I had a Harley chopper in those days...hard tail, ape hangers with 'Maltese Cross' rear view mirrors, single laid-back seat with a headrest.
Two Cibie dark busters fitted one above the other on the 9 inch extended springer front forks, had a turning circle worse than a semi.
Exhausts were upswept, and outlets were about rib height just behind the seat. They were silenced with slip in Volkswagen spark arresters,
secured with screws. Rear wheel was a volkswagen 15 inch rim which I removed the centre, and drilled and spoked it.
(108 cm circumference, 36 spokes, 3 cm spacing... I had to extend the thread on the spokes to fit.) I built the wheel on night shift at BHP, Whyalla.
Ran an 850/15 Olympic car tyre with 22 lb pressure... that was my rear suspension. No flash paint job, just black and chrome.
I was on a trip from Whyalla to Sydney and return, via hay plains, going to meet up with the woman who became my ex just a few years later.
I entered Sydney via Bathurst, Katoomba, en route to Darlinghurst.
By the time I left Penrith, there were 4 other bikes following me, by the time I reached Parramatta, the group had swelled to around a dozen,
and when I reached the city, there were about 18 bikes following. (Remember, this was not long after Easy Rider movie hit the cinemas)
I can say that this was one of the first Harley choppers built in Aus, I had one helluva job getting it past scrutineering for rego in S.A. - took 2 months!
OK... thats the background... here comes the funny part of the story...
after 700k on the way home, I was getting tired with the afternoon sun in my eyes, so decided to have a snooze at a roadside truck bay about 20 km east of Hay.
I had a piece of 20 mm metal conduit strapped to the side of the bike, which I used as a prop between the back of the seat and the exhausts to brace out
a hoochie and give me some room to move without it slapping against me in the wind. The hoochie fitted over the
handlebars and down to the bottom yoke of the forks. The corners were secured with occy straps to the wheels. Sort of a wrap around weatherproof tent,
with a lounge chair to sleep in, with my feet up on the centre of the bars and bum hard against the tank.
It was just on last light a couple hours later when a car drove into the truck stop. I heard doors open, and footsteps approaching.
Mind you, I was invisible under the hoochie. Curious to see who was approaching, I reached behind for the piece of pipe, and lifted the side of the Hoochie with it.
Three teens froze in their steps, then bolted for their car and screamed off, spinning the wheels. I shrugged and settled back to get some sleep.
Maybe they thought the bike was unattended?
About a half hour later, I was blinded by spotlights from 2 patrol cars, four policemen with guns drawn, screaming at me to throw the gun down!
Teens saw the end of the pipe poked out from under the hoochie, and claimed I pulled a shotgun on them!
After another hour of them examining and admiring the bike, they left. I continued on towards home the next morning, another 900k ahead
