ill's r d d y Ma m e r Je
The mural above started out as a simple sketch by my girlfriend Chloe and turned into an amazing birthday present.
A humble exterior conceals the colorful, fun inside
Growing up in the garage with a father who’s a jack-ofall-trades and an older brother, I became very mechanically inclined from an early age. The garage my Dad had would be the envy of Bob Villa. I had access to almost every possible tool, but I had to deal with my perfectionist father (which rubbed off on me). Having my own shop/garage was a major goal of mine. I wanted to make sure I could try and fix anything myself or help friends. When I was a teenager, my buddy taught me how to ride his enduro. At that time, my brother had a CB350-4 and there was a great temptation to ride it often without permission. One time I pushed it out of the garage to work on my car. It fell over and broke off the end the shift lever. I was able to affix it back into the rubber coating. Later that day, he let me ride it around the block. Days later, the neighbor kid came by with the broken shift lever in hand, asking my brother if it was off his bike. I had to eat my words and I was never allowed to ride that bike again. At this point, the spark to ride more was ignited. 28
WWW.AHRMA.ORG
All Photos by: Chloe Peterson
My first exposure to AHRMA, was at Road America through some friends who race. I was very drawn to the vintage atmosphere. Within a year, I bought a ’69 CL350, which eventually was my first AHRMA build. My recently purchased home did not have a garage, so I built this bike in my basement. Since I was more interested in the building aspect, I let a friend race the bike. We almost completed one race lap—quite the learning experience. I was longing for my own garage, so my carpenter skills came into play and I built one as big as I was allowed. Yeah, it’s still too small. As for the ever-changing layout of my garage, I started with basic shop tools, a welding machine and an air compressor. I am a pipefitter/welder by trade, so metal working is second nature. Other tools in my garage are a blast cabinet, parts washer, ultrasonic cleaner, pneumatic lift, truing stand and an ever-growing amount of homemade tools. During the beginning of the COVID quarantine, I invested in my shop and bought myself a mill and a lathe to take advantage of my free time. I taught myself how to use these tools.
AMERICAN HISTORIC RACING MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION
MARCH 2021
