Packard

by Andy Gray from https://www.tribtoday.com Some people aren’t satisfied with a motorcycle straight off of the lot. Collectors and motorcycle enthusiasts often modify those dealer purchases, restore damaged bikes that look like scrap metal to everyone else or build their own motorcycles from scratch. The 21st Vintage Motorcycle Exhibit at the National Packard Museum celebrates those kinds of machines with “Roll Your Own,” which opens Saturday and runs through May 22. “Last year when we were working on the exhibit ‘Two Wheels at the County Fair,’ we realize there were a lot of bikes that were highly modified, that guys got real crazy with,” museum Executive Director Mary Ann Porinchak said. “We decided to show off some of that creativity. “The challenge was to find enough bikes, but once we started, they came out of the woodwork. It snowballed and had a life of its own, and there are some truly unique pieces that came about … One bike was built from the ground up from just a pile of parts. That shows a determination to ride and a fair amount of ingenuity.” For the restorers, it’s a point of pride. Bruce Williams, a past organizer of the motorcycle show, has reconstructed several machines from most humble beginnings. “People see you have half a motor (and ask), ‘What are you gonna do with that?’ I’ll build a bike,” Williams said. “They’ll say, ‘You’ll never do that,’ and a year and a half later, there it is.” That doesn’t mean it’s easy. For one 1906 motorcycle he rebuilt, Williams had to hire a guy in Holland who could build the rims and back pulley he needed. Since that kind of rim was outlawed in the U.S. in the 1930s, the guy in Holland wouldn’t ship it to Williams directly. The parts […]