Mighty Mo or Hot Shoppes photo?

Herb Gebler passed away about 7 years ago. He was the guy to see for custom exhaust.

 

The one I have has a Japanese plane dropping motorcycles over the US with something like Buy American across it and the familiar Routt's cycle on the back......and no, I can't seem to find it.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1970s-Big-Bore-Jugs-Routts-Cycle-Center-Shirt-/392160759528 x rated ……...

 

After Routes, Ed Goldman and Rick Stone were partners in Precision Cycle in Beltsville. They split and Rick opened a shop for a short while in Sunshine, MD before moving to Georgia. Ed's daily driver was a maroon El Camino with a .50 caliber mount permanently in the back. "Nuff said on that. Ed either sold out or partnered with a guy across the street in Beltsville, I'm not sure. I was only there once and Ed wasn't around. I didn't care for the guy's attitude and left without buying what I needed. I heard later that he was an ex cop. Ed was a nice guy. I don't know if he was part of the business when it burned or whether he just had stuff stored there. There used to be another bike shop next door to Routte's called Karma Cycle. That's another story.

 

I would have remembered that one, LOL. Damn $730, he was a visionary knowing all the risqué shirts would bring the most money. He was a character too.

 

I worked at Rockville Harley Davison as a mechanic . Once in a while we would have a customer that wanted a more performance exhaust and instead of selling him A & E's latest chrome drag pipes ,I would send the bike to Herb . When it came back it had a true header like a car would have , and not all shinny chrome but spray painted flat black. Always nice work !

 

Then you must remember Satan's Cycle. He had to change the name to MDO Cycle because the County Board didn't like the name. The King Farm across the road was finally turned into a giant housing/commercial development. I had heard the family got screwed and it was basically stolen from them. I don't know if that's true or not. This whole area has completely changed for the worse as far as I'm concerned. It still has a healthy car culture though, with just a little drive time you can go to a show every weekend throughout the summer.

 

Yes Eddie Miller owned Satin's ,they were all pretty good guys .We traded parts and certain jobs back and forth . Eddie worked on a lot of the older stuff and was good at it . When I worked for Harley it was owned by AMF, very challenging but made me a better mechanic / machinist . Margo King came in the shop a lot ,she liked moto cross racing and, was good at it , beautiful, beautiful ! girl contagious laugh . I latter moved to work at Frederick Harley Davidson when they first opened . I am guessing King Pontiac is long gone ??

 

There is a King Buick in Gaithersburg but I don't know if it's at the same location. I found the old King Pontiac sign in the loft of an old barn they were tearing down. It was the length of the barn and had the Indian in the middle. I don't know if it was saved or not but you needed a crane to get it down. The sign predated this one from the 60s. It was all metal and very weathered.

 

The Bovine is a nice touch.

 

Anyone that was into fast cars and hung around the Mo , soon or later heard of a guy named French . If you never met him , you missed out on a guy that really had the touch . Long story but I would work on go karts in his parents basement on Eastern Ave . I remember the day his brother showed up with the 55 chevy and he had just put a new hurst shifter in it , really big deal back then . French and I almost matched up one night at the Mo but there was a lady showing interest in me so it never happened , thought things would of worked out for me but I should of taken the race , I would of had better chances . Ha ! Anyone know where French Grimes is now ? Heard he worked on fuel systems and spent time at Hagerstown dirt track a while back .

 

FWIW, Pat, Dale and Phil are still around. Saw on FB Pat just had his '72nd. birthday. Don't know about Jeff Hubbard, he was a nice guy.

 

.................I've heard of French Grimes. In fact, there is a fellow R.C. Grimes that used to post on here frequently, but not so much anymore. I think he was somehow related to French, though I'm not sure how. I just bumped up another thread about the Mighty Mo that has been going on , I believe , longer than this one. R.C. posted some on that thread.

 

..............Some great memories there.

 

Holy shit! Fell down the H.A.M.B.hole and popped up here...NOT Kansas!

Came of age in Takoma Park, and the Silver Spring Hot Shoppe, Georgia Ave. at the District line was the local haunt.

The year was 1964, and I'd "helped" big brother hop up his '29 Tudor/tubster the previous 2 years. He had HUGE balls, and figured a worthy shake-down would be a cross-country trip to work at our uncle's shipyard in Long Beach, Ca.for the summer....the bottom pic is us departing our driveway. The top pic is 15 min. later waiting for our obligatory "Last Lunch" before blast off. Was too psyched to remember what we had....

Our saga is a story for a different thread. I sure miss those daze!

 

Great story! So did you two actually drive the tub to the West Coast?

 

He used to make up go-kart throttle cables for me when I worked at the Bar-T day camp during the summers. He was on Fields Rd. (now Redland Rd.) across from Roberts Oxygen. Last time I saw him, a few years ago, he was in the Airpark, nice displays but nothing going on.

Same dealership, same place, a little hard to make a living off a non existent car. (LOL)

 

I thought he might have owned two dealerships under the King name. That seems to be the norm now with individuals owning multiple dealerships across brands, even competing brands.

 

They do. It's King VW in Gaithersburg. Used to be a Lincoln/Mercury dealership.

 

Kind of a Greek tragedy. The Folks convoyed in a microbus...first 2 nites camping out got us to our bigger brother's at Ft. Campbell Ky, where he was prepping for 2 tours in Vietnam...
(Last time we ever saw him. KIA, March '66).

Spent a couple days there and hooked up with Banger Brother's high school roommate, who would be traveling with us. Left the next morning in a downpour...drivers up front, me sandwiched on top of all our gear in the poopdeck. No top of course, so we rigged a canvas tarp, tied to the top of the windshield, stretched over the rollbar, and lashed to the rear bumper. I was lying flat with maybe 6" above my face...helluva way to see the USA. Steering was pretty goosey with all the weight over the banjo, but Brother was an excellent pilot and kept things in hand.

We were OFF! On our own...Not a care...sun came out...hummin along at 50...Long Beach Or Bust!

Brother heard it first...a noise under the hood that shouldn't be there. Threw it in neutral, killed it, and we coasted into an overgrown lane next to a falling down one room schoolhouse. Unpacked the tools, dropped the pan...shredded Babbitt. Walked a mile back the road to a farmhouse that had a phone. Called our chase vehicle (still at Ft. Campbell) and arranged for the Vdub to rope tow us back to the Ft. the next day...returned to the school, ate beans, and crashed around the wounded Banger.

With the little luck we had, located a local garage near the Ft. that could do a rebuild. It would take all summer. I gave Brother the cash I had scrounged for our trip. He and his roommate bought tickets to Ca. on the GreyDog...I returned to Takoma Park and spent the summer with my girlfriend (silver lining!).

Brother worked in the Long Beach Shipyard, met the girl he would marry, bussed back to Ky., picked up his fresh Banger, and pulled back in our driveway late on a dark, very stormy night, by the light of 6v's.

So, @lothiandon1940, there's my long story of a short trip!...it's NOT about the destination!
Thanks for jarring my memory. And hey, no "highjack" ....it started at the HOT SHOPPES,

 

^Great story! Sorry to hear about your loss though.

 

Thank you @wraymen. The result has been the rare closeness those two boys in the banger tub have shared for the past 55 years.

 

Great story for sure. Memories that no one can ever take away. So very sorry about the loss of your Brother. Sad and tragic period in the history of our country. .......Thanks for taking the time to tell us the story.........Don.

 

Thank you Don. Happy you asked. Been holding that one a long time. When I stumbled on this thread...I was right back ridin shotgun. Peace, Art

 

Shutter Speed, thanks for sharing that great story. As Don and Wraymen know, I've said many times in the past that it's not all about the cars, but the people and the experiences, as well. While you didn't make it across the country, it's an experience that you won't forget. I, too, wud like to convey my condolences on the loss of your brother. Many brave men did not come home from Nam. He is a hero in every sense of the word. It's so encouraging to hear that those two guys in that tub maintain a close bond. That's the way it shud be.

 

Great story and pics. Thanks for sharing.

 

Thank you @Bowtie Coupe. You are exactly right. All is well.

Art

 

Thank you @Clik, my pleasure.

My Brother bought that '29 in '62. It was a stock, cherry Pa. barn find. Gave $75 for it, delivered. Wanted a roadster, but what's a poor boy to do?

50 years later, he helped me score my avatar.

 

Made your picture larger......