Finding Ben Hardy's Shop?

After putting up the last post I thought, why not look up the spot where Ben Hardy's shop was located? Could the building somehow still exist?

I knew the address since the article in Roth's Choppers magazine gave it at 1168 E. Florence in Los Angeles. A lot has changed in the last 40 years, but I figured, Google Map it with "satellite view" and see what comes up.

The letter "A" marks the spot, but it didn't look good. It sort of looks like a parking lot. I hoped (as sometimes), Google's addresses are off by a little bit. The place to it's left looked promising, so why not take look with the "Street View" option?


Boy was I surprised when this came up! What I thought was an empty parking lot turned out to be the roof. The place next door has the much lighter roof when seen from above. Ben's old shop's roof is darker but is reflecting the sun at this angle.

This place needs to be declared a National Historical Monument... of the MotorCycle kind.


For kicks, I tweaked it in Photoshop for a side by side comparison.


Afterwards, I looked up another Famous Monument. I erased the street name so as not to give it away too easily. Any guesses? I.R., I'm sure you'll know, and Moldy, If you read this, don't tell.

It's too bad places like these can't somehow be preserved for what they once were.

I wonder, do today's occupants realize their significance?

BLACK M/C HISTORY MONTH

February ain't just about Valentine's.

Looking sharp in the '30's.


Brother Ben. Perhaps one of the most influential builders ever.


Ben on a '65 H-D that is very likely an ex-police bike. There's another inside the shop's left window.


LA Choppers. From the style of their bikes and their location, I'm sure they knew Ben. This club still exists. I love their colors. I've seen a few members at the Long Beach swap.


EBD's. Probably the most famous of all the black clubs.


Gerald “Fat Daddy”, “Bubba”, “Gerry”, “J.R.”, Biddle. Member of the "Crazy Pharaohs" Port Washington, NY on a well dressed '68.


Bessie Stringfield. Google her.


Good looking group. Note the pin stripes on the second bike and the bobbed fender on the fourth.


Can't hide her feelings sitting on that brand new boat tail.


Sugar Bear. Doing them long, long time.


Can she actually get that Fro in the helmet? Brings a whole new meaning to "Helmet Hair".

So how come Black History Month is celebrated in the shortest month of the year?
"The Man" just keeps stick'in it to the Brothers and Sistahs.

IronHead Ron

Two weeks ago I paid a visit to my friend Ron. Ron's a Die-Hard IronHead Sportster Hi-Performance Freak and always has some interesting projects up his sleeve.


Here's his XR Ironhead that he's building for the street. He started with a genuine factory XR 750 frame and oil bag.



Look close and you'll see that the cylinder fins have all been drilled. I believe he said it's a 77" stroker. Ron likes to use socket (Allen), head fasteners as much as possible.


His next project, an Ironhead Bagger. Ron always uses trick parts. That's a raked XLR frame and those are aluminum engine mounts dangling up front.


This 1965 stroker will go in the bagger. It's cases will be converted for electric start. When was the last time you saw Axtell aluminum Ironhead cylinders?


A flat track style Triumph project awaits in the back. Once again, featuring aluminum cylinders.


Here's a shot taken in Dec. 2001 of the Sportster from the above shot. There is a lot more going on here than at first glance. Ron shaves, drills, and massages each part before it goes on any of his rides. After an unfortunate incident, that motor went into the bike below.


This bike also recently had an unfortunate and very serious incident. We're glad Ron is now OK. Some of you may remember this bike from the Dec. 08 Century Motorcycles Post.

I'll post more shots as Ron progresses and finishes these very personalized machines.