Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Easy Rider star Peter Fonda was one of -the many celebrities who took part in Love Ride 5. Approximately 4000 m ot orcycli sts joined Fonda. Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) poster chi ld Amanda Van Deusen, age 12. was on hand to thank all for their cha ritable actions. - Following Love Ride 5. the Victor McLaglen Motor Corps performed it s famous 12-man pyramid stunt at Calamigos Ranch. 5th Annual L.ove Ride for MDA Record $360,000 singleday MjC charity event By William Edgar GLENDALE, CA, NOV. 13 R eaders of Cycle News, th is is no race. Bu t it is an all -time champ ionsh ip amo n g charity performances. And the p ride this southern California fund .raiser brings fuels a passion for our sport capable of rea ching out to th e broadest A ' [ rnai ran k s 0 J!1ams,tream ~ en~. The winner s purse In this 14 case went to the nation 's Mu scular Dystroph y Associa tio n, ben efiting by a who p ping third of a million dollar s (u p $109,000 from last year) rai sed th rough a cavalry of mot orcyclists formin g 1988's rain y Love Ride 5. Begun by Harley-Davidson and spo nsored again this year by ride cha irma n Oliver Shoko u h and his Harley-Davidson of Gl endale deal ersh ip - and a ttended by celebrities in cludin g P et er Fonda, David Crosb y, Bonnie Bram lett , Craig Chaquico, N in a Blackwood, Bill y Idol , and th e inimitable Willie G. Davidson - this biker brigade o f 4000, each donating a minimum $35, triumphantl y scored th e largest oneday motorcycle fund raiser in o ur coun try's hi story. Early Sunday m orn in ~ , ex ~a usts rumblmg through th e quiet neigb orhood, a nd with th e hel p o f 120 volunteers fro m the Tribe a nd Loners motorcycle cl u bs, Love Ride 5ers . asse m bled on th e streets o f G lendale, th en sna ked across 100 mil es o f freeway through o m ino us wea the r, fin all y coming to rest a nd to enjoy th e event's activities a nd entertainme n t in th e foggy - eventua lly wet - mounta in s ab ove Ma libu. The police-escorted parad e ou t of Gl endal e was maj esti c, o ne of m y riding life's authentic thrills. R u nning th e San Fernando Vall ey 's perimeter rim , Love Ride's mot orcycles stretch ed out 10 mi les long. Wind ch i ll plunged ; s ho u l de r s hunch ed a ll a long the lin e. Two-up o n a Low Rider Sport, m y dau ghter Cyn thia a nd I'd begun to shiver, but there was no stop ping to gr ab a co ffee a nd get warm. No wa y. Not with over 3000 - mostl y Harley-Davidsons, but with a growing sho w o f imports this yea r - foll owing a t the legal lim it. A ph antom, acc us ing cry of " wim p " was ca taclys mic. T he su n popped o u t a few revivi ng times, a nd th en we were th ere, at a green pl ace in the co as ta l mounta in s ca lled Ca la migo s Ran ch . . Am ong the first- timers were man y returns. A bi ker wi th a sou l for music a nd hea rt for th e road, David Crosby was ba ck agai n in outstanding form, taking to the stage despi te a worsenin g drizz le, his lyrics stea mi ng like magician 's smoke as his music held the cro wd wit h the stre ngth of steel. Lett ing it rai n on eq ui p me nt was not the best, bu t David said th e hell with it - he had come here to do this, a nd was going to do it. Cra ig Chaqui co , . the Starship roc ke r who twi ce a uctioned hi s gui tar, had ridden .in from hi s home above San Francisco. " He was lik e a kid just thinking abo u t getting her e ," sa id Crai g 's bride, Kim , rhrill ed b y the co ncen tra tio n of people a nd motor metal. " I had no idea wh at this wa s lik e!" Bonnie Bramlett, wh o had su ng with th e likes o f Eric Clapton and th e Ro lling Stones, was there , hot as ever, in front o f the Bandola Doctors . And, all the way down from Montana ca me th e actor who, with o ne breakthrough movie, virt ua lly cas t th e im age o f modern Am er ican-made motorcyclis ts. Peter Fonda , wh o had done an awa rd-w in n i ng public serv ic e a n nou nce me nt for th e very first Love Ride, became thi s year's cro wd icon. La n ky a nd smi li ng, Fonda seemed to ma teriali ze ou t o f the fogg y mou n tai n scene. At first he looked godlike, m ythic. But he was warm a nd o utgoi ng in hi s working the cro wd , talking to a nybody, sig ni ng a utographs, l au gh in ~ and rolling o n the damp grass dunng an egg-toss co n test. A " Cap tai n Am eri ca " cho p per was wh eeled into th e pa ck , the chrome a nd Stars-&-Stripes Easy R ider bik e radi ating a ligh t a ll its own . Peter stradd led it , hanging hi s a rms from its hi gh gr ips , beaming lik e a kid. One adm irer pressed even closer , ca ll ing to Fonda that he wanted to sha ke his hand; " Yo u 've been m y id o l a ll my life !" th e you nger rid er said, displaying the backside o f hi s own ja cket - an Am erican flag ; o f course. The cro wd, lost amid decad es and perceptions of riders; grooved o n it. Willie G . Davidson, grandso n of the co m pa n y's founder, crea tor of to day's H arl ey-D a vid son market mastering style, had flown in fro m Milwa u kee with a personal gift: his ow n legend ary p resence and fifth year o f support - a maj or corporati on e xecu ti ve a s ca n d id a nd down home as a ny o f us wh o rid e. Sa id Willie, " T hese riders sho u ld a ll be p rou-d. We talk abo ut HarleyDavidson , bu t it's reall y the dealers a nd their riders th a t are crea ting these tremendous do llar n umbers. We can hel p J erry 's Kids to maybe ride someday." Then Will ie added, " We owe a treme ndo us a mo u nt of thanks to Ol iver a nd th e peop le jo ining hi m in co n trib u ting, and we're ext remely proud of this, and to see it work so well. The mo torcycling we lo ve so much becomes a little better and another step up the ladder because of it. It re-enforces the lo ve a ffa i r." Willi e flashed h is fam ous bearded smile and bid, " I' ll see you on the road." Throughout the cloudy morning in G lenda le and wet-to-wetter afternoon at the ranch, there was the sob ering but confidence-inspiring reality of MDA poster child Ama nda Van Deusen and her brother, Christopher, both in wheelchairs. And wi th this ca me visions of new and future hopes for victims of th e insidious cri p p ler, muscular dystrophy and other neuromuscular disea ses. Crail? Chaquico offered one ana logy relating especia lly well to Lov e Riders, all motorcyclists, and to th e Van Deusen children . "When o u r bikes ge t sick," sa id Craig, " we fix them with new parts. Amanda and Christopher can' t do that. But" riding and donating to MDA is a way for us to help fix these kid s too, to eventua lly have a co nd ition th at protects and rep airs th em , lik e spa re parts do for o u r motorcycles." After the bi g ribs-&-chili barbecue, Colonel .H arry Fi sh er 's Vi ctor McLaglen Motor Corps, participating in 25 events a year including the Hollywood Lane Christm as parade, gave forth with th eir motorcycle stu n t and drill tea m show. Twentytw o riders o n nostalgic black-&white panheads, shovel heads a nd FL H H arleys, doing their splits a nd multiples and pyramid ba lanci ng acts over the bumpy polo field. Bruce Chubbuck, the team 's American flag bearer in smart brown uniform , recalled the bewilderment of a prior Lov e Ride. " It started pouting rain right in the middle of our show," said Bruce, a former HarleyDavidson dealer, 10 years with the

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