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/1462250
Was your mother a seam- stress and did you learn to sew from her? My adopted mother sewed, and I found that with her in- struction and help it just came naturally. With three young girls, I was constantly making dresses for them, then I began mak- ing shirts for my husband and ultimately suits. Moving to mak- ing race leathers wasn't such a big deal once Wanda entered the picture and gave me some pointers. Can you tell us about buy- ing leather? With starting my business from scratch, this was quite a learning process. Any tannery expects you to buy a certain number of sheets if you want the wholesale price. A sheet is half a hide, about 23 to 27 square feet, and a thousand sheets was a minimum order. Larry selling his boat, God bless him, was the seed money we needed to buy leather and supplies. I always stuck with basic col- ors that I knew I would be using: black, red, white, yellow, blue, and some orange for the Harley leathers. At first, I bought from a tannery in Massachusetts until they closed, then for a long time I was buying beautiful leather from Canada, but the company kept upping the quantity on me, so I had to move on. Over time I bought leather from various tan- neries around the U.S., includ- ing Wisconsin, Goliger Leather in Los Angeles, and the Hide House in Napa, but I only ever bought quality cowhide leather. And I never bought leather from South America because it smelled. It had something to do with the liquid they used in the tanning process. How much leather did it take to make a suit? Pretty much a full hide. If it was a large hide, there'd be some pieces left over that could be used on a different suit. Did you and Larry ever sponsor a rider? We sponsored a Junior named Randy Raker. He had some talent and was riding a Yamaha that was breaking fairly often, so Larry was helping him prepare his bike in our garage. He need- ed something better to ride, and I saw a Harley XR750 for sale in Cycle News in probably 1978. I called the guy and told him I was driving over to buy it. It was in Indiana, and I used Neil Keen's and Bart Markel's names to impress on him that I just wasn't some crazy woman calling. And it worked! He said the bike was mine! I went out to the garage, where both Larry and Randy were working on his bike, and said, "Load up the trailer, guys, we gotta make a trip." I didn't tell either of them we were buying an XR for Randy to ride, and both of them were surprised when we picked up the bike. How long did you sponsor Randy Raker? It was two years, then Steve Morehead rode the XR for the next six or seven years. Larry had retired from his regular job by then and was building engines and bikes, including the one Steve rode. Do you go to the races anymore? Very occasionally anymore, and it's usually local or vintage racing. I am amazed, though, at how many people still recognize me. But now, they are the chil- dren of the fathers I knew and made suits for back in the day, and they now have their own children who they bring to the races. Back then our house was open to all and we had numer- ous racers, plus up-and-coming kids—plus their families—stay two or three days. Ricky Gra- ham and his wife, Leeza, even stayed with us. We've made a lot of friends over the years, and it makes me happy that they remember us even if it's only an email or a card at Christmas. Last question. Were you a Harley or a Honda fan? I really didn't take real notice of the bikes at the races. I was more interested in how the rid- ers we cheered for were doing. I will tell you, though, that I told Larry that if I get sick, really sick, and you don't think I'm going to make it, just bring a XR Harley underneath the bedroom window and rev it, then I'll make it through. I love that sound, I really do. CN CN III ARCHIVES P126 Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives