Ohio

Hard to believe but, we’re running late with both Sturgis 70th Anniversary, and Pro Pinstripe books. Pro Pinstripe is essentially done, but needs to make the trip to the printer with the Sturgis 70th book. So I spent the weekend wrapping up loose ends, which meant phone calls to some of the folks I met during my week out west, to do short phone interviews and confirm important things like dates and the spelling of names.

One of those calls went out to Loran Whittaker from central Ohio. I met Loran during the Easyriders Rodeo. If you don’t know, the Rodeo is part tractor pull, part slow race, and part barrel roll. The event at Sturgis is just one stop on a multi stop circuit.

Loran is among the pulling riders, the ones who use their two and three wheeled motorcycles to pull a weighted sled. He not only built his own three-wheeler from scratch, he placed near the top of every event he entered, and earned enough points to be named rookie of the year for 2010.

The Easyriders Rodeo is part motorcycle event, and part tractor pull.

The heart of Loran’s bike is a 124 TP motor equipped with a turbo, and it’s the first turbo-equipped bike to make it this far on the circuit. Other than the paint, there isn’t much about this bike that Loran didn’t engineer, craft and assemble. As Loran likes to say, “I dreamed it and I built it. Everything’s me.”

From Edinburg, Ohio, Loran learned enough hangin’ around the Rodeo circuit for a few years to build himself a winning ride the very first time.

For years, Loran made his living as a self-employed machinist and welder, doing industrial maintenance and repair. At the same time, he kept a little part-time Harley shop operating at his house. When he moved his main business into a new building a few years ago, he decided to combine the machine shop with his Harley shop. Thus was born Evolution Machine & Cycle located in Alliance, Ohio. “We do everything from oil changes to complete engine rebuilds, and bike building at the shop” says Loran, “and I still do machining and welding for my other customers.” Loran’s unique and extensive bag of tricks gave him all the skills he needed to build a very competitive bike by hand - and place second at his first competitive event. With this first year’s success under his belt, look for Loren to score big time on the rodeo circuit next year.

My Sunday phone calls reminded me once again that Sturgis isn’t just about the party, or the riding. It’s about friends both old and new, and all the very interesting things they do.

The Rodeo rules determine things like wheelbase and tire size, but leave enough room for interpretation that an innovator like Loran can start from scratch and build a winner.

Since returning from Ohio just before Christmas, the Minnesota weather has turned cold, cold, cold. It's been fifteen degrees below zero for three nights in a row here in Minnesota, forcing me to escape to warmer climes, all in the name of work.


Las Vegas is home to an antique motorcycle auction held in January of every year, and this year I’ve decided to attend. The idea is to take some of the bikes, slated for the auction, outside for photos. Photos that will likely find their way into the Classic Triumph calendar for 2011. The fact that it actually stays above freezing at night here is just a secondary benefit.


My plane hit the ground about 2:00 PM yesterday, and after the typical delays waiting for luggage, I grabbed a brand new Malibu from National and headed for Boulder City. The Rocky City is just a hop, skip and a jump from Hoover Dam. My idea was to ask the locals how I could park a Triumph motorcycle in such a way as to get the dam as the background.

Hoover Dam, built over 4 years starting in 1931, and a perfect backdrop for an old Triumph motorcycle.

But no one told me about the bridge. The new bridge they are building that sails right over the dam. As one of the locals explained, "there used to be some side roads that had good views of the dam, but now it's all fenced off for construction."

Probably costing ten times as much money as the dam itself, the new bridge will skate right over the dam and the river below.

I had to settle for a drive over the dam on the old highway, and a series of tourist photos. And though I'm sure the motorcycle photos I take this week will be dramatic and award winning, there won't be any with the famous Hoover Dam in the background.

Right where it says "Danger Keep Off Wall," that's where the motorcycle should have been placed for the perfect calendar picture.