Bud got out of the Navy before the war was over, and started
Art School on the GI Bill. Of course, he had 3 of his four kids by
then to complicate things. He did several years of school, then he
landed a job doing all the illustration for Bell Auto parts catalog. That was
before 1950.
As always he continued with his Hare and Hounds races around the LA
mtns. He can't remember much about yesterday, but he remembers every
mile he put in on those Mtns. Ha.
Anyway, he got the chance to go to the Bonneville speed meets for
several years in those days with the Bell catalog people. I took him to a Bonneville speed meet last Sept (2009). He told me lots about the old days. Bell Auto Parts was a huge hotrod supplier in those days. They sold everything to do with cars and racing. Since then Bell has broken up into a dozen company, but in those days Bell was the shiznits.
One night we went to dinner at the freeway near the
Salt Flats. Bud spotted another old geezer with an old (prolly 50+ yr
old) Bell Tshirt on. We invited him to sit with us a while. I really
enjoyed listening to the two of them go on about the old days.....and
it turns out that this 80 yr old was starting a Belly Tank Lakester as
we spoke. The guy lived in Salina Ut. I'd love to go see what he was
building or better yet watch him run it when it's finished. And I
have no doubt that he was serious.
Bud continues working for Bell and in the late '40s riders were
realizing that hardtail rear ends on their Motos needed to be improved somehow.
It must have been mind-boggling at that time to engineer a suspension that had to compensate for a chain drive. With Bud's new marketing knowledge from Bell, Bud built and began to sell a swing arm kit that you could add to your motorcycle. Can you imagine that?
He'd go down to the AC Delco shock factory and sort thru the barrels of
rejected shocks to find shocks for his kits. Bud still never ceases to
amaze me.
Art School on the GI Bill. Of course, he had 3 of his four kids by
then to complicate things. He did several years of school, then he
landed a job doing all the illustration for Bell Auto parts catalog. That was
before 1950.
As always he continued with his Hare and Hounds races around the LA
mtns. He can't remember much about yesterday, but he remembers every
mile he put in on those Mtns. Ha.
Anyway, he got the chance to go to the Bonneville speed meets for
several years in those days with the Bell catalog people. I took him to a Bonneville speed meet last Sept (2009). He told me lots about the old days. Bell Auto Parts was a huge hotrod supplier in those days. They sold everything to do with cars and racing. Since then Bell has broken up into a dozen company, but in those days Bell was the shiznits.
One night we went to dinner at the freeway near the
Salt Flats. Bud spotted another old geezer with an old (prolly 50+ yr
old) Bell Tshirt on. We invited him to sit with us a while. I really
enjoyed listening to the two of them go on about the old days.....and
it turns out that this 80 yr old was starting a Belly Tank Lakester as
we spoke. The guy lived in Salina Ut. I'd love to go see what he was
building or better yet watch him run it when it's finished. And I
have no doubt that he was serious.
Bud continues working for Bell and in the late '40s riders were
realizing that hardtail rear ends on their Motos needed to be improved somehow.
It must have been mind-boggling at that time to engineer a suspension that had to compensate for a chain drive. With Bud's new marketing knowledge from Bell, Bud built and began to sell a swing arm kit that you could add to your motorcycle. Can you imagine that?
He'd go down to the AC Delco shock factory and sort thru the barrels of
rejected shocks to find shocks for his kits. Bud still never ceases to
amaze me.
___________
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