Godspeed Indian Larry, you'll be missed :-(

[Rich Rohrich]

Bike-builder dies after crash
Updated: 8/30/2004 2:03 PM
By: Associated Press

CONCORD, N.C. - A custom motorcycle builder known for his appearances on cable's Discovery Channel died Monday after crashing during a weekend stunt at an arena in Cabarrus County.

"Indian Larry" was appearing at a three-day motorcycle event at the Cabarrus Arena and Events Center, the Liquid Steel Classic and Custom Bike Series.

A crowd of about 8,000 was watching him perform a stunt Saturday in which he stood on the seat of a moving motorcycle, when the bike began to wobble and he was unable to regain control of it, said Mike Downs, the county's deputy manager.

County officials said Indian Larry will be missed.

"Cabarrus County along with the staff at the Cabarrus Arena and Events Center sends its sincere condolences to the family of Indian Larry," said Robert Freeman, chairman of the Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners. "Indian Larry was a man with great skill and talent as a mechanic and metal sculptor. He will be truly missed by his fans here in Cabarrus County and throughout the nation."

Indian Larry, who has appeared in movies and television shows, was featured on the Discovery Channel's Biker Build-Off series, in which well-known motorcycle builders design and build bikes from scratch, then have them judged by motorcycle aficionados.

Copyright 2004 Associated Press,

 

[Okiewan]

Wow, bad news, talented guy.

 

[Rich Rohrich]

Wow, bad news, talented guy.

Yep, it's really a shame to see the cool motorcycle guys go. :ugg:

 

[XRpredator]

y'know, it's a tired epitaph, but "at least he went out doing what he liked to do"

time to run the big "?"

 

[nitropimp]

Larry was a cool guy. Wear your helmets guys & gals.

 

[Dennis Meyers]

Damn, that's terrible. :( Not many guys around like him. He will definitly be missed. That was just down the road a piece, I don't even remember hearing the show advertised.

 

[rickyd]

RIP Larry..
I bet he's layin back on his bike doin about 90 right about know :ride:

Rick

 

[CaNaDiAn,Eh?]

That is really to bad, he was one of the few 'real' bike builders out there. That guy was awesome, and very talented.

 

[Speeed]

That is really to bad, he was one of the few 'real' bike builders out there. That guy was awesome, and very talented.

took the words off my keyboard

 

[OldassKDX]

Y'know what I liked about his bikes? He had a passion for the "mechanicalness" of bikes, their gadgets and moving parts. Most bike builders build these long, wavy looking sculpted designs, but it seemed like Larry understood the beauty of the gizmos inside them that make motorcycles real works of art.

 

[YZ165]

:| Never like to hear that stuff.

Godspeed Larry.

 

[evenslower]

The Rat Fink is the ultimate in bad arse motorcycle coolness IMHO. A motorcycle genius.

 

[WaltCMoto]

I really enjoyed the shows on discovery showing him build bikes. He seemed like a cool melow dude.
RIP Larry

 

[dirty~d~]

Indian Larry is above and beyond my favorite builder. He put his passion into every machine he touched. Strong spirited and care free with skills that would make your jaw drop in sheer amazement. I wish I could have met him in person. He will be missed dearly, but hopefully his friends will continue to pass along his teachings.

RIP Indian Larry. Hopefully they put him in the house with Big Daddy Roth and Von Dutch.

 

[VintageDirt]

He liked spoked wheels, real bikes gotta have spokes.

Godspeed Indian Larry...

 

[Offroadr]

I got an email this morning about this. What a bummer! I hated to hear this. He was one of the last 'old school' builders. RIP

 

[Patman]

My son and I will truly miss his art and his personality, Indian Larry's bike really inspired BrandonWho to take an interest in mechanical things and welding. Indian Larry was a true bike builder not a hack that stuck parts together.

In God we trust.
Vengeance is mine
Sayeth the Lord
No Fear

:(

 

[BunduBasher]

gotta like the way he hacked up his bike builder trophy and shared it with the other builders.

I don't think Larry ever wore a helmet ... :(

 

[DRZ_Dad]

He truely lived life full throttle..................He will be missed.

 

[DoubleTrouble]

Yes, I remember when he won the 'biker build-off' on Discovery channel. He cut up the trophy into a dozen pieces and threw them into the crowd saying something like "building bikes makes us all winners". He was a class act.

http://shopping.discovery.com/store...d=-1&productId=56194&rel_productId=56131#desc

Beating out the likes of Paul Yafee: http://www.paulyaffeoriginals.com/ , Billy Lane: http://www.choppersinc.com/ and Roger Bourget: http://www.bourgets.com/pages/news_01.html.

He was quite a character: http://www.indianlarry.com/

R.I.P. "Indian Larry".

"a guy that would extend a helping hand to his competition and share a trophy when he didn't have to has more class than a three piece suit." BMWconfused, f60.com

 

[Patman]

Billy Lane has a classy tribute to Indian Larry on his Choppers Inc. site. Too bad he's the only big time builder to do so by now.

 

[dirty~d~]

Larry and Billy were best friends. I'm not surprised he was the first, although, I am surprised he's the only one.

 

[BunduBasher]

http://www.paulyaffeoriginals.com/

Hear the Indian Larry Song http://www.indianlarry.com/main.html

 

[DoubleTrouble]

Here is another nice tribute: http://www.motoring.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=2210333

 

[Rich Rohrich]

Here is another nice tribute:

and here
http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/bike/slideshows/indianlarrytribute/indianlarrytribute.html

http://www.cannoncycle.com/indian_larry.htm