Congratulations, Jason! Well deserved!

Another of the very many cool and fascinating people around here!

 

Hello and a big nod to guys like Jason, who make coming here a lot of fun. I appreciate contributors and members like him.

God bless you and keep you safe on the road, Jason.

 

Congrats on the MOM status!
I wouldn't let anyone keep you from posting in the mechanical forum. Half the people posting there don't have a clue! lol

 

Congrats to a fellow Upstate Noo Yawker.

 

Congratulations Jason!


Good job Buzz. You can be my official hype-man.

 

Ok, ok, before we get started this month, (hold your horses) we gutta start off with a few iconic biker PIXs..And down below is Hairy Larry's wife's bike (not his) you will meet in a little bit.So, who is up at bat this month? Yup, it is our ‘ole friend Hairy Larry. Where did the “Hairy” come from?
Back in the early 80’s Larry rode with a group of guys. Since there were two Larrys in that group, the guys started to call our Larry “Hairy”, leaving off the “Larry.” And there you are. Hairy segued from “Hairy” in that group to “Hairy Larry” here in HDF.
At the age of 26, Hairy Larry met Becky (known as “NT” here in HDF) who was 25 years old. As Larry said, “…Becky stole my heart and we got married two years later.” Come this June, they will be celebrating their 40th anniversary.

They have a son who lives in Fort Worth and a daughter who lives just a few miles away from Larry & Becky. They presently have two grandsons and one granddaughter. With pride, Hairy Larry says, “One grandson in Fort Worth is the starting first baseman on his high school freshman baseball team so we have been traveling to watch him play. With the price of gas, our planned trip next week will have to be the last one for a while.”

His daughter and their 10-year-old granddaughter live a mere handful of miles from them. This is fantastic because Granddad eagerly picks up his granddaughter from school every day, going on four years now.

He said, “This gives me a chance to spoil her even more with trips for ice cream or to Walmart to let her pick out something. Sometimes we ride around listening to music she likes.”

For the last 2 ½ years, granddad has popped the little one onto his bike and they would scoot around town to places like the zoo or to lunch. One time they scooted out of town with some friends for a hundred-mile ride which was a particularly fun time.
Grandad’s heart melts when he hears his granddaughter call him “PaPa”. Aawwwww…such magic words.

At 67 years old, Larry is now going on 10 years of retirement after putting in 33 years with the U.S.P.S. The U.S.P.S. has played two wonderful roles in his life. First and foremost, that is where he met the love of his life, Becky. And secondly, it is where he receives his pension from. Oh yeah!

What is ‘ole Larry doing now? In his words.:
"I currently work as a contract field engineer for two different nationwide broadcast radio networks. One of my employers has 9 FM broadcast stations within 120 miles radius that I maintain and repair when problems arise. My other employer has me working from home troubleshooting problems at remote sites around the country and contacting other engineers to service those sites. I also do project management for building new transmitter sites and improving existing sites. I worked several years part time as an engineer while working at the Post Office."

Now that is pretty darn cool by any measure. Let’s head over to his biker lifestyle.

His first ride was a Honda 450 that he picked up in 1971 when he was just 16 years old. The 450 was not technically Larry’s. It was his friend’s bike. It was also the bike he received his motorcycle endorsement on, on the “QT”. Shhhhh. You see, his father would have been plenty pissed off if he knew Larry was riding a motorcycle.

Larry said, “Funny thing is my dad bought my little brother a motorcycle when he 16 and I was away in the Army. It wasn’t funny to me at the time though.”

To date, Hairy has had a brand new 1973 Yamaha XS650 that he purchased as soon as he graduated from basic training. He rode it while stationed in Fort Gordon, Georgia. Then came a new Yamaha1979 XS750, 1979 Harley FLH he bought used in 1981, a 1976 Harley FX1200 Super Glide purchased used in 1983 (This FX1200 was kick start only from the factory), a new 1996 Harley Ultra, a new 2012 Harley Ultra Limited, and a new 2017 Harley Road Glide Ultra, which is his current bike.

Which of all his bikes does he consider his favorite? That would be his current ’17 Road Glide. Why? Because of a few mods like, his adding a 124 big bore kit, the aftermarket suspension (front and back) the fixed fairing is AMAZING, the way it rides and handles as smooth as butter, plus the added power for two up mountain touring is GREAT! Heck, even stock it is the best bike he has ever owned!

Larry happily logged countless miles and many, many “over the top” adventures. This one in particular stands out.
It was his ride to Sturgis in 2017. He and Becky along with 3 other couples rented a 4-bedroom house in Deadwood about a dozen miles west of Sturgis. My goodness, if you never rode the Black Hills and all that there is to see, then you really have something grand to look forward to. The Black Hills is nothing short of AWESOME! And to be with several other couples, is a magnificent experience to remember.

Checkout this PIX Becky took below with Hairy and a Hell’s Angel. Becky says that Larry makes friends wherever he goes. If that is not a “memory maker picture” then look at the dude to the right of Hairy. Man, that photo is a “keeper.”Larry and Beck’s plan is to go back to Sturgis for the Black Hills experience again. With bikers everywhere, the amazing roads, mountains, monuments, parks, etc… this makes for indelible memories. So yuppers, heading back is definitely on their “To Do” list.
When not cruising Sturgis, they are often off to New Mexico, Colorado, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, and the hill country in southern Texas. Though they have their regulars they ride with, they also take trips by themselves.

Currently they do not belong to any motorcycle clubs, but for over 10 years they have been active members of their local HOG chapter. Larry has held a variety of offices including Director, Assistant Director, Webmaster and Head Road Captain. Becky served several times as an LOH (Ladies of Harley) officer.

They have made many wonderful friends belonging to HOG and still ride with some of them today.

Military wise, Larry served in the United States Army from 1973 through 1976 as a Radio Repairman obtaining the rank of E-5.
He was stationed in Fort Carson, CO for over two years with his Yamaha 650. He had a BLAST riding the mountain highways every weekend he could. Single and living off base with an army buddy who had 2 Harleys, they spent all of their free time wrenching, wrenching, wrenching, wrenching, wrenching, wrenching, wrenching, wrenching, wrenching, drinking beer, wrenching, drinking beer, wrenching, drinking beer, wrenching, wrenching, and wrenching.

This was the time he, in his words, “…learned to love Harleys even though I couldn’t afford one at the time.”
This is also where Hairy Larry learned to work on radios, which he turned into a second career after retiring from the U.S. Postal system. Hairy is now working on broadcast transmitters part-time.

One day while riding his bike to work at Fort Carson, CO he was hit by a VW Beetle turning left in front of him. Larry wound up in the hospital with a broken ankle and broken forearm. He said, “Luckily my helmet kept me from having a head injury based on the gouge in the side of it.”

Larry remained in a military hospital for almost a week, followed by a 30-day medical leave. During those 30 days, he hopped onto a bus and headed to Amarillo where he stayed with his grandparents. He hadn’t told his family about the accident; they found out when they saw his casts. Judging from their reaction, Larry realized he should have let his parents know what happened.

After Hairy recovered from his accident, he pieced his Yamaha back together in the parking lot of his barracks with just a few hand tools. That was pretty awesome. All that “wrenching” I mentioned before….well, it is one of those times in life where you step back, look at the repair you just accomplished and think…………. “I did that?” Yeah, I did that. And with great self-satisfaction.

Hobby wise, it would be working on bikes and cars. If it is mechanical, he can knock it off and do a pretty darn GOOD job. Before you ask, his auto repair knowledge came from his two years of auto mechanic classes at the local community college which gave him the ability and confidence to work on any and everything.

Larry was a ham radio operator for 30 years; though he is not actively broadcasting anymore. He was the President and Vice President of a local ham radio club in the 1980’s.

He had a 50-foot tower in his backyard with antennas all over it. He used to climb the tower constantly tweaking each of the antennas. To this day, the tower is still there, but without antennas. It only holds what he needs for his wireless internet. He says, “I’m too old and fat to climb it now.”

While he was hamming it up, he made contacts all over the world with both Morse code and voice communication. It was a huge amount of fun.

To get your ham radio license back in 1981, one of the requirements was to pass a Morse code test. That was also dit dit dah dit, dit dit dah, dah dit (fun.)

Becky and their son got their ham radio licenses at the same time, but did not do much with them. Today, there is no Morse code requirement. The FCC dumbed down the test to be more like getting your CB radio.

As you may have guessed, Larry’s experimenting with antennas and building electronic projects for his ham radio activities was also a stepping stone to his present work repairing those mega huge towering antennas we all see off in the distance in a field and a variety of other non-descript locations.

Would you like to hear a miracle? This is best told by Larry himself.

"I was born in Galveston TX where my dad was stationed while serving in the Coast Guard. I first started walking at 9 months old but when I was 18 months old I came down with Polio and was paralyzed in my right leg. The Navy doctors told my parents that if I was able to walk again, it would be with a brace on my leg. I don’t know how many hundreds of hours my mother spent with physical therapy at home. She took me to the beach in Galveston to help exercise my leg in the water. She told me that we both cried with every effort she made to build some muscle strength in my leg. Her efforts paid off and I gained enough strength to walk without any aid. I still have half the muscle in my right leg compared to my left leg. Despite the weakness I was able to make it through life, basic training in the Army (barely) and walk for a living with the Post Office. I thank God for my mother for her love and persistence to help me walk again."

Let’s meander back to bikes for a moment.

Larry and Becky met in ’81 when they were both working at the Post Office. Larry was on his first Harley. Becky had never been around bikers or the biker lifestyle. In ’82, Becky purchased her first bike which was a 1982 Super Glide. As you can imagine, that was a pretty rare site. That is, seeing a female on any kind of motorcycle. Well, she and one other woman were the only two women in their town who rode. And they rode their own Harleys ta-boot!

In ‘83 there was a garage fire and Beck’s bike was a total loss. Happily, insurance kicked in and Becky purchased an ‘83 Super Glide. Since then, she has owned a 2011 Fat Boy Lo. After that she started telling people that “…she had two fat boys.”. LOL!!! I (BC7) did not say that, Becky did. LOL!!!

Their local police department used to give 8-hour classes to private citizens who would like to ride like the motor officers. This is basically like Jerry Palladino’s “Ride Like A Pro” course. Larry and Becky smartly took the local police department course not once, but twice.

Larry also took the MSF advanced riders’ course twice. As Larry says, “Knowing and practicing the skills that they teach increases your skill level and confidence immensely.” Sadly, their local police department stopped giving the course because of the cost of paying the motor officers overtime to give the classes.

In the years past, Larry acquired a few firearms. He even had an FFL (Federal Firearms License) during the early 90’s but gave it up after the Brady Bill and other federal regulations made it more difficult to purchase firearms through the mail.
He never got into hunting but does enjoy shooting paper and especially “…sporting clays.”.

In the state of Texas, where Larry and Becky live, they have what is called “Constitutional Carry” which means you do not need a license to open carry or conceal your handgun. Becky carries a 9 mm and Larry a 45 compact.
Prior to COVID, Larry and Becky would take trips with friends to Cancun, Cozumel and Cabo. They are hoping to add those activities back into their lifestyle again soon. Presently they do not have trips planned with friends but are looking very much to getting back to “partying with friends.” In the meantime, Larry and Becky are still sliding into the saddle and heading off to the horizon together.

In August 2019, Larry had surgery to remove a parotid gland (salivary gland) tumor. Fortunately it was a successful surgery that was followed by 33 radiation treatments. To date, he has been cancer free for 2 1/2 years and counting.

Larry belongs to a variety of HD online forums but said with candor, HD Forums is his “go to” website. It is here in HDF where he learns the most. He appreciates the “…mostly courteous exchange of ideas here.”

Larry would like to say, “Thanks to everyone here who make HDF a great place to be.”

Before we stroll through our Photo Gallery, let's take a look at An Ode To Hairy Larry put together by our own Grandma1956 hugger herself.

 

Congrats Larry on the MoM ! Great write up.

 

Congrats @Hairy Larry .
It looks like you've walked the walk and rode the ride for a long time and this honor is more than well deserved.

 

A well deserved recognition. Congratulations, Larry.

 

Congratulations, Larry! That's an impressive biker's resume; you certainly have the cred! You and Becky have changed a lot over the years, but my attention is drawn to 40 years together; THAT is impressive! Thank you for your time in uniform; YOU are what makes America great!!!!!