Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125813
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by John D. Ulrich
Need a part for your motorcycle?
Well walk righ t in, tell the lady what
you need, and lay down your money.
That's right, friend, the parts man is a
lady. The wave of the fu ture is here now
in the person of Sara Chalfant, parts
lad.)' at LeBard and Underwood
Motorcycles in La Habra, California.
It all started back in 1969, when
Sara, at the time still in high school,
offered to paint Christmas designs on
the shop's windows. She never was paid
to paint windows, but she did get ajob
working the parts department part time.
By the time April, 1972 rolled around,
Sara had a full time job working 45-50
hours a week.
Sara owes at least part of her success
to her philosophy of never blaming a
mistake on a customer's ignorance, even
if they do not know the type of bike
they ride. Instead, she helps unsure
owners by showing them the pictures
featured in the front of the parts books
to make sure they get parts for the
model they ride.
The parts lady thinks very highly of
her employer, Aub LeBard, who says he
either hired Sara in H a fit of insanity",
or in a "sincere effort to better the
motorcycle industry"; depending how
close Sara is at" the moment.
When he is not kidding around,
LeBard is fond of telling his favorite
Sara story. It seems that one of the
parts men a few years ago was thinking
out loud that he would like to own a
BSA Gold Star, but he was afraid to buy
one because he was fiot sure he could
start it. It was at this moment that Sara,
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who had ridden her father's Gold Star
to the shop, decided to go home. She
walked out to the Goldie, kicked it
through once, caugh t the compression
stroke, and put all her weight on her
right tennis shoe. The Gold Star burbled
to life, Sara rode off; and the parts
man's jaw hit the floor.
One indication of her employer's
opinion of her is the fact that Sara just
reeen tly received a substan tial raise,
giving her equal pay with her male
caun terparls .
Sara's personal bike is a Honda
CB350" which unfortunately had been
broken by an ex-friend shortly before
this article was written. However, our
subject demonstrated her riding ability
on a borrowed Honda 450 by racing'
through the familiar curves of Turnbull
Canyon near her Whittier home.
Sara is a firm believer of safety
equipment and will not ride without a
Snell approved fiberglass helmet. Her
skill is reflected in the fact that she has
never suffered a crash on the street, an
ama:dng fact considering the speed at
which she took the S curves in Turnbull
Canyon during our photo session there.
While not the first parts lady to be
found in the motorcyde industry, Sara
will definitely not be the last either. The
motorcycle industry, like the world
around it, is slowly changing. The days
of absolu te male supremacy are gone
with the Thors, the Popes, and the
Hendersons,. We think it is a good .trend,
and it does give you something more to
look at besides motorcycles when you
visit your enlightened local dealer.
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Sara surveys the scenery after scaling Turnbull Canyon.
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