Berzerker: âThe baddest Boss Hoss everâ¦â? - Boss Hoss Country
Berzerker: âThe baddest Boss Hoss everâ¦â? - Boss Hoss Country
Berzerker: âThe baddest Boss Hoss everâ¦â? - Boss Hoss Country
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osshoss<br />
2011<br />
country spring<br />
volume 16, number 2<br />
$8.95 US./$9.50 Canada<br />
Official Publication of the <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Riders Association<br />
www.bosshosscountry.com<br />
1
osshoss<br />
countryOfficial Publication of the <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Riders Association<br />
Publication Information<br />
Subscriptions:<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine is published four times annually in color<br />
8.5”x11” format. The rate for <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine and B.H.R.A is<br />
$50.00 annually. Please allow 4 weeks for your subscription and membership<br />
to arrive.<br />
To Subscribe:<br />
Visit bosshosscountry.com to subscribe online or send check or money order to<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Rider’s Association. You may also call 731-286-4915 with your VISA/<br />
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preferred method of becoming a member is by visiting our web page: www.<br />
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Submissions:<br />
We welcome submissions of photography, articles and rally reports from<br />
all parties interested in reporting events related to the <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Cycle<br />
experience. <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine assumes no responsibility for<br />
the arrival or safe return of your material, although we make every effort to<br />
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agreement that <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine has one time publication rights.<br />
Please state in writing that your material is original and is not an infringement<br />
upon the rights of others. Submittals constitute your permission for <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Publications, Inc. to edit your material for brevity and clarity.<br />
Submission guidelines are available via email at v8hoss@bosshosscountry.<br />
com or by calling 731-286-4915. Articles and photographs published in <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine include full credit to the author and photographer. Such<br />
information must be submitted along with your articles. Letters are considered<br />
submittals and are subject to the same stipulations. Letters must be signed,<br />
and must include your name and address. If you choose, <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong><br />
Magazine will withhold your name and address from publication.<br />
Acceptance Agreement:<br />
Accept this magazine and the information herein with the understanding<br />
that a wide variety of sources have submitted this material. Neither <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine nor the publisher can guarantee the accuracy or<br />
completeness of this information. <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine is not affiliated<br />
with any organization other than the <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Rider’s Association, Inc. The<br />
publication of photographs, illustrations, articles or advertisements is not an<br />
endorsement by <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine or its publisher of any specific<br />
product or service. Viewpoints expressed in <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine<br />
are the opinions of the author of the individual article and do not necessarily<br />
constitute the viewpoint of <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine or the publisher.<br />
Advertising:<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine and the publisher reserve the right to reject any<br />
advertising deemed to be objectionable. Nor is <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine<br />
responsible for the accuracy or completeness of advertising. Advertisements<br />
are digitally scanned from the advertisers’ camera ready copy. Advertisements<br />
in <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine appear exactly as submitted. In rare instances<br />
illegible or unscannable material will be re-typeset, duplicating original material<br />
as closely as possible. <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine is not responsible for<br />
ommissions or errors resulting from such duplication. Advertising is accepted<br />
with the understanding that merchandise and services offered are accurately<br />
described and sold at the advertised price. <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine does<br />
not endorse any services or products advertised herein.<br />
Safety:<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine and <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Riders Association urge you to<br />
ride responsibly and to take advantage of courses of instruction offered by the<br />
Motorcycle Safety Foundation. Always ride within the limits of your personal<br />
ability, your motorcycle’s capacity, and road, traffic and weather conditions.<br />
Always wear a DOT/Snell approved helmet and dress appropriately. Keep your<br />
motorcycle in good working condition.<br />
please support our advertisers!<br />
And when you see them, thank them for supporting<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine and the <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Riders<br />
Association. Without those advertisers, we could not<br />
publish <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine.<br />
These advertisers are not only running successful <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> businesses, but<br />
their advertising dollars support our growing organization of <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Riders.<br />
Please visit our website at www.bosshosscountry.com.<br />
Publisher’s Information<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> is published quarterly by <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong><br />
Riders Association, a Tennessee Corporation at:<br />
790 South Main Street, Dyersburg, TN 38204<br />
Fax: 731-286-2453<br />
Editor in Chief: Seth Chandler, seth@bosshosscountry.com<br />
Executive Editor: Judy Otto, judy@bosshosscountry.com<br />
Editorial Consultants:<br />
Claire Wales, claire@bosshosscountry.com<br />
Art Director: Seth Chandler, seth@dca-dcpr.com<br />
Contributing Photographers:<br />
Seth Chandler, seth@dca-dcpr.com<br />
Claire Wales, claire@bosshosscountry.com<br />
DCA/DCPR, dca-dcpr.com<br />
Ad Sales:<br />
Seth Chandler, seth@bosshosscountry.com<br />
Contents of <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong><br />
<strong>Country</strong> Magazine are<br />
copyrighted and may<br />
not be reproduced in<br />
any manner without<br />
written permission of the<br />
publisher.<br />
Warning... images are<br />
larger than they appear...<br />
much larger. Don’t be<br />
scared.<br />
2 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine - Spring 2011 www.bosshosscountry.com 3
in this issue<br />
7 Power tour<br />
8 Monte is back in the saddle<br />
14 Daytona & the V8 Parade<br />
18 <strong>Berzerker</strong>: a Ricky Dietz/cal BH Custom<br />
22 Rider Profile - Dave Arthur<br />
30 Dealer Profile - <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> kamloops<br />
36 In Memoriam: Claudio Keusch<br />
36 Zum Gedenken an Claudio Keusch<br />
46 rider profile - Robbie and Debra Sanders<br />
4 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine - Spring 2011 www.bosshosscountry.com 5
Available in the standard<br />
mind-blowing,<br />
heart pounding,<br />
adrenaline rush,<br />
normal version...<br />
or we can customize<br />
one especially for you.<br />
take a ride<br />
at the next<br />
<strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong><br />
power<br />
ARIZONA BIKE WEEK<br />
WESTWORLD, SCOTTSDALE<br />
3/30/2011, THEN 4/13-18/2011<br />
DESTINATION VEGAS<br />
SOUTH POINT HOTEL - 4/8-10/2011<br />
LAUGHLIN RIVER RUN<br />
AVI RESORT, LAUGHLIN, NV<br />
4/27/2011 - 5/1/2011<br />
ASHVILLE BIKEFEST<br />
WNC AG CENTER, ASHVILLE, NC<br />
5/12-15/2011<br />
BOSS HOSS OF FREDERICK<br />
FREDERICK, MD - 6/3-5/2011<br />
AMERICADE<br />
QUEENSBURY, NY - 6/7-11/2011<br />
MOUNTAIN BOSS HOSS<br />
SOMERSET, PA - 6/23-25/2011<br />
CHOPPER CITY SPORTS<br />
FRIDLEY, MN - 7/9-10/2011<br />
SIRON AUTOMOTIVE<br />
BLOOMINGTON, IL - 7/16/2011<br />
STURGIS MOTORCYCLE RALLY<br />
MONKEY ROCK, STURGIS, SD<br />
8/5-13/2011<br />
BOSS HOSS NATIONAL RALLY<br />
PARIS LANDING STATE PARK<br />
NEAR PARIS, TN - 9/22-24/2011<br />
Tourwww.bosshoss.com<br />
BIKES BLUES & BBQ<br />
FAYETTEVILLE, AR<br />
9/28/2011 - 10/1/2011<br />
BIKETOBERFEST<br />
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY,<br />
DAYTONA BEACH, FL<br />
10/13-15/2011<br />
6 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine - Spring 2011
leading the charge.<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Cycles was<br />
saddened by the departure<br />
of Chief Operations Officer<br />
Rad Hunsley in mid-February<br />
–although he’s not really gone,<br />
since he remains just a phone<br />
call away, in close touch with his<br />
friends and colleagues.<br />
Hunsley’s decision to accept<br />
another position was months in<br />
the making, said BHC owner/<br />
founder Monte Warne. “Hard<br />
as it was to see it happen, the<br />
conditions and timing were just<br />
‘right’ for this change.”<br />
--not only “right” for Hunsley, but<br />
for Monte himself, who admits<br />
that after a ten-year sabbatical,<br />
he had been sorely missing the<br />
hands-on connection with the<br />
company he established 21<br />
years ago.<br />
he points out. Those family<br />
ties mean they will continue to<br />
maintain a close connection,<br />
with Rad ready and willing to<br />
assist with any transitional<br />
issues, as needed.<br />
“Rad’s not the leader of the<br />
pack anymore—I am,” Warne<br />
explains, “but Rad’s right there<br />
behind me. I’m just enthused<br />
that I can go back now and pick<br />
up where he left off.”<br />
at what we’ve done. The new<br />
model is going to offer the best<br />
of both worlds,” he hints. “If<br />
you liked the sound of the <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong> big block—get ready!”<br />
Improved fuel economy and<br />
comfort are also part of the<br />
new set of 2012 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong><br />
attractions—and they’re a lot<br />
more than just talk: these visions<br />
are already off the drawing<br />
board and in the works.<br />
Also in the works are new<br />
“this quarter was<br />
our biggest quarter<br />
in two years.”<br />
“Rad and I had talked about it<br />
extensively; I had been thinking<br />
about getting back into <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong>—and when Rad made his<br />
decision to move on, I realized<br />
I was genuinely ready for action<br />
again,” said Warne.<br />
Not many people know that he<br />
and Hunsley are actually related,<br />
The Shape of Things to<br />
Come<br />
Warne’s optimism and<br />
enthusiasm is evident as he<br />
discusses future strategies and<br />
directions for <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Cycles<br />
and its coveted products. “I’ve<br />
got lots of plans and upgrade<br />
ideas that I’ve been working on;<br />
I could tell you about all of them,<br />
but then I’d have to kill you,” he<br />
quips happily.<br />
Customers will just have to wait<br />
till the new model year comes<br />
out, when “they’ll be amazed<br />
at the improvements we’re<br />
implementing,” Warne promises.<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> dealers have been<br />
given a sneak preview of the<br />
changes to come, however, and<br />
their excitement is electric. “It’s<br />
going to be a real barnburner<br />
when customers get a look<br />
ways to spread the <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong> gospel—including public<br />
relations efforts that may put<br />
copies of the magazine you’re<br />
holding into the hands of the<br />
mainstream public by making<br />
it available at news stands and<br />
convenience stores.<br />
Already, riders report, more of<br />
the general public recognize<br />
the <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> by name than<br />
was once the case—but it’s still<br />
rare and unusual enough to turn<br />
heads, which is a large part of<br />
the <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>’s charm, believes<br />
Warne. “These bikes are like<br />
Lamborghinis; people are aware<br />
of them, but only see one every<br />
once in a while—and that adds<br />
to their mystique.”<br />
8 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine - Spring 2011 www.bosshosscountry.com 9
The newest <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> dealer in<br />
North America just may be the<br />
most conveniently located of all...<br />
Custom Works of Daytona Beach<br />
at 806 N. Beach Street. New &<br />
Used <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> bikes and trikes,<br />
parts, service, apparel... you<br />
name it and we’re on it.<br />
And, given our name, ask about<br />
our custom designs and parts for<br />
your <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> bikes and trikes.<br />
Come by for a tour or visit us<br />
online at www.cwidaytona.com.<br />
Custom Works • 806 N. Beach St • Daytona Beach, FL 32114 USA<br />
(386) 257-1300 • Fax: (386) 257-1698 • www.cwidaytona.com • info@cwidaytona.com<br />
welcome to our corner.<br />
Building on a Firm Foundation<br />
“<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Cycles is not the<br />
same company it was ten<br />
years ago,” he reflects. “It’s<br />
more organized, a lot more<br />
sophisticated, and the bikes<br />
are much more reliable now,<br />
thanks in part to Rad’s great<br />
management. In spite of the<br />
economic crunch, we’re seeing<br />
a bright light at the end of the<br />
tunnel and the company is<br />
already experiencing huge relief;<br />
this quarter was our biggest<br />
quarter in two years.”<br />
Warne’s firm views on financial<br />
responsibility have kept the<br />
company on an even keel<br />
despite tough times: “I learned<br />
early in business, before <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong> ever came along, not to<br />
over-extend my credit on any<br />
venture. I determined to start<br />
small and let the business grow<br />
without taking anything out of it.<br />
My goal was to let it build and<br />
build, and keep it secure—and<br />
that’s exactly the way we’ve run<br />
this business from day one. Rad<br />
is very conservative,<br />
just as I am; that’s why<br />
the company has been<br />
as successful as it has,<br />
despite unfavorable<br />
economic conditions.”<br />
Other, larger<br />
manufacturers with<br />
higher volumes have<br />
indeed come and gone<br />
during hard times, while<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Cycles has<br />
remained stable by<br />
tightening its belt a notch.<br />
“Rad and I often discussed<br />
catastrophe contingency plans,”<br />
Warne notes. “What if we didn’t<br />
have any business for a year?<br />
What if we had to shut down for<br />
a year? Careful planning meant<br />
that we were financially prepared<br />
for emergencies, and could<br />
survive them if we had to.<br />
“<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> has<br />
always cashflowed<br />
everything that<br />
we’ve ever done.<br />
As I sit here today,<br />
I can assure you<br />
that the company<br />
is completely debt<br />
free—and will<br />
remain debt free.<br />
We may have to<br />
make cutbacks and slow down<br />
production, as we have done<br />
through the recession period, but<br />
we have continued to operate.<br />
We’re such a small company<br />
that it doesn’t take thousands of<br />
motorcycles for us to stay above<br />
the water line; we can build<br />
a couple hundred a year and<br />
continue to focus on quality.”<br />
The bottom line, proven over 21<br />
years of <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> history, is<br />
that great ideas and conservative<br />
management pay off in the long<br />
run.<br />
“Always has,” says Warne.<br />
“Always will.”<br />
Watch for Monte, Meredith,<br />
and their daughter at the 7th<br />
European <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Rally this<br />
July, in Pullman City, Hasselfelde/<br />
Germany—and at upcoming<br />
major U.S. rallies, as well.<br />
As Warne says, “It’s a return<br />
to the Mom-and-Pop era!” – a<br />
change the <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> family<br />
of riders can welcome with<br />
pleasure!<br />
10 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine - Spring 2011 www.bosshosscountry.com 11
12 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine - Spring 2011 www.bosshosscountry.com 13
daytona<br />
2011<br />
14 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine - Spring 2011 www.bosshosscountry.com 15<br />
photos by Seth Chandler
see more photos<br />
from Daytona at<br />
bosshosscountry.com<br />
September<br />
calendars<br />
22-24,2011<br />
16 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine - Spring 2011 registration form on page 42<br />
www.bosshosscountry.com 17<br />
mark your<br />
2011 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> National Rally - Paris, TN
<strong>Berzerker</strong>:<br />
“The <strong>baddest</strong> <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> ever…”?<br />
Ricky Dietz is a guy in love with<br />
the berserker legend, wherein<br />
fierce, no-holds-barred Viking<br />
warriors were consumed by rage<br />
and driven by blind fury to destroy<br />
all enemies and obstacles, no<br />
matter how bloody the battle and<br />
how unfavorable the odds against<br />
them.<br />
Ricky Dietz is also a guy<br />
determined to get what he wants.<br />
I vote that we get out of his way!<br />
Seriously, the combination of<br />
Dietz’s commitment not to settle<br />
for second best, coupled<br />
with the tenacity and talent<br />
of the guys at California <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong>—who love a creative<br />
challenge!—resulted in the birth<br />
of a one-of-a-kind custom bike<br />
that breathes raw power, and<br />
answers (loudly) to the name<br />
“<strong>Berzerker</strong>”.<br />
Dietz ordered up the fastest<br />
motorcycle in the world—off<br />
the line. “I’m an NHRA fan,” he<br />
explains, “and to me that first<br />
quarter-mile tells the story. I<br />
wanted <strong>Berzerker</strong> to be the<br />
fastest street legal bike in the<br />
world.”<br />
What he got is, according<br />
to California <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>’s<br />
Jim Stoddard, “a really<br />
extraordinary bike—the<br />
<strong>baddest</strong> <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> that was ever<br />
made!<br />
“It’s a first in many areas for a<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>. The 430 c.i. engine<br />
is a highly modified LS style<br />
on nitrous oxide that produces<br />
almost 1000 hp. And its approach<br />
to traction control is unique,<br />
different from anything I have ever<br />
seen on a bike before.”<br />
Atop the handlebars sits another<br />
<strong>Berzerker</strong> original feature—a<br />
multi-function computer that<br />
monitors everything going on with<br />
the engine and the rest of the<br />
bike.<br />
“This bike is all EFI, with<br />
electronic fuel injection,” Dietz<br />
points out with pride. The 3” x<br />
7” Racepak IQ3 dash monitor*<br />
displays up-to-the-second<br />
readouts on everything from<br />
manifold pressure, ignition time,<br />
fuel flow, injector performance,<br />
etc.—four pages’ worth of digital<br />
*Racepak Datalogger features:<br />
32 Channels<br />
· Internally Mounted GPS<br />
· Internal 3 Axis G Meter<br />
· 512MB microSD Memory Card<br />
· Programmable Shift Lights<br />
· Programmable Warning Lights With<br />
on Screen Warning<br />
· 24 Programmable Sensor Inputs<br />
on 4 Pages<br />
· Programmable 5 Character<br />
Channel Name<br />
· Gear Indicator<br />
· Predictive Lap Time<br />
· Prop Slip and Prop Speed for Boats<br />
· Power/Ground/Engine RPM/<br />
external Programming Buttons<br />
Harness<br />
· Speed, Lap Time, Lap No. From GPS<br />
· Downloaded Data Provides Track<br />
mapping, Segment Times,<br />
data Reports<br />
· Includes DatalinkII Data Analysis<br />
· Software and Installation Manual<br />
· Metric / Imperial Configurable<br />
data you can scan through with<br />
the touch of a button. Its data<br />
logger records information for<br />
later downloading and analysis—a<br />
troubleshooter’s dream gadget.<br />
“It reports your 0-60 mph time in<br />
seconds, your 0-100 mph time,<br />
how many lateral g’s you’re pulling<br />
into a turn, and your acceleration<br />
g’s at launch. It’s fantastic—and<br />
extremely versatile,” Dietz adds.<br />
“The 430 engine will turn 8200<br />
rpm—just a guess because I<br />
haven’t ridden <strong>Berzerker</strong> yet—but<br />
that should put me close to 170<br />
mph in drive! When I want to hot<br />
dog, I don’t want to have to limit<br />
myself to 120 mph because that’s<br />
redline. I wanted more—without<br />
compromising my transmission.”<br />
Dietz’s crystal-clear mental<br />
picture of what he wanted, made<br />
for some interesting builder<br />
challenges:<br />
“I really wanted <strong>Berzerker</strong>’s LS<br />
engine to sound offensive. When<br />
the engine was first built, I heard<br />
it and I was totally disappointed.<br />
It had the power (847 hp with<br />
NOS), and without the NOS it<br />
was making more torque across<br />
the board than the 502—but it<br />
just didn’t sound impressive. I<br />
said no.<br />
“I told the builder I wasn’t<br />
happy with the sound. I said I<br />
wanted it to turn 8,000 rpm. I<br />
wanted the heads and intake<br />
ported/matched---all the black<br />
magic—all the little performance<br />
tricks; I wanted everything. I<br />
didn’t want an ‘off the shelf’<br />
car cam—I wanted it custom<br />
ground, designed specifically for<br />
a 1,000-lb motorcycle that must<br />
sound pissed off.”<br />
The builder promised to make<br />
it bark; and he did. Although<br />
Dietz was out of the country at<br />
the time the engine rebuild was<br />
completed, he still laughs at the<br />
memory of the e-mail he received<br />
from Victor Vert at California <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong>, advising him that the rebuilt<br />
engine was a success.<br />
“HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!!! What<br />
18 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine - Spring 2011 www.bosshosscountry.com 19
have YOU-WE created?” Vert’s<br />
message began. “We all just<br />
stood there in disbelief at the<br />
sounds and vibrations and power<br />
emitted from the engine…My ears<br />
have never hurt from the sounds<br />
of a motorcycle until today, and<br />
that was your bike just idling!!...I<br />
promise you that this bike’s<br />
sounds, idle and power will far<br />
surpass any of your expectations!<br />
It truly is a wonder of the world of<br />
motorcycles!”<br />
Mission accomplished. The<br />
<strong>Berzerker</strong>’s heart was beating<br />
strongly, and its new voice<br />
commanded respect.<br />
The final touch—<strong>Berzerker</strong>’s<br />
“skin”—was completed in late<br />
August. As soon as the paint<br />
was dry, the photographers<br />
went to work capturing some<br />
eye-popping perspectives of<br />
<strong>Berzerker</strong>’s brawn. The bike’s<br />
NHRA drag theme dominates the<br />
paint scheme. The manufacturer<br />
logo decals aren’t decals—they’re<br />
airbrushed into the candy apple<br />
red paint that covers the custommade<br />
sheet metal of the bike’s<br />
body.<br />
“It doesn’t resemble any other<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> I’ve ever seen,” Dietz<br />
pronounces with satisfaction.<br />
In the beginning<br />
Dietz, who has been a rider<br />
since age 12, when he got into<br />
dirt bikes and began racing<br />
motocross, has ridden off and<br />
on ever since. After a short<br />
sabbatical, he began riding again<br />
in 2005, on a Road King he<br />
immediately conspired to beef up<br />
in search of more speed.<br />
At Biketoberfest 2006 he<br />
succumbed to the temptation to<br />
take a <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> demo ride, and,<br />
like many of us, HAD to have one.<br />
He was consumed by the dream<br />
of getting a <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> for the full<br />
month of his off-shore stint on a<br />
oil drilling rig in Russia—and when<br />
he came home<br />
to Louisiana for<br />
his month long<br />
“weekend”, he<br />
bought a new<br />
Super Sport<br />
from Houston<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> in<br />
December 2006.<br />
At the time, says<br />
Dietz, “My first thought was, “Who<br />
could ever want anything more<br />
than this?’”<br />
Well, human nature being what<br />
it is, that “who” turned out to be<br />
Accompanied by his brother, who<br />
also rides a <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>, Dietz<br />
made the trip up through the<br />
West and rode into Sturgis by<br />
way of Montana for the big annual<br />
blowout.<br />
“We’re riding around in Sturgis,”<br />
Dietz explains, “and I’m thinking<br />
I’m the big dog, and suddenly this<br />
thunder came alongside of us—<br />
shaking the ground. A guy with<br />
an awesome <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> pulled up<br />
alongside us at a red light, and as<br />
soon as the light went green, we<br />
pulled over and talked to him. He<br />
had 1100 horsepower: a 900 hp<br />
engine and a 200 hp shot of nox.<br />
“The bike was a custom job—one<br />
of Marv Jorgenson’s bikes—and<br />
I was totally in awe. My brother<br />
leaned over and whispered in my<br />
ear, ‘We got gay bikes!’<br />
“That dude was my inspiration,”<br />
concluded Dietz. “I decided then<br />
and there, I was going to have<br />
something like that!”<br />
From that point, the dreaming<br />
and scheming began; Dietz<br />
explored methods and makers<br />
and weighed his options. After<br />
running into California <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong> dealer Victor Vert at the<br />
Laughlin River Run during one of<br />
began talking about his plans<br />
to build a superbike. One thing<br />
led to another, and when Dietz<br />
flew back to Russia for another<br />
month in exile, Cal <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>’s<br />
Jim Stoddard got busy, and by<br />
the time Dietz returned, all the<br />
groundwork had been done,<br />
plans were laid and how-to’s<br />
considered.<br />
Dietz laid some money down and<br />
told Stoddard to get started.<br />
“Even then,” remembers Dietz, “it<br />
was still a work in progress. We<br />
had some ideas and a concept<br />
for the engine and fuel tank, but<br />
we thought of new things and<br />
changed things as we went along.<br />
I was constantly scouring the<br />
internet and hot rod magazines<br />
for cutting edge products. I knew<br />
I was in good hands, considering<br />
that Stoddard is a former top fuel<br />
funny car racer/mechanic, Vert’s<br />
passion for hot rods, and because<br />
Southern California is the hot rod<br />
mecca with every resource you<br />
could ever imagine, all within a 30<br />
mile radius of Cal <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>!”<br />
<strong>Berzerker</strong>’s creation was a<br />
lengthy process—how long, Dietz<br />
is reluctant to say—and over that<br />
period, his investment in this eyeand<br />
ear-popping prototype has<br />
run easily into six figures.<br />
As Vert warned him, Dietz recalls<br />
with a chuckle, “‘I’m not saying it’s<br />
gonna happen, but anything that<br />
can go wrong, might go wrong!’<br />
Boy, was that ever so true—and<br />
it was all due to vendor-related<br />
delays.<br />
“You watch these bike-builder<br />
videos, and they make it seem<br />
easy. They’ve been there and<br />
done that many times, but our<br />
plans were fluid and subject to<br />
change every time a new idea<br />
was conceived. It was definitely<br />
an educational experience for all<br />
of us. Cal <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> has been<br />
really great through this whole<br />
process and I definitely have a<br />
bunch of new friends.”<br />
Dietz is married and he and his<br />
wife, Melanie, are the proud<br />
parents of four dogs.<br />
When Dietz isn’t on the job<br />
in Russia on his alternating<br />
28-day shifts for Shell Oil<br />
Company, he runs his own<br />
13-year-old company, <strong>Berzerker</strong><br />
Incorporated, which has launched<br />
first a trucking company, then<br />
an advertising agency, and is<br />
currently hatching a new endeavor<br />
he is unwilling to reveal just yet.<br />
A dedicated rider, he averages<br />
about 15,000 miles a year on his<br />
motorcycle—a good trick when<br />
he spends about 7 of the 12<br />
months either out of the country,<br />
or traveling to and from the job.<br />
“<strong>Berzerker</strong> is unlike anything else<br />
that’s ever been out there in the<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> world, that’s for sure,”<br />
he says with confidence. “And it’s<br />
not going to be just a show bike;<br />
I’m going to ride the hell out of it<br />
and enjoy it.”<br />
Watch for Dietz and <strong>Berzerker</strong> at<br />
rallies to come—we’ll probably<br />
feel the earth shaking long before<br />
they come into view!<br />
him.<br />
his ‘shore leave’ months, Dietz<br />
20 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine - Spring 2011 www.bosshosscountry.com 21
Let’s announce right up front<br />
that this isn’t an instructional primer<br />
on how to form an outlaw gang, nor<br />
a cautionary tale on how to reform<br />
afterwards. It’s a look at the life of<br />
a man who loved motorcycles long<br />
before most people had seen or<br />
heard of them; whose fascination<br />
with them burgeoned when the<br />
dave<br />
arthur<br />
Profile<br />
of a<br />
Rider<br />
stigma of “outlaw” was a part of<br />
their appeal—and whose admiration<br />
for them endured far beyond<br />
that time, when the world and its<br />
attitudes had changed dramatically,<br />
and so had he.<br />
“In our day we were<br />
scruffians,” remembers Dave Arthur,<br />
a charter member of the infamous<br />
then<br />
now<br />
Satan’s Slaves motorcycle club<br />
established in 1960 in California’s<br />
San Fernando Valley area. “But<br />
today’s law enforcement authorities<br />
would love to have those days<br />
back. We mostly just drank and got<br />
into fights—there was none of the<br />
brutality and drive-by shootings that<br />
you see today. The world hasn’t<br />
gotten better,” he reflects sadly.<br />
“Back then, just long hair was a big<br />
thing. Today, everybody wears their<br />
hair any way they want, and tattoos<br />
and piercings are no big deal.”<br />
Cf: Remember when parental types<br />
regarded the Beatles as dangerous<br />
because their hair was too long? It’s<br />
all a matter of perspective.<br />
Arthur spent his early years in<br />
Brooklyn, and was always a bold and<br />
venturesome child.<br />
His dad was a freelance photographer<br />
for the Hollywood movie studios.<br />
“Dad used to shoot those stills they<br />
posted outside movie theatres—with<br />
black and white pictures<br />
of scenes from the<br />
movies. He travelled all<br />
over the world, taking<br />
shots on the set of<br />
movies like ‘The Bridge<br />
over the River Kwai.’<br />
His photos appeared in<br />
Life, Collier’s, and TV<br />
Guide. Dad was always<br />
gone, and Mom was an<br />
alcoholic. They were<br />
great people—I loved<br />
them, but they were no<br />
good at raising kids.”<br />
So while other<br />
“difficult kids” cut<br />
classes and skipped<br />
school, Arthur and his brother would<br />
hop freight trains and ride to Vermont<br />
or other far-off places.<br />
“We were pretty radical—<br />
adventurous. Other kids were<br />
threatened with being grounded if<br />
they even thought about hanging out<br />
with the Arthur brothers.”<br />
His family moved to California<br />
from Brooklyn when he was 14. His<br />
Dad was assigned a 1952 story on<br />
trailer life, so they travelled across<br />
the U.S. in a brand new Dodge and<br />
trailer home, ending the trip at a<br />
trailer park in California.<br />
Arthur got interested in Whizzer<br />
motor bikes, Cushmans, Mustangs,<br />
and ultimately bought himself a Harley<br />
for $150 at age 15. “That was a lot<br />
of money, then,” Arthur points out. “I<br />
dropped out of school, and hustled<br />
money at a pool hall and worked at<br />
a machine shop to get enough to<br />
buy the motorcycle. In California,<br />
you could get a license to ride a<br />
motorcycle at age 15 and that’s all I<br />
wanted—motorcycles and girls.<br />
“After a while, the Harley was<br />
giving me trouble, and an older guy<br />
at the machine shop said he could<br />
tales from<br />
biking’s<br />
dark side<br />
rebuild it and make it a stroker, and I<br />
said, ‘Okay—that’s cool. Do it.’ But I<br />
didn’t have any money.<br />
“About this time, my dad got<br />
back from Europe. He said he’d pay<br />
to get the bike fixed the way I wanted<br />
it on the condition that I would go<br />
into military service at age 17. That<br />
seemed like a whole lifetime away,<br />
so I agreed. I got my Harley back<br />
in action, but because my friend<br />
could still beat me on his bike—a<br />
Triumph—I traded the Harley for<br />
a Triumph Bonneville—the world’s<br />
fastest motorcycle in late ‘59.”<br />
Time inevitably passed; his<br />
Dad returned from his global travels<br />
and reminded Arthur that he was 17<br />
years old—it was time to honor his<br />
deal and go into the Air Force.<br />
The best that could be said<br />
of that exposure to the military<br />
experience is that Arthur’s preference<br />
for the unconventional, and a lifelong<br />
habit of flouting rules did not mesh<br />
well with the rigorous demands,<br />
short hair and strict discipline of boot<br />
camp.<br />
After six weeks, he pursued<br />
and received a medical discharge<br />
because of flat<br />
feet. “I called them<br />
‘million dollar legs’<br />
at the time!<br />
The first thing<br />
I asked for when I<br />
got home was my<br />
Triumph, but my<br />
mom told me that<br />
somebody had<br />
stolen it out of the<br />
garage while I was<br />
gone.”<br />
An<br />
unemployed<br />
pedestrian civilian,<br />
Arthur walked to<br />
visit a girlfriend<br />
whose father, a studio executive,<br />
while drunk, promptly offered to<br />
buy Arthur a motorcycle if the lack<br />
of transportation was all that was<br />
standing between him and finding a<br />
job. Because it was a Monday and the<br />
Harley dealership was closed, they<br />
went to the next closest motorcycle<br />
dealership, and Arthur wound up with<br />
a BSA Super Rocket 1960.<br />
At 17, Arthur was one of<br />
the youngest motorcycle riders in<br />
the area, and his friends, whom he<br />
describes as misfits like himself,<br />
22 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine - Spring 2011 www.bosshosscountry.com 23
were all in their 20s. At the time,<br />
says Arthur, there were hardly any<br />
motorcycles around—you might<br />
see one a week if you were lucky.<br />
“Because they were such rarities,<br />
everybody looked<br />
at them. The only<br />
bikes you could<br />
get were Triumphs,<br />
Indians, and<br />
Harleys.<br />
Those of us who<br />
loved motorcycles<br />
were all scrappers,<br />
rebels—guys who<br />
made our own rules—and people<br />
just weren’t used to us. They weren’t<br />
comfortable around us.”<br />
Before Hunter S. Thompson<br />
ever focused his gonzo skills on<br />
Hell’s Angels and made them an<br />
American byword—before the days<br />
of Prez Sonny Barger, Arthur says,<br />
“We wanted to become Hell’s Angels;<br />
Dave Arthur at the recent Satan’s Slaves Reunion<br />
we went up to their clubhouse in<br />
San Bernardino and asked to start<br />
a chapter in the San Fernando<br />
Valley. Because there was already<br />
a chapter in Venice, which was less<br />
than 25 miles from us, we were<br />
turned down.”<br />
So the frustrated group of<br />
about ten bikers decided to form<br />
their own club, Satan’s Slaves.<br />
“We liked to drink and party<br />
hard and<br />
chase women;<br />
we didn’t care<br />
about anything<br />
else,” Arthur<br />
remembers.<br />
“We made<br />
it hard to<br />
get into the<br />
club—it<br />
was exclusive. It took people 8 or<br />
9 months as prospects to get in,<br />
so it was a real source of pride to<br />
become a member. I was a charter<br />
member—and that club was my life,<br />
my family.”<br />
Arthur earned a living playing<br />
pool in a windowless pool hall he<br />
regarded as his official residence.<br />
His mail was delivered there; it was<br />
the address on his driver’s license.<br />
“It was just a thug place, but I was<br />
happy there. Somebody at the pool<br />
hall gave me some marijuana—my<br />
first time—it was 1959 or 60, the<br />
beginning of the drug scene, and this<br />
was brand new to me.”<br />
Many of his subsequent<br />
adventures in the shadowy<br />
underworld of drugs and drug<br />
trafficking are unprintable, giving<br />
a rare and hair-raising glimpse of<br />
the Dark Side to those of us more<br />
inclined to mainstream pastimes.<br />
Arthur spent time in prison for<br />
dealing marijuana, emerged as a<br />
“celebrity” at age 25, and spent his<br />
days at the beach, and his evenings<br />
with girls, playing pool, and riding<br />
bikes.<br />
Life is just one continuous<br />
learning process. Some of us are<br />
“out there” learning more every<br />
day—good and bad—than others<br />
learn in an entire lifetime. Arthur<br />
was perched on the leading edge,<br />
embracing new experiences—and<br />
in the process he made a lot of<br />
contacts, including celebrities who<br />
introduced him to cocaine.<br />
“It was sex, drugs, and<br />
rock and roll. I was in the money—I<br />
bought an airplane, a Corvette, a<br />
million-dollar Ferrari, classic Vincent<br />
motorcycles, anything I wanted. A<br />
Penthouse Pet of the Year was my<br />
girlfriend. I was just a young, crazy<br />
guy, and I loved the lifestyle and<br />
cocaine. It did me in, eventually,<br />
but till then, I was a millionaire for 7<br />
years. I had scrapes with the law, but<br />
I had money and good attorneys. I<br />
had a trucking company that hauled<br />
sand and gravel and made money<br />
that way, too.<br />
“But then I started smoking<br />
crack—and that was the fastest<br />
decline—the worst drug of all.”<br />
From a great high, he started<br />
steadily going downhill. In 1977,<br />
the Satan’s Slaves became the San<br />
Fernando Valley Hell’s Angel Chapter.<br />
Since Hell’s Angels didn’t allow crack<br />
cocaine, after 17 years Arthur retired<br />
from the club, which had way too<br />
many rules for him.<br />
The story of his decline isn’t<br />
pretty; as Arthur intended, it provides<br />
a sobering lesson:<br />
“I started not liking myself,”<br />
admits Arthur. “It was not good. I<br />
started losing all my money, my<br />
empire collapsed. It took about 4<br />
years,” he recalls.<br />
He struggled unsuccessfully<br />
on his own to kick the habit,<br />
experiencing dangerous seizures as<br />
a result of his abuse, till ultimately,<br />
at the proverbial rock bottom, his<br />
friends took him to a Narcotics<br />
Anonymous meeting, where he was<br />
shocked by the presence of a man in<br />
a wheelchair, paralyzed by the same<br />
sort of seizures Arthur had been<br />
experiencing.<br />
“People there were happy,”<br />
he exclaims, still amazed by the<br />
revelation. “What druggies really<br />
want is to be happy. I listened to<br />
the speakers at the meeting; many<br />
seemed happy and I wasn’t—and<br />
that’s what I wanted.”<br />
With the support of the<br />
friends who sponsored him, Arthur<br />
took the life-changing step, attended<br />
daily meetings, and on February 18<br />
of this year, he celebrated a special<br />
anniversary: “I’ve been clean for<br />
20 years,” he says with pride. “I<br />
was 49 when I quit alcohol, drugs,<br />
everything. Now that I’m clean, I<br />
recommend ‘no anything’—not even<br />
alcohol.”<br />
He moved to Las Vegas,<br />
where he lives today with Lisa, his<br />
girlfriend of 15 years. There he<br />
bought a house and a truck to reestablish<br />
a hauling business, became<br />
a Born Again Christian, and was<br />
baptized.<br />
“I believe in Jesus. He’s been<br />
good to me; I don’t like to preach<br />
religion, but for me, it’s great. In the<br />
program, the main thing you learn is<br />
to rely on a higher power; you learn<br />
that the world doesn’t revolve around<br />
you.”<br />
Today, clean, sober, and<br />
happy, Arthur characterizes himself<br />
as just a regular old working guy;<br />
one who is glad to share his story if<br />
it helps others. He often addresses<br />
groups of substance abusers and<br />
recovering addicts at Narcotics<br />
Anonymous meetings, and takes<br />
quiet pride in the knowledge that<br />
others find his experiences useful in<br />
dealing with their own demons.<br />
Arthur’s powerful voice, humor, and<br />
honesty about his past mistakes<br />
offer a sample of the quality that<br />
makes him such an effective speaker<br />
and storyteller.<br />
One constant in Arthur’s life,<br />
through good times and bad, was<br />
his love of motorcycles—pictured<br />
here are some of the classics from<br />
a collection that he acquired over<br />
the years, and preserved even when<br />
his other possessions had to be<br />
sacrificed.<br />
Included is a 1962 Triumph<br />
TR6 fixed up in the style of Arthur’s<br />
17-year-old days. “That one is<br />
representative of its era—a real nice<br />
bike,” he points out.<br />
The rigid Harley is the last<br />
bike he built himself, started in 1996<br />
or 97 and finished in about a year.<br />
“I’m keeping that one because it<br />
reminds me of when I was young. I<br />
had a lot of bikes like that one. It’s a<br />
fast bike,” Arthur comments.<br />
“I also have a Mustang motor<br />
scooter. It’s a little tiny motorcycle. I<br />
had one at age 14, and traded a car<br />
for it.<br />
“I also have a Salisbury motor<br />
scooter—an interesting bike, and a<br />
really rare scooter, originally made<br />
by Northrop Aviation. A lot of movie<br />
24 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine - Spring 2011 www.bosshosscountry.com 25
stars like Clark Gable had them back<br />
in the day. They go about 55 mph,<br />
which is pretty fast for that type of<br />
bike.”<br />
His collection also includes<br />
an Ariel Square Four 1954 model<br />
with a four cylinder engine. “It was<br />
way ahead of its time,” says Arthur.<br />
“They were really the Cadillac of the<br />
British bikes. Really smooth; they<br />
sound like little Offenhauser race<br />
cars.”<br />
And of course the gem of<br />
his collection—and what he calls his<br />
most life-changing event in 50 years<br />
of motorcycle riding—is the <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong>. “It truly amazes me,” he says.<br />
(Read the full story of Arthur’s<br />
memorable acquisition of his first<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> in the Spring 2010<br />
Anniversary issue of <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong><br />
<strong>Country</strong>.)<br />
“I really didn’t think I’d like<br />
the <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> that much. I had the<br />
same mentality as most regular<br />
motorcycle people do: ‘they’re big,<br />
they’re heavy, they’ll never handle’.”<br />
When he checked e-bay, however,<br />
and found a 2003 model with 541<br />
miles on it, stored by a guy who<br />
never rode it, he bought it sight<br />
unseen and trailered it from Kansas<br />
to Nevada behind his old station<br />
wagon—he wouldn’t even attempt to<br />
ride it until he got home. “I thought<br />
if it didn’t work out, I could always<br />
re-sell it.<br />
“It intimidated me a little,”<br />
Arthur admits. “But when I got back,<br />
I couldn’t wait to try it! I got on it<br />
and rode it around the block before<br />
I ever went in the house. And then I<br />
couldn’t wait to ride it some more!<br />
“The first three days I took it out,<br />
it broke down and I had to bring it<br />
back on a trailer every time. It was<br />
always something—the fuel pump,<br />
the carburetor, the alternator, the<br />
battery—all because it hadn’t been<br />
run in a long time, and hadn’t ever<br />
been properly broken in.<br />
But I was overjoyed—like a<br />
little kid. I didn’t care if I had to push<br />
it each time! I still loved it.<br />
“At the time, my collection<br />
of bikes was much larger, but after I<br />
got the <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>, I just didn’t ride<br />
them much anymore; I just mainly<br />
rode the <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>. I loved my<br />
<strong>Boss</strong>. I’d never had a bike with a<br />
windshield; those old outlaw guys<br />
just didn’t have windshields. I loved<br />
it; I called it a window for a long<br />
time. That little trunk under the seat<br />
was a GIANT plus –I could put in a<br />
sweatshirt and a down jacket and a<br />
pair of gloves, and I could ride in my<br />
T-shirt on the west coast where it<br />
gets hot out, and yet when evenings<br />
came I could pull out my warm stuff.<br />
“I started riding the <strong>Boss</strong><br />
everywhere, thousands of miles<br />
at a time. I rode it to the Midwest,<br />
Oklahoma, through Oregon, down to<br />
California from Nevada—and over to<br />
Arizona. It just doesn’t ever break,<br />
leak, or let me down.”<br />
Arthur was so enthusiastic<br />
about the V8 bikes that eventually<br />
he also added a V8 Chopper to his<br />
collection—“mainly because I’m a<br />
chopper guy at heart,” he explains.<br />
“but I’m never selling my <strong>Boss</strong>—I<br />
think having two V8’s is the best of<br />
both worlds. I’m the Western U.S.<br />
rep for V8 Choppers and I sell them<br />
because I love them, too. But I tell<br />
people looking for a touring bike<br />
that my recommendation is a <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong>; if they want a chopper, my<br />
suggestion would be to get a V8<br />
Chopper. The best solution is to<br />
have one of each! That’s my genuine<br />
feeling. I feel blessed to have both<br />
bikes and ride them both, and I just<br />
love them.”<br />
He’s also a big fan of the<br />
new LS <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> models. “I tell<br />
people they’re lighter than my small<br />
block and faster than a big block.<br />
They’ve come a long way and they<br />
look good and I’d love to have one,<br />
but it’s not in the budget right now.”<br />
Looking at the biker world<br />
from his perspective of 55 years’<br />
worth of riding experience, Arthur<br />
reflects thoughtfully: “I wish the<br />
mainstream bike riders would take<br />
our bikes seriously. We need to<br />
recruit more ‘regular folks.’ If they<br />
just ride these bikes, they’ll come<br />
away with a whole new attitude.<br />
“It’s a little irritating when<br />
people ask me questions like, ‘What<br />
are you gonna do if it falls over?’ I<br />
feel like saying, ‘I don’t know about<br />
you, but I don’t fall over on my bike.<br />
If you have problems with falling<br />
over while riding your bike, maybe<br />
you shouldn’t have one!” he laughs.<br />
“If they’d just ride it, they’d know<br />
better.”<br />
In the final analysis, says<br />
Arthur, “I have fun selling them and<br />
I have fun riding them, and my old<br />
enthusiasm for motorcycles is back<br />
again. I’ve always loved motorcycles,<br />
but the V8s—they’re just like a whole<br />
new ball game. I feel like a little kid<br />
again—it’s cool as hell.”<br />
26 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine - Spring 2011 www.bosshosscountry.com 27
Daytona 2011, at the <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> owner’s appreciation party, across from the speedway.<br />
28 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine - Spring 2011 www.bosshosscountry.com 29
Ernie Beadle, the Western Canadian<br />
dealer for <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> in Kamloops,<br />
British Columbia, doesn’t believe in<br />
living a dull life. If adventure doesn’t<br />
come looking for him, he goes<br />
after it!<br />
Just take a look back at some of his<br />
tales that have appeared in <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> over the last few<br />
years: He’s dealt with a flood, an<br />
up-close-and-personal encounter with<br />
Hell’s Angels, customers dropping<br />
out of the sky in helicopters, and<br />
some pretty impressive international<br />
gatherings of the <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> faithful<br />
held at opposite corners of the<br />
globe, as well.<br />
“As soon as my feet touched the<br />
ground, I was allowed to ride it,” he<br />
remembers. “Since then, I’ve had<br />
many bikes; I tried to calculate the<br />
number of miles I’ve ridden just on<br />
the bikes I can remember, and my<br />
best guess is that I’ve logged over<br />
225,000 miles on bikes with never<br />
an accident.”<br />
--Unless you count the “sort of”<br />
accident that resulted when he hit<br />
black ice and wound up down and<br />
skidding across the road! Although<br />
Beadle says he bounced or skipped<br />
like a rock, however, he walked away<br />
without injuries.<br />
getting one up there was a huge<br />
deal.”<br />
He talked with Rad Hunsley, then<br />
BHC CEO, who guided him through<br />
what he describes as the rigorous<br />
process of buying and shipping one,<br />
and at some point along the way, he<br />
made a lightning decision.“I thought,<br />
‘What the hell—I may as well be a<br />
dealer as I have the time and passion<br />
for them!’—and that’s where it all<br />
started.”<br />
Owner of a commercial real estate<br />
company he has been operating for<br />
30 years, Beadle regarded the <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong> venture as a semi-retirement<br />
HOSS TRADERS:<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> – Kamloops, BC, Canada<br />
Dealer Profile<br />
Born and raised in Vancouver, Beadle<br />
moved with his family to a farm in<br />
Langley, BC, before striking out on<br />
his own and winding up in Kamloops<br />
30 years ago. His motorcycle<br />
memories started growing early,<br />
since his dad bought a BSA125 for<br />
him and his siblings when Ernie was<br />
about seven years old.<br />
As frequently happens, it was love<br />
at first sight when he spotted his<br />
first <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> at a run in Reno,<br />
Nevada. “As I am an old (figuratively option that would allow him to take<br />
speaking) diehard quarter-mile racer, some time off and enjoy doing<br />
power was a big thing for me,” says something that he had a passion for;<br />
Beadle. “So, to see a V8 in a bike and his business has grown from<br />
was the best of both worlds for there.<br />
this cowboy! There was no 2011 dealer <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> trikes<br />
in western Canada at the time, On the so road When somewhere established near Fayetville, the dealership AR<br />
in 2008, he started with the required<br />
inventory of three bikes. The number<br />
of bikes he keeps in stock varies,<br />
depending on time of year and<br />
Ernie and Hugo (BH Sweden) travel the world<br />
attending <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> rallies. Here they are<br />
at Pullman City in Germany.<br />
market conditions. “In general I only<br />
keep about three bikes around, as I<br />
typically sell five or six a year. I try<br />
to not keep more inventory than the<br />
market will bear. The level of<br />
public interest in the <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong><br />
has been better than expected,<br />
as most people that call me<br />
have already ridden or seen<br />
<strong>Boss</strong>es somewhere and they<br />
just order them without delay.<br />
It’s a love or hate situation: If<br />
they want them, they order; if<br />
not, they don’t call. It’s pretty<br />
simple.”<br />
Most of his customers are<br />
just like him, Beadle says.<br />
“They’re 50-60 years old,<br />
(above) Ernie’s idea of bar stool(s), 502 trike<br />
plus v-8 bar stool, another happy customer.<br />
former adrenaline junkies that love<br />
the sound and the controllable power<br />
of the <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>.” During the course<br />
of the three years he’s been in<br />
business, Beadle has sold about 15<br />
new bikes and trikes and a couple of<br />
used ones.<br />
His dealership has already relocated<br />
once. “I started out in a Yamaha<br />
shop, where I had the bikes on<br />
display only as they wanted the <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong> up there for exposure, as it<br />
was a great crowd pleaser. They<br />
then sold to another dealer who is<br />
going through an expansion mode<br />
and hopefully will look at taking on<br />
30 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine - Spring 2011 www.bosshosscountry.com 31
the <strong>Boss</strong>es, too, to broaden their<br />
market appeal. However,” Beadle<br />
points out, “I have a shop at home<br />
where I do all the mechanical work<br />
on the bikes and then I trailer them<br />
to outside shows, rallies, etc., for<br />
greater visibility.”<br />
One of his favorite venues<br />
for showing off the bikes is<br />
the International Bike Show in<br />
Vancouver, BC, every January,<br />
attended by close to 30,000 people.<br />
“All the major dealers are there so<br />
it is great exposure,” Beadle points<br />
out. “Kamloops also puts on a huge<br />
outdoor car show that includes<br />
Ernie and Dagmar Midcap, host of driving television.<br />
modifieds, antiques, race cars,<br />
street performers, and more—and<br />
I take my bikes, trikes, and <strong>Hoss</strong><br />
Fly bar stool and fire it up every<br />
hour during the show. That gets<br />
everyone’s attention for about a<br />
Zipping through the Rockies...<br />
quarter mile in any directions—it’s a<br />
huge attention grabber.”<br />
Beadle’s customers<br />
have enthusiasm for<br />
the <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> that<br />
equals and sometimes<br />
even surpasses his<br />
own: “Murray and<br />
Donna, customers from<br />
Vancouver, bought a<br />
502 bike, a 502 trike,<br />
and a V-8 <strong>Hoss</strong> Fly bar<br />
stool—and then Murray<br />
custom built a trailer<br />
with a beer wagon on<br />
top, to pull behind his<br />
<strong>Hoss</strong> Fly—just for kicks<br />
at car shows, rallies,<br />
etc.”<br />
Now there’s a guy who<br />
really loves the <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong> brand!<br />
Beadle also mentions<br />
couples who have each<br />
bought two <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>es to ride<br />
together. One couple, Ernie (another<br />
one) and Barb, chose a 502 bike<br />
and a 350 trike; another couple,<br />
Wayne and Carol, bought a pair of<br />
trikes—a ’32 coupe for him and a<br />
’57 Chevy for her.<br />
His most unusual customer may<br />
very well be the one Ernie’s story<br />
spotlighted in our Spring 2009<br />
issue: “Buying on the Fly.” When the<br />
buyer called and asked if he could<br />
drop in to take a look at Beadle’s<br />
502, he meant it literally. He used<br />
GPS coordinates to drop out of the<br />
sky in his helicopter and land on<br />
Beadle’s 40-acre front lawn. A week<br />
later, he flew in again with a friend<br />
who bought a second 502. Beadle<br />
had to hustle to deliver both bikes in<br />
time for Christmas, driving a couple<br />
of hours through two feet of snow to<br />
do so, he recalls.<br />
With 225,000 logged bike miles<br />
to his credit, Beadle obviously<br />
enjoys spending a lot of time in the<br />
saddle, and often tackles long solo<br />
rides on his own, like his qualifying<br />
26-hour Iron Butt ride from Sturgis<br />
to Kamloops nonstop (except<br />
for gas). “The <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> was<br />
super comfortable to ride for that<br />
extended period of time,” he claims.<br />
Once married, Beadle is now single,<br />
with a new partner in his life, and<br />
with two daughters, Lindsay, 23 and<br />
Courtenay, 26. Both are into horses,<br />
especially the youngest, who is an<br />
equestrian coach and instructor who<br />
often rides competitively in Palm<br />
Springs and Tucson. The oldest is<br />
more of a biker girl and has her<br />
bike license; until recently she had a<br />
Harley Sportster of her own, but sold<br />
it when she decided to get married.<br />
She is between bikes, now, but<br />
Beadle sees a <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> in her and<br />
her husband-to-be’s future someday.<br />
“My new partner has just started<br />
getting into riding and really loves<br />
it; however, her involvement is on a<br />
much smaller scale than mine!” he<br />
jokes. “I also ride with a varied group<br />
of buddies, and we try to get out at<br />
least once a week for an evening<br />
ride—then the weekends are free to<br />
do whatever we like.”<br />
Beadle and his longtime best friend<br />
Rod were virtually born together 56<br />
years ago—three months apart, to<br />
families three houses apart—and the<br />
family friendship endures today.<br />
The boys made a pact long ago to<br />
go riding every year–just the two of<br />
them—and they have honored that<br />
pact for many years, with an annual<br />
ride that he truly looks forward to<br />
“because it is full of laughs and<br />
giggles, and lots of verbal abuse<br />
between the two of us. That ride is<br />
always a week-long ride in the fall,<br />
somewhere in BC or the northwest<br />
U.S.”<br />
Beadle also gets together with two<br />
other best buddies, Butch and Nagle,<br />
to do a similar yearly trek. The three<br />
of them are nicknamed the “Three<br />
Stooges.”<br />
“--and quite fitting!” Ernie adds. “This<br />
trip, too, is full of laughs and fun,<br />
combined with practical jokes, some<br />
local suds (Miller’s, that is!) and some<br />
Ernie in the Rockies at about 10,500 ft.<br />
of the U.S. <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Rallies at<br />
32 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine - Spring 2011 www.bosshosscountry.com 33<br />
great rides.”<br />
He has maintained the tradition of<br />
these two rides and looks forward<br />
to them each and every year—<br />
something he thinks all good buddies<br />
should do. “It is a great stress<br />
reliever, good bonding, and just a<br />
whole bunch of fun; and in this day<br />
and age, you need to take advantage<br />
of every opportunity you get to have<br />
some fun, because one day we will<br />
all have to hang up our boots; and<br />
then all we will have are the good<br />
times and memories to remember,”<br />
Beadle reminds us.<br />
As previously mentioned, Beadle<br />
enjoys jauntering off to <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong><br />
rallies on both sides of the globe; He<br />
attended the European <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong><br />
Rally held at Pullman City two years<br />
ago and wrote (in our Fall 2009<br />
issue) a colorful and enthusiastic<br />
story of his trip, including the<br />
opportunity to realize his longtime<br />
dream of riding the Swiss Alps—an<br />
unforgettable experience he still<br />
treasures. “Andy Mueller, the<br />
European importer and German<br />
dealer, was a super host, and the<br />
Europeans are really friendly. I would<br />
go over there again in a minute!” he<br />
concludes.<br />
“I also went to New Zealand to Brian<br />
and Sue Ford’s grand opening in<br />
Christchurch, and rode around there,<br />
as well. What a fabulous country!<br />
And the people are super there, too.<br />
Brian and Sue were incredible hosts,<br />
and quite the characters, I must<br />
say—that is, if you can understand<br />
their unique accent and interesting<br />
figures of speech!”<br />
He makes it a point to attend most
BOSS HOSS CLUB<br />
Dyersburg and Paris, Tennessee. “I<br />
always have a blast, since I get to<br />
meet riders that I have met before<br />
or talked to many times—so it is<br />
more or less party time, with <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong> always putting on a great<br />
event with lots of tailgate parties.<br />
“That’s one thing about the <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong> family,” he reflects thoughtfully.<br />
“They are all so friendly—more so<br />
than any other group I have been<br />
associated with. I had Harleys<br />
for many years, and they are fun<br />
people, too—but nowhere near<br />
as close to a family unit as <strong>Boss</strong><br />
riders are. They are always cheerful,<br />
upbeat, ready to share stories,<br />
and always glad to see you or<br />
accommodate you.”<br />
Asked about his special goals for<br />
the future, Beadle describes a notion<br />
still in the early planning stages—a<br />
Herculean effort the 56-year-old<br />
is considering undertaking for the<br />
noblest of motives:<br />
“I have recently lost a couple of<br />
friends to cancer, and have been<br />
contemplating doing a fundraiser<br />
to bring in money that would<br />
be earmarked specifically for<br />
cancer research,” he explains. His<br />
idea—based on Ewan McGregor’s<br />
long-distance rides chronicled in<br />
the documentaries, TV series, and<br />
books, “Long Way Down” and “Long<br />
Way Round”—is to plan a marathon<br />
ride on the longest stretch of road<br />
in the world, reaching from the tip<br />
of Alaska to the Angentinian tip of<br />
South America (about 20,000 miles<br />
or 32,000 kilometers).<br />
“I’m contemplating building a <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong> designed for such a ride,<br />
and locating sponsors to make<br />
the charitable donation to cancer<br />
research,” says Beadle. “I checked<br />
with the Guinness Book of Records<br />
to see if I could try for the world<br />
record, but only one man has set<br />
the record; others have died trying<br />
to better it, so they will not sponsor<br />
such an event anymore.”<br />
Because he cannot try to break the<br />
world record, he is looking at doing<br />
it over a six-week period, which<br />
would mean covering around 300<br />
miles a day, which would then let<br />
him stop and smell the roses along<br />
the way, he points out. “That’s not<br />
much on pavement, but over half of<br />
this ride would be on gravel and dirt<br />
roads, and that is slow going.”<br />
Well aware that this major adventure<br />
will require a lot of careful planning<br />
and forethought, he is beginning<br />
initial studies of what it might take<br />
to build a bike appropriate for such<br />
a ride.<br />
“Hopefully I can do it someday soon,<br />
since I’m not getting any younger,”<br />
he points out. “This would be the<br />
ultimate test for any bike—and<br />
I’m sure the <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> would pull<br />
through without a hitch.”<br />
We’ll all be waiting eagerly to hear<br />
more news as Beadle develops his<br />
plans—including potential support<br />
from the <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> factory and a<br />
mystery riding partner (from Europe)<br />
to be confirmed soon!<br />
Meanwhile, be sure to visit his<br />
website (www.bcbosshoss.com),<br />
call him at 250-377-1221, or<br />
drop in (vertically or otherwise!)<br />
to his dealership at # 201-982<br />
Camosun Crescent in Kamloops,<br />
British Columbia, Canada V2C<br />
6G2. It’s best to call ahead though,<br />
as he may be out for a long ride<br />
somewhere!<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Denmark<br />
+<br />
www.bosshosscycles.dk<br />
Birger Hansen + bh@boss-hoss.dk + Torvet 4 + 6100 Haderslev + Tel +45 40 13 80 22 + Fax +45 74 53 14 08<br />
34 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine - Spring 2011 www.bosshosscountry.com 35
Claudio Keusch<br />
Zum Gedenken an Claudio Keusch<br />
In Memoriam Claudio Keusch<br />
The European <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> community and its brothers<br />
and sisters worldwide join in mourning the passage of a<br />
good friend and rider who lost his battle with cancer on<br />
February 7, 2011. Klaus Keusch, known to his friends<br />
as Claudio—and to much of his world as “Mr. <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong>“—will be fondly remembered.<br />
In Memoriam Claudio Keusch<br />
by Martin Kolbe<br />
Claudio Keusch visited Daytona Bike Week on a regular<br />
basis. In spring 1991 he and his friends saw a <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong> for the first time on Mainstreet. Although <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong> was, at this time, more in an experimental stage,<br />
Claudio got infected by the V8 virus straight away. After<br />
a few years he mothballed his<br />
Senn-Chopper, and his first <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong>, a clutch model, became<br />
one of the first ones licensed in<br />
Switzerland.<br />
The theme for the paint job was<br />
set from beginning. It had to be<br />
the American Flag. Little by little<br />
he modified his bike to his vision.<br />
The clutch was exchanged for an<br />
automatic drive. The rear tire grew<br />
to a width of 285mm. He even<br />
made a support on the luggage<br />
rack, so he could take his pocket<br />
bike with him.<br />
Die Europäische <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Gemeinde<br />
und ihre weltweiten Brüder und Schwestern betrauern<br />
gemeinsam das Dahinscheiden eines guten Freundes<br />
und Motorradfahrers. Er verlor den Kampf gegen den<br />
Krebs am 7. Februar 2011. An Klaus Keusch, allen<br />
Freunden bekannt als Claudio und vielen Anderen als<br />
„Mister <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>“, wird man sich immer erinnern.<br />
Zum Gedenken an Claudio Keusch<br />
von Martin Kolbe<br />
Claudio Keusch besuchte regelmässig die Bikeweek<br />
in Daytona. Im Frühling 1991 sahen er und seine<br />
Freunde zum ersten Mal eine <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> auf der<br />
Mainstreet. Obwohl die <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> damals noch eher<br />
im Experimental Stadium war,<br />
hatte sich Claudio sofort mit<br />
dem V8 Virus infiziert. Nach ein<br />
paar Jahren wurde sein Senn-<br />
Chopper eingemottet und seine<br />
erste <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>, eine Eingang<br />
mit Handkupplung, wurde als<br />
eine der Ersten in der Schweiz<br />
zugelassen.<br />
Das Motiv für die Lackierung<br />
stand von Anfang an fest. Es<br />
musste die USA Fahne sein.<br />
Nach und nach passte er die<br />
Maschine seinen Vorstellungen<br />
an. Die Kupplung ersetzte er<br />
durch eine Eingang Automatik.<br />
Der Hinterreifen wuchs bis auf<br />
285mm Breite. Er machte sich<br />
sogar einen Ständer auf den<br />
Gepäckträger, damit er sein<br />
Pocket Bike mitnehmen konnte.<br />
In 2001 I contacted Claudio for<br />
the first time. His business card<br />
had floated around my wallet for<br />
2 years already. I met him at his<br />
home and wanted to know more about <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>.<br />
After a short chat he said, “Let’s go and ride”. Thus, I<br />
sat behind Claudio on the <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>. He directed us Im 2001 nahm ich zum ersten Mal Kontakt auf mit<br />
out of town. After a few kilometers he stopped at a Claudio. Seine Visitenkarte wanderte schon 2 Jahre<br />
big parking lot. “Now it’s your turn”, he said. What!? My in meiner Geldbörse herum. Ich traf Ihn zu Hause und<br />
36 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine - Spring 2011<br />
first ride with a <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> would be with his bike with<br />
www.bosshosscountry.com 37
theme was painted on. To avoid some of the annoying<br />
questioning, he engraved the most important<br />
specifications of the BB on the dash just below the<br />
instruments.<br />
knapp wurden, fuhr er mit seinem BB über die Mainstreet<br />
in Daytona. Um die Maschine fahren zu können wurde<br />
sie schwarz lackiert. Als dann der BB in der Schweiz<br />
ankam wurde das allseits bekannte USA-Flaggen<br />
Thema auflackiert. Um der ewigen Fragerei etwas zu<br />
entgehen, hatte er die wichtigsten Daten des BB auf die<br />
Instrumententafel unterhalb der Armaturen eingravieren<br />
lassen.<br />
Claudio war es gewohnt im Rampenlicht zu stehen,<br />
denn als Magier stand er doch einige Jahre auf<br />
him as a passenger? Well, he didn’t need to twist my<br />
arm…<br />
Everything went well until we approached the traffic<br />
circle in town. We had to get 3/4 of the way around. I<br />
steered and pushed but the wide car tire just wanted<br />
to go straight. Finally, with a big effort, we made it out<br />
of the correct exit. I was in a cold sweat, but Claudio<br />
trusted me and I felt his confidence. Otherwise I would<br />
not have made it out of that traffic circle…<br />
In winter 2004 he fulfilled another dream. He bought<br />
a brand new Big Block in the USA. As he wanted<br />
to ride it in Daytona in March, before sending it to<br />
Switzerland, the BB had to be ready to ride in Florida.<br />
Although the deadline turned out to be tight, he did<br />
ride his black BB through Mainstreet in Daytona.<br />
Just to be on the street the BB had to be painted.<br />
So it was done in basic black. Once the BB was in<br />
Switzerland the already well known American flag<br />
wollte etwas mehr über <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> erfahren. Nach einem<br />
kurzen Gespräch meinte er nur, „Komm wir gehen fahren“.<br />
Also setzte ich mich bei Ihm hinten drauf und wir fuhren<br />
raus aus der Ortschaft. Nach ein paar Kilometern hielt er<br />
an einem grossen Parkplatz. „Jetzt bist Du dran“, hiess<br />
es dann. Was!? Meine erste Fahrt mit einer <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> soll<br />
ich mit Seiner Maschine und mit Ihm hinten drauf machen?<br />
OK, viel Überredungskunst hatte er nicht gebraucht…<br />
Alles lief gut, bis wir zum Kreisel im Ort kamen. Dreiviertel<br />
rum mussten wir. Ich habe gelenkt und gedrückt, aber<br />
der breite Autoreifen wollte einfach nur geradeaus.<br />
Schlussendlich sind wir mit viel Mühe doch noch beim<br />
richtigen Abzweiger rausgefahren. Ich habe Blut und<br />
Wasser geschwitzt, aber Claudio hat mir vertraut und<br />
das Vertrauen habe ich gespürt. Ansonsten wäre ich wohl<br />
nicht mehr aus diesem Kreisel rausgekommen…<br />
Im Winter 2004 hat er sich einen weiteren Traum erfüllt.<br />
Er kaufte sich einen brandneuen Big Block in den USA.<br />
Da er die Maschine in Daytona im März fahren wollte,<br />
bevor sie in die Schweiz verfrachtet wurde, sollte der BB<br />
in Florida zur Ausfahrt bereit sein. Obwohl die Termine<br />
38 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine - Spring 2011 www.bosshosscountry.com 39
Claudio was used to being in the spotlight. As a<br />
magician he was on stage for several years. Therefore,<br />
it was not astonishing that he was featured in regional<br />
and national newspapers. His pictures and stories also<br />
found their<br />
way into some<br />
motorcycle<br />
magazines.<br />
That way he<br />
was shown in<br />
the magazine<br />
‘Moto Sport<br />
Schweiz’ with<br />
his Small<br />
Block and<br />
later with his<br />
Big Block<br />
again.<br />
He was<br />
a regular<br />
at the annual <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Rally in Pullman City Harz<br />
in Hasselfelde from the beginning. He knew how to<br />
fascinate visitors with a magic trick, his charming<br />
personality or with a burnout or a stunt on the BB. Even<br />
though a burnout with ‘a little’ fire finally burned his<br />
rear fender, he took it with a shrug of the shoulders. “I<br />
don’t mind, I wanted to replace it anyway”, was his only<br />
comment.<br />
At the ‘European<br />
Bike Week’ in Faak<br />
in the tavern ‘Harry’s<br />
Farm’ people were<br />
encouraged to do a<br />
burnout in the bar.<br />
As the bike week is a<br />
HD event, there were<br />
mostly Harleys trying<br />
to burn some rubber,<br />
with more or less<br />
success. Certainly<br />
the <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> could<br />
not have been left out<br />
here. Andy Werner, Andy Müller and Claudio rode in the<br />
bar and all three together showed how this is done.<br />
Claudio was known for doing balance and stunt tricks<br />
verschiedensten Bühnen. So erstaunt es auch nicht,<br />
dass er in regionalen und nationalen Tageszeitungen<br />
portraitiert wurde. Auch in ein paar Motorradmagazinen<br />
fanden sich Bilder und Stories von Claudio mit seiner<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>. So ist er z.B. in der ‚Moto Sport Schweiz’<br />
mit seiner Small Block und später auch mit der Big<br />
Block erschienen.<br />
Beim alljährlichen <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Treffen in Pullman City<br />
Harz in Hasselfelde war er von Anfang an dabei. Er<br />
verstand es die Besucher mit einem Zaubertrick, seiner<br />
charmanten Art oder mit einem Burnout oder Stunt auf<br />
der BB zu faszinieren. Auch wenn ein Burnout mit ‚ein<br />
wenig’ Feuer schlussendlich sein hinteres Schutzblech<br />
verbrannte, nahm er das mit einem Schulterzucken<br />
hin. „Das macht nichts, ich wollte das Schutzblech eh<br />
tauschen“, war sein einziger Kommentar.<br />
An der ‚European Bike Week’ in Faak in der Kneipe<br />
‚Harrys Farm’ wurde immer wieder zu Burnouts in der<br />
Bar eingeladen. Da die Bike Week ein Harley Davidson<br />
Event ist, standen da meist Harley’s und versuchten<br />
einen Burnout mit mehr oder weniger Erfolg. Natürlich<br />
durften die <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> nicht fehlen, und so fuhren Andy<br />
Werner, Andy Müller und Claudio kurzerhand hinein<br />
und haben zu Dritt gezeigt wie so was gemacht wird.<br />
Claudio war auch bekannt dafür dass er in der grossen<br />
Parade jeweils Balance und Stunt Tricks vorführte. Die<br />
Zuschauer jubelten und klatschten, wenn er im ‚Flieger’<br />
vorbeifuhr.<br />
Claudio bekam die<br />
Diagnose Krebs im<br />
Jahre 1999. Er wollte<br />
von Anfang an gegen<br />
diese Krankheit<br />
kämpfen. Er liess<br />
sich auch nach vielen<br />
Jahren kaum etwas<br />
anmerken, wenn ihn<br />
Schmerzen plagten.<br />
Immer wenn er gefragt<br />
wurde, wie es ihm<br />
gehe, bekam man eine<br />
positive Antwort. „Alles<br />
pico bello“ hiess es immer, in den letzten Jahren<br />
vielleicht ein, „Morgen bin ich wieder unterwegs!“ Er<br />
nahm jeden Spitalaufenthalt mit seinem Ihm eigenen<br />
in the big parade. The crowd cheered and applauded<br />
when he rode by them as ‘plane’.<br />
In 1999, cancer was diagnosed. Claudio was willing<br />
to fight against this illness from the beginning. Even<br />
many years later, he never let anyone see that he<br />
was in pain. If you asked him about his well-being,<br />
he always answered “Everything is great!” In the last<br />
few years he sometimes said “Tomorrow I’m on my<br />
way again!” He took every stay at the hospital with<br />
his own brand of humor. The operations were just a<br />
“tune-up” or “customizing”. A few years ago the last<br />
vertebra of the tail bone had to be amputated due to<br />
a metastasis. Shortly afterwards another surgery was<br />
needed to take out the second vertebra. Questioned<br />
about that he just said: ”That’s really helpful. This way<br />
I can ride my BB much longer without pain in my butt.”<br />
From 2006 on, Claudio could hardly work because of<br />
the cancer. That left him more time for the essential<br />
things in life. He was on the road with his BB and<br />
enjoyed life as long as he could.<br />
Claudio satisfied his love of freedom not only with<br />
riding the motorcycle, but also by soaring through<br />
the air with his rigid glider. The glider had to be sold<br />
long ago, but the fascination for flying never let go of<br />
him. About 6 years ago he ordered a new paraglider<br />
in order to get up in the air again. Now he was torn<br />
between riding the motorcycle or enjoying the sights<br />
with the paraglider. The best solution was found<br />
quickly: ride the BB into the Alps to go paragliding.<br />
In the last two years Claudio found peace and<br />
concentration in building statues of stone men on the<br />
shores of Lake Constance. From simple beginnings,<br />
he eventually worked up to building large statues at<br />
the lake. Occasionally, people leave little presents<br />
at these towers. This skill also made it into the<br />
newspaper.<br />
As Claudio’s death notice reminds us, “I did not go<br />
away; I just went ahead.”<br />
All of the <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> family extend our sympathy to his<br />
family and friends. Thank you, Martin, for sharing your<br />
memories of this special rider.<br />
Humor. Die Operationen waren bei Ihm nur „Tuning“ oder<br />
„Customizing“. Vor ein paar Jahren musste Ihm das<br />
letzte Glied des Steissbeins amputiert werden, da sich<br />
eine Metastase dort festgesetzt hatte. Wenig später<br />
musste noch einmal Operiert werden und das zweite<br />
Glied wurde entfernt. Darauf angesprochen meinte er nur:<br />
„Das ist ganz nützlich, so kann ich länger auf der <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong> fahren, ohne dass mich der Hintern schmerzt“. Da<br />
Claudio wegen dem Krebs seit 2006 kaum mehr arbeiten<br />
konnte, hatte er mehr Zeit sich um die wichtigen Dinge im<br />
Leben zu kümmern. Er war viel unterwegs mit der BB und<br />
genoss das Leben solange es ihm noch geschenkt war.<br />
Claudio hat seinen Freiheitsdrang nicht nur mit<br />
Motorradfahren ausgelebt. Er war in jungen Jahren mit<br />
seinem eigenen Deltasegler durch die Luft gekurvt. Der<br />
Deltasegler wurde allerdings vor langer Zeit verkauft. Die<br />
Faszination Schweben liess Ihn aber nie los. So bestellte<br />
er vor rund 6 Jahren einen neuen Gleitschirm, um wieder<br />
in die Luft gehen zu können. Jetzt war er hin und her<br />
gerissen, soll ich Motorradfahren oder doch mit dem<br />
Schirm die Aussicht geniessen. Die beste Lösung wurde<br />
schnell gefunden: Mit dem BB zum Gleitschirmfliegen in<br />
die Alpen.<br />
In den letzten zwei Jahren fand Claudio viel Ruhe und<br />
Konzentration im Bau von Steinmännchen. Es fing ganz<br />
einfach an und steigerte sich bis zu hohen Türmen, die er<br />
am Strand des Bodensees gekonnt platzierte. Vereinzelt<br />
hinterliessen Passanten sogar kleine Geschenke bei<br />
den Türmen. Auch diese Fertigkeit fand Ihren Weg in die<br />
Zeitung.<br />
Auf Claudios Todesanzeige war geschrieben: „Ich bin nicht<br />
von euch gegangen, ich bin nur vorausgegangen.“<br />
Die ganze <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Familie kondoliert seiner Familie und<br />
seinen Freunden.<br />
Vielen Dank, Martin, dass Du die Erinnerungen dieses<br />
einzigartigen Motorradfahrers mit uns teilst.<br />
40 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine - Spring 2011 www.bosshosscountry.com 41
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42 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine - Spring 2011 www.bosshosscountry.com 43
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If you’re already an owner, you know the<br />
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• get deals on events and rides<br />
• download pdf’s of previous issues<br />
• be a part of the entire <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> family<br />
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44 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine - Spring 2011 www.bosshosscountry.com 45
Texas<br />
two for<br />
A <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Family Affair<br />
Robbie and Debra Sanders of Big<br />
Spring, Texas, have had a thing<br />
about speed for a long time. Even<br />
before he began racing drag boats<br />
on both U.S. coasts and nationwide,<br />
Robbie had been zooming over<br />
muddy motocross courses, after<br />
first earning his spurs on a Mustang<br />
motorcycle he rode to school during<br />
junior high.<br />
After graduation, Robbie served<br />
three years in law<br />
enforcement before<br />
his father built the<br />
first airport in the<br />
area; then Robbie<br />
found a new career<br />
in the air—as a pilot<br />
serving corporate<br />
clients—until his<br />
recent retirement.<br />
Debra, who has<br />
worked 34 years<br />
for ONCOR Electric<br />
Delivery Company, a<br />
local employer, has<br />
“done everything<br />
with them but climb a telephone<br />
pole,” jokes Robbie.<br />
Most of the five weeks of annual<br />
vacation time she has earned are<br />
spent covering the highways and<br />
byways side by side with Robbie—<br />
each on their own unique <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>.<br />
But the <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> wasn’t a snap<br />
decision for either of them:<br />
“After junior high, I didn’t ride<br />
anything for a while until the 70s,<br />
when I bought a Honda Gold Wing<br />
and rode it for three or four years,”<br />
Robbie remembers.<br />
When his son won a Harley Sportster<br />
in a raffle and presented it to his<br />
dad, Robbie rode it for about a year<br />
before trading up to a 1999 Road<br />
King which he rode happily for a<br />
couple more years until that fateful<br />
day at the Sturgis rally where he<br />
lined up with others to experience his<br />
first demo ride on a <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>—and<br />
the rest, as they say, is history!<br />
Debra’s solo riding career began<br />
with her first shaky practice runs<br />
on a Honda trail bike, which led to<br />
a Harley of her own, and ultimately<br />
carried her into the saddle of her<br />
own <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>—three easy stages<br />
over the course of a mere six years!<br />
”When Robbie took his <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong><br />
demo ride,” says Debra, “I was just<br />
a new rider. I didn’t even think about<br />
taking a demo ride myself—not<br />
even on one of the trikes. So I stood<br />
around and waited for him to come<br />
back from the ride, and when he<br />
drove in with that grin on his face, I<br />
knew that the <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> was going<br />
to be the next bike we put in our<br />
garage!”<br />
Her prediction was dead on. Inspired<br />
by that demo ride at Spearfish,<br />
within six months Robbie pounced on<br />
the opportunity to buy a 2000 model<br />
350 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> from a friend. The<br />
friend had purchased part ownership<br />
in a motorcycle dealership—but<br />
discovered that customers weren’t<br />
looking at his merchandise because<br />
they were too distracted by the<br />
overpowering presence of his <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong>. So Robbie happily took the<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> off his friend’s hands<br />
and rode it until 2006. Along the<br />
way, Robbie also picked up a 2002<br />
model 502 and<br />
passed it on to<br />
a new owner<br />
through his friend<br />
and local <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong> dealer,<br />
Curtis Pyatt<br />
at Texas <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong>, before<br />
winding up with<br />
his current 2006<br />
model.<br />
Meanwhile,<br />
Debra, who<br />
had enjoyed<br />
sharing rides<br />
on Robbie’s bikes over the years,<br />
was encouraged by Robbie to learn<br />
the joys of riding solo. “I took her<br />
out one day to the airport with a<br />
borrowed Honda trail bike—a little<br />
bitty thing—and started teaching<br />
her how to ride, taking it easy out<br />
there on the wide-open tarmac.<br />
After a week or two, she could ride<br />
that thing pretty well, so I bought a<br />
Honda Shadow Spirit from one of my<br />
friends, and taught her to ride that<br />
one.”<br />
Debra signed up for a motorcycle<br />
safety course and qualified for her<br />
license with ease. “It was funny,”<br />
46 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine - Spring 2011 www.bosshosscountry.com 47
she recalls. “I was the only woman<br />
taking the course with six men. I was<br />
kind of afraid that I might not pass<br />
it, but a couple of the guys had the<br />
macho attitude that they were going<br />
to be outstanding riders.”<br />
By the time the test course was<br />
completed, the overconfident guys<br />
were singing a different song,<br />
however; Debra reports that her<br />
score on the riding course was<br />
nearly perfect, while some of her<br />
classmates were falling over on the<br />
turns.<br />
After a year riding the Shadow,<br />
Debra had the opportunity to try out<br />
a friend’s new Harley Softail—with<br />
Robbie urging her on, of course!<br />
Although she had serious misgivings<br />
about experimenting on someone<br />
else’s brand new bike, once Debra<br />
got a taste of riding a more powerful<br />
bike, she was eager to trade up to a<br />
Harley 2001 Heritage Softail of her<br />
own just two weeks later.<br />
Determined to create a true convert,<br />
however, Robbie surprised her on an<br />
80-mile highway trip to visit Debra’s<br />
“I was riding my <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>, and she<br />
was on my 1999 Road King Classic,<br />
and as soon as we got outside of<br />
town, I pulled over at a little roadside<br />
park and told her we were going to<br />
switch bikes, and she was going to<br />
ride the <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>.”<br />
In spite of her initial fears and<br />
reluctance, Debra handled the<br />
bike like a pro—and loved it. On<br />
the way back home from the visit,<br />
Debra again rode the <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>,<br />
and Robbie gave her some special<br />
instructions:<br />
“This time, when we’re cruising, I’ll<br />
give you a signal when it’s clear and<br />
safe—when I do, just open it all the<br />
way up and count slowly: 1—2—3—<br />
4—5, and then let off; you’ll get the<br />
full effect of riding a <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>.”<br />
Robbie chuckles as he continues the<br />
tale: “I gave her the signal, and she<br />
opened the thing up and just took off!<br />
Well, I opened up the Harley, too,<br />
but I couldn’t stay with her. I started<br />
counting myself: ‘1—2—3—4—5—<br />
6—7’ --and still she was completely<br />
out of sight. I started to worry that<br />
maybe the throttle was stuck or<br />
something!<br />
“She finally let off up there<br />
somewhere ahead, and let me catch<br />
up to her. When we stopped, I asked<br />
what happened: ‘Man, I thought the<br />
throttle was stuck or something. You<br />
just ran off and left me!’<br />
“She turned around and smiled at<br />
me and said, ‘Now you know what it<br />
feels like!’”<br />
That adrenaline jolt of your first ride<br />
is not a feeling you forget. So when<br />
Robbie ordered a new <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> in<br />
2006 and he and Debra discovered a<br />
parents.<br />
48 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine - Spring 2011 www.bosshosscountry.com 49
second brand new 2006 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong><br />
sitting beside it in the showroom,<br />
Debra’s eyes lit up.<br />
When she found out that the second<br />
bike wasn’t yet spoken for, Debra<br />
lost no time letting Curtis know that<br />
it was going to be hers!<br />
And so it was. Once the paint jobs<br />
on both new <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>es were<br />
completed, Debra and Robbie<br />
picked them up and started riding.<br />
Two months later, content to<br />
concentrate on the <strong>Boss</strong>, Debra sold<br />
her old bike—and has covered many<br />
a happy trail on the <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> since<br />
then!<br />
What’s weird about a “girl” riding a<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>?<br />
Debra says it’s a lot of fun just to<br />
see the looks on people’s faces<br />
when she rides up on a bike that<br />
looks two sizes too big for her at<br />
first glance.<br />
Robbie points out that when Debra<br />
was riding with him on her Harley,<br />
people who approached him to<br />
ask about his <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> wouldn’t<br />
hesitate to comment about how<br />
it was just too big for them—they<br />
wouldn’t even think of riding<br />
something like that. Now, he laughs,<br />
when he and Debra ride up together<br />
on their <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>es, he never<br />
hears such a comment. Apparently<br />
they’re reluctant to express such<br />
reservations about their own ability<br />
and willingness to handle it, when<br />
they see Debra managing it with<br />
casual ease.<br />
“They always ask Debra the same<br />
questions,” Robbie reports. “‘Can<br />
you hold that up?’ and ‘Can you ride<br />
that?’ in tones of<br />
disbelief.”<br />
Silly questions,<br />
she points out,<br />
since they just<br />
saw her ride up<br />
on it!<br />
It is a big bike!—<br />
no argument,<br />
agrees Debra.<br />
But because it’s<br />
balanced so well,<br />
she has few problems; she admits to<br />
laying it over only twice in five years<br />
of active riding—once when she was<br />
sitting still, preparing to back up and<br />
park on uneven ground. “It was just<br />
stupid!” she grumbles, impatient with<br />
herself.<br />
Debra’s “power ride” has even<br />
gained her a few fleeting moments<br />
of national fame: Robbie tells us<br />
that during the 2008 Sturgis rally,<br />
a number of politicians and their<br />
media entourages were present—<br />
including McCain and the film crew<br />
covering his presidential campaign.<br />
Robbie recalls riding in downtown<br />
Sturgis alongside Debra when a<br />
videographer stepped out into the<br />
street directly in front of her, forcing<br />
her to stop to avoid running over<br />
him. He aimed at Debra, captured<br />
his footage and disappeared. The<br />
same thing happened at the next<br />
corner, with a different cameraman<br />
targeting her.<br />
The next day Robbie got a phone<br />
call from a friend in Texas who<br />
reported seeing Debra and her<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> on national television,<br />
in a segment focusing on McCain’s<br />
activities in Sturgis. Regardless of<br />
your politics, anything that gets<br />
you and your <strong>Boss</strong> in front of a<br />
nationwide viewing audience can’t be<br />
all bad!<br />
Like Robbie, Debra loves the power<br />
of the <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>. “You don’t have<br />
any trouble going down the road and<br />
getting around people; and some<br />
of the reactions when I pass people<br />
are just fun to see. When my parents<br />
first found out that I had a bike of my<br />
Has<br />
<strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong><br />
own, my mother said, ‘I thought we<br />
taught you to have better sense!’ But<br />
now they’ve gotten past that; they<br />
know that I just love riding.”<br />
The urge to acquire <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong><br />
models has become a real family<br />
affair. Their son spotted a 502 big<br />
block on e-bay early in 2010, and<br />
quickly snapped it up.<br />
“A New Yorker originally bought the<br />
bike on e-bay, rode it around the<br />
block and put it back on e-bay the<br />
next day,” Robbie reports. “He said,<br />
‘If I had found a place to turn around,<br />
I wouldn’t have even gone around<br />
the block on it!’ It was way too much<br />
horsepower for him.”<br />
But his loss was a gain for Robbie’s<br />
son, who quickly acquired it, and<br />
asked his dad to put it on display in<br />
Curtis’s Dallas area showroom.<br />
As soon as it arrived, of course,<br />
Robbie couldn’t resist riding it. And<br />
as we all know, as soon as you ride<br />
one, you’re sunk! Robbie promptly<br />
made his son an offer; as a result,<br />
now the Sanders garage houses<br />
three <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>es.<br />
One of these days, Robbie says, he<br />
may sell the 502 to Curtis, a good<br />
friend who covets it fiercely.<br />
“If I thought he’d keep it for himself,<br />
I’d let him have it!” says Robbie, but<br />
Curtis ia consummate buyer and<br />
seller who, with his hard-working wife<br />
and partner Kristi, is dedicated to<br />
keeping the <strong>Boss</strong>es rolling quickly<br />
in and out the doors of his Texas<br />
dealership. No doubt that eminently<br />
collectible 502 would disappear in a<br />
heartbeat!<br />
Are there more <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong>es in the<br />
Sanders’ future?<br />
What rider is ever satisfied? Robbie<br />
is looking ahead to someday selling<br />
the 502, and either pumping the<br />
motor in his 350 or trading up<br />
for an LS3. Although she may be<br />
shopping—what woman doesn’t?—<br />
Debra plans to hang onto her <strong>Boss</strong><br />
for the time being. “I just don’t see<br />
giving it up any time soon.”<br />
Avid riders, the two have put 45,000<br />
and 35,000 miles on their 2006<br />
<strong>Boss</strong>es alone—not counting the<br />
40,000 or more they’ve logged<br />
on their other, earlier bikes. Their<br />
travels have taken them to Montana’s<br />
Glacier National Park, to Canada,<br />
Utah, Nevada, Oklahoma, Tennessee,<br />
and more, including rally runs to<br />
Sturgis—and of course to the <strong>Boss</strong><br />
<strong>Hoss</strong> National Rally.<br />
Their home in Big Spring, between<br />
Dallas and El Paso, offers very flat<br />
topography, says Robbie, and they<br />
have to ride 200 miles ‘just to get<br />
anywhere’. Occasionally they haul the<br />
bikes to Raton, New Mexico, park<br />
the trailer with permission from a<br />
property owner, and just ride from<br />
there for a couple of weeks.<br />
Most people don’t realize what<br />
effective touring bikes the <strong>Boss</strong>es<br />
are, says Robbie, which he finds<br />
astonishing, in view of the 350 Chevy<br />
engines that power them.<br />
“They just don’t think that these<br />
bikes will go long distances,”<br />
Debra agrees, “but we ride them<br />
everywhere—for days and weeks at<br />
a time. People need to realize that<br />
they’re great touring bikes—and<br />
they’re a blast to ride, too!”<br />
Here’s to many more happy trails for<br />
the Sanders family—including a fall<br />
journey to Paris, Tennessee, where<br />
they can meet even more of the<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> family of riders!<br />
50 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine - Spring 2011 www.bosshosscountry.com 51
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Dealer Listing<br />
of dealers who advertised in this issue<br />
US Dealers (Alphabetical order):<br />
Arizona<br />
Arizona <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong><br />
8295 E. Raintree Drive, Suite F<br />
Scottsdale, AZ 85260<br />
Ph: 480-222-0094<br />
arizonabosshoss.com<br />
chris@arizonabosshoss.com<br />
Arkansas<br />
Rick Taylor, Inc.<br />
P.O. Box 808<br />
2809 S. Knoxville<br />
Russelville, AR 72801<br />
Ph: 479-890-2662<br />
bosshossofarkansas.com<br />
rick@bosshossofarkansas.com<br />
California<br />
California <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong><br />
1414 W. Pacific Coast Hwy.<br />
Harbor City, CA 90710<br />
Ph: 800-912-2488<br />
calbh.com<br />
info@calbh.com<br />
Connecticut<br />
Stamford <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong><br />
792 Pacific St.<br />
Stamford, CT 06902<br />
Ph: 203-359-1556<br />
bosshossct.com<br />
<strong>Boss</strong><strong>Hoss</strong>ct@aol.com<br />
Florida<br />
Custom Works<br />
806 N. Beach St<br />
Daytona Beach, FL 32114<br />
(386) 257-1300<br />
Fax: (386) 257-1698<br />
cwidaytona.com<br />
info@cwidaytona.com<br />
Illinois<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> by Siron<br />
2415 Bunn Street<br />
Bloomington, IL 61704<br />
Ph. (309) 827-7611<br />
ADMIN@BOSS-HOSS.COM<br />
www.boss-hoss.com<br />
Maryland<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> of Frederick<br />
100 D Buchiemer Road<br />
Frederick, MD 21701<br />
Ph: 301-662-9447<br />
bosshosscyclesfdkmd.com<br />
jg@bosshosscyclesfdkmd.com<br />
Minnesota<br />
Chopper City Sports<br />
7191 Highway 65 n e<br />
Fridley, MN 55432<br />
Ph: 763-572-2100<br />
choppercity.com<br />
choppercity@multicorp.net<br />
Ohio<br />
Lima Auto Mall<br />
2100 N. Cable Rd.<br />
Lima, OH 45805<br />
Ph: 800-541-5015<br />
limabosshoss.com<br />
bosshoss@limaautomall.com<br />
Oklahoma<br />
Trinity Trikes<br />
200 S.E. 19th St.<br />
Moore, OK 73160<br />
Ph: 405-794-3935<br />
Fx: 405-794-3916<br />
trinitytrikes.com<br />
info@trinitytrikes.com<br />
Oregon<br />
Wildrose <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong><br />
56723 <strong>Country</strong> Villa Ln.<br />
Warren, OR 97053<br />
Ph: 503-366-1200<br />
Cell: 971-235-1635<br />
wildrosebosshoss.com<br />
wfainc@opusnet.com<br />
Pennsylvania<br />
Mountain <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Cycles, Inc.<br />
116 Runway Road<br />
Friedens, PA 1554.1<br />
Ph: 814-445-8297<br />
mountainbosshoss.com<br />
tom@mountainbosshoss.com<br />
International Dealers<br />
(Alphabetical order):<br />
Australia<br />
Pacific <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong><br />
Melborne, Australia<br />
Ph: 61 3 9737 0717<br />
bosshoss.com.au<br />
sales@bosshoss.com.au<br />
Canada/British Columbia<br />
BC <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong><br />
# 201-982 Camosun Cres,<br />
Kamloops, BC V2C-6g2<br />
Ph: 250-377-1221<br />
Fx: 250-571-1222<br />
bcbosshoss.com<br />
ernie@bcbosshoss.com<br />
Denmark<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Cycles of Denmark<br />
Torvet 4<br />
DK-6100 Haderslev, Denmark<br />
Ph: 45 74 52 10 22<br />
Germany<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Cycles Germany<br />
Grubenstrabe 4<br />
Huerth, Germany 50354<br />
Ph: 0049 2233 714188<br />
Fx: 0049 2233 714189<br />
bosshosscycles.de<br />
info@bosshosscycles.de<br />
Japan<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Cycle Japan<br />
Ph: 001 81 284 64 0214<br />
Fx: 001 81 284 64 0228<br />
bosshoss.co.jp<br />
support@bosshoss.co.jp<br />
New Zealand<br />
Brian Ford Engineering LTD.<br />
Christchurch 91-93 Rutherford St.<br />
Christchurch, New Zealand<br />
Ph: 011 64 3 384 2828<br />
bosshoss.co.nz<br />
brianfordnz@yahoo.co.nz<br />
arizona bh ad, full page<br />
Sweden<br />
Texas<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Cycles Sweden<br />
Texas <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Cycles, Inc.<br />
Gulltofsavagen 14<br />
2125 W. Pioneer Pkwy., B-1<br />
Orebro, Sweden 70217<br />
Grand Prairie, TX 75051<br />
Ph: 46 (0) 703 93 63 93<br />
Ph: 972-660-8717<br />
boss-hoss.se<br />
for a complete listing of dealers, texasbosshoss.com<br />
info@boss-hoss.se<br />
visit bosshoss.com<br />
texasbosshosscycles@msn.com<br />
52 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine - Spring 2011 www.bosshosscountry.com 53
Siron<br />
The name you can trust...Providing the greater midwest<br />
with new and used <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> bikes and trikes, apparel,<br />
accessories, service and support since 1998.<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Cycles by<br />
you ride the genuine article.<br />
<strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> Cycles by Siron<br />
2415 Bunn Street<br />
Bloomington, IL 61704<br />
Ph. (309) 827-7611<br />
www.boss-hoss.com<br />
wear it as well.<br />
mens embossed leather<br />
jackets on sale now:<br />
$150 (size med-XL)<br />
ladies embossed leather<br />
jackets on sale now:<br />
$130 (size med-2XL)<br />
genuine boss hoss apparel available at www.bosshoss.com<br />
54 <strong>Boss</strong> <strong>Hoss</strong> <strong>Country</strong> Magazine - Spring 2011 www.bosshosscountry.com 55