a great part of Friday without a helmet and it was some of the best riding I’ve ever done. Yet, when the winds came and the rain was on its way, I stopped and put my full face helmet on. The risk went up versus the reward of no helmet.

But that’s just me. What you do, whatever you do, is OK.

{Rant off}

Thug

Indian Day 3

Dirti took the Indian for it's first ride today. He said that he loved it!!

Perewitz Indian

This is the status of the Indian this morning. Jay and Big Ron have been hustling to get it done. I have to tell you it came out wicked cool!! It is something once again entirely different than your average Perewitz custom.
More to come tomorrow when it is one the ground and ready to ride!

The Jack Sparrow of Perewitz, Dave

Over the next few days I will introduce you to our crew! First the one you know and most associate, with the name Perewitz (until now), Dave!

He is the founder of this gear wrenching business. My father started, as most of you have heard, in a shed behind my grandparents house. Today we have a new building that we are quickly out growing!

I think my dad’s philosophy is that if we have the space why not fill it! It’s not like we will eventually need the room or anything. For example we were storing 3 old Indians and just 3 days ago they left. The space has already accumulated “stuff”!

Anyway, I have to give my dad credit even though he isn’t the best money making business man he has got us all that we have and more. He is at the shop everyday, mostly “bahkin” orders of what needed to be done last week but no one knew about it.

Enough with the stuff you do know, how about some unknown stuff? One thing my dad loves to do is landscape! He is a maniac with the pruning sheers. He is so obsessed with pruning that he keeps them in his truck. He will be some place random and whip them out and start cutting.

We have a long driveway that can be hard to maneuver in a big truck. Well on a few occasions the trash truck, UPS, or any other big truck has hit the trees in our yard. All I can think of is boy I would hate to be them! My dad will investigate it, you know check for paint marks, figure out which direction they were going, etc. and find out who hit it. Boy does he give them an earful!

In the end or is it just the beginning? Dave is the one who got us to this point but I have to say without our crew we or he would not be much further than where he was couple of years ago in a small garage!