Kate’s dad and I went to see a preview day at the William Bunch Vintage Motorcycle Auction in Chadds Ford. The organizer of the auction, John Lawless, is trying to get a “Philadelphia bike week” together, with lots of motorcycle events — like Sturgis or Daytona.
Anyhow, the motorcycles were really cool, and I met a lot of Important Motorcycle Guys, like David Kirby, who started selling Honda motorcycles in West Chester in 1968. Back then, the only motorcycle dealers work black leather all the time, and were always working on bikes. If you came into the store, you were interrupting them, and they’d glare hot, contemptuous, oily glares at you. David started actually (what a concept!) welcoming people into the store, and sold bikes as fast as Honda could make them. It was a struggle to get his franchise, though — he had to drive the Honda representative to the neighboring franchise the long way, so the contractual limitations governing franchise spacing were met.
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