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Teens. Quietly, Ottaway began building and testing racing machines. There is some debate as to whether Parkhurst or Irving Janke was the first factory racer for Harley-Davidson. The distinction is that Janke was a Harley- Davidson employee to begin with and was more or less a test rider who raced as part of the testing pro- cess. Parkhurst seems to be the first person hired specifically as a factory racer. Parkhurst was born in Rapid City, South Dakota, in 1895. He moved with his family to Denver as a child. His father was a railroad man and later owned a small brewery. It was not uncommon for youngsters to go to work in that era, and such was the case with Parkhurst. One of his first jobs was as a gofer for a painting company. He was often given the task of driving the company truck, full of paint- ing supplies, to job sites around Denver. He didn't last long on that job due to his propensity for speeding. He later took a job at an Excel- sior motorcycle dealership, learn- ing to be a mechanic. Parkhurst pursued his love for speed and began racing motorcycles (after lying about his age) as an ama- teur at the age of 13. Riding his own Excelsiors, he established himself as one of the top Rocky Mountain Region riders and primarily raced on the Tuiller- ies Motordrome board track in Denver. By the time he was 16, Parkhurst was doing well enough on the boards that he began racing at other motordromes across the Midwest. In 1914, Harley-Davidson, which, up to that point, had largely ignored national competition, was making plans to form a racing team. As it turned out, Parkhurst was in the right place at the right time. He had performed well at Milwaukee's new motor- drome and Harley-Da- vidson's racing manager Bill Ottaway asked the 18-year-old rider to join the company's new rac- ing team. Parkhurst ea- gerly accepted, moved to Milwaukee, and became the very first member of the Harley-Davidson team. With Parkhurst riding, Harley-Davidson tested its new racer at low-key regional races early in 1914 in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Parkhurst won most of these regional events against non-national competi- tion. Testing continued through the 1914 season and the team entered the prestigious Dodge City 300 to assess the reliability of its machines in real racing condi- tions. In 1915, Harley-Davidson's rac- ing team was ready and launched a serious assault on the big national events. Parkhurst's teammate, Otto Walker, was the star of the year, winning the big events at Venice, California (where Parkhurst was second) and Dodge City. But later in the season, Parkhurst started mak- ing his mark, winning several events including the big 100-mile National on the dirt track in Sara- toga, New York. VOLUME 58 ISSUE 19 MAY 11, 2021 P109 Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives testing racing machines. small brewery. It was not teur at the age of 13. Riding his had performed well at Milwaukee's new motor drome and Harley-Da vidson's racing manager Bill Ottaway asked the 18-year-old rider to join the company's new rac ing team. Parkhurst ea gerly accepted, moved to Milwaukee, and became the very first member of the Harley-Davidson team. Harley-Davidson tested its new racer at low-key regional races early in 1914 in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Parkhurst won most of these regional events against non-national competi tion. Testing continued through the 1914 season and the team entered the prestigious Dodge City Parkhurst passed away in 1972.