From 1920 through 1924, Ace motorcycles were built in a ... - WebRing

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Joe Stephan – Ace Mechanic Copyright © 2000 by Joe Stephan “But that has a stock street engine in it.” Doug handed the magazine pages back to him. “Here you go.” “Here,” Joe handed them back to him. “You can have that.” He picked up the rest of the pages and magazines and handed them to Doug as well. “You can have this too!” “Okay. Are you sure? Because we probably have this at home.” “You can have it because I won’t need it anymore.” “Who’s the guy in the middle?” Doug asked, pointing to someone in a photograph. “He looks familiar but I don’t know who he is to tell you the truth.” Continuing to examine the people in some of the other photographs he stated, “I don’t know who this guy is either.” “That’s Art!” Doug told him. “Art Lemon.” “Is this Art Lemon?” Joe was astonished that he didn’t recognize him. “That’s not Frank Snook is it?” “It looks like DeLong.” “Oh, here’s Cannonball Baker!” Doug pointed him out to Joe. Joe examined the picture closely. “But you see,” he said, “He didn’t have bars like this.” “No, he had stock ones.” “Huh?” “He had the early bars.” “Regular stock handle bars,” Joe agreed. “That’s Charlie Cole and Red in the Six Days Trial.” Doug said pointing them out in another photograph. “Very good,” Joe was impressed with Doug’s collection of photos. “Boy, you’ve got a lot of pictures!” “Well, these are all from Charlie. I’ve got everything Charlie owned.” “Who’s this guy?” Joe pointed to another photo. “That’s…umm…Cannonball.” Doug responded after looking at it. “Cannonball Baker?” “Yeah.” “Yeah, that’s him.” Joe added after looking at the picture more closely. “Did you know that he was a little cross-eyed?” Joe said this in a conspiratorial tone edged with humor. “Yeah, you said that.” Doug replied, reminding Joe that he told them this earlier. They both laughed. Sorting through Photos At this point, Doc rejoined them in the back yard. He had been in the house paying his respects to Joe’s wife, Helen. “Now, what are you guys up to?” Doc said in a gregarious manner. “Hey, I’ve been entertaining the ladies. I don’t get along too well with men; I get along with—.” Doc stopped abruptly when he saw the picture, at which they were looking, and then exclaimed, “Hey! There he is!” “Cannonball Baker,” Joe nodded. “Yep!” Doc replied. “He was a big man.” 05/22/00 Preliminary Draft Page 38 of 43
Joe Stephan – Ace Mechanic Copyright © 2000 by Joe Stephan “Yeah,” Joe agreed. “Now he wore on his… He wore just a corduroy jacket; look at that!” “Well, that all depends on what season it was because—” Joe began say. “Well this wasn’t summertime with that outfit,” Doc interrupted him. “Red said that he used to just get up and go,” Doug offered, speaking of Cannonball Baker. “He was tough!” Doc added. “Ah, I just brought something here,” Joe indicated the Cycle World magazine article to Doc. “Show it to him.” He motioned for Doug to show it to Doc. “Yeah, this here.” Doug handed it to Doc. “You have that, don’t you?” Joe began laughing in the background; pleased with himself. “You saw that?” Doc asked Joe. “Did you have this?” “Yeah, that’s mine.” And then after a slight pause, “I’m giving it to you guys. I don’t want it anymore.” “Where did you get it?” “Don’t you know, I got that from—” “You see that… This is the road… This road goes right in front of my house,” Doc interrupted. “Yeah?” Joe responded perfunctorily. “Red gave me that. He said, ‘Joe, look at this. Here’s a guy that built one just like it!’ Like the one that he—” “That’s me!” Doc said pointing to his name being mentioned in the article. “See. Here I am!” “Let’s see,” said Joe. “See the name,” Doc showed him. “John Patt.” “John Patt?” Joe repeated. “That’s me,” Doc exclaimed proudly. Joe laughed. “How about that.” “Hey!” Doc shouted towards the house; to Joe’s daughter Helen. “He has my article. Did you see that?” “How ‘bout that! No, I didn’t see it. Did you write it?” She asked. “No, it was written about me. See, there’s the bike.” Doc showed her the article. “Do you recognize any of these guys?” Doug resumed showing Joe more pictures. “This one doesn’t have the fins on the boxes,” Doc noted and then upon looking closer he exclaimed, “It has gaslights! Oh, wouldn’t that be neat to do one with gaslights? Forget the generator. Would that be neat?” “This is… At night, you had to have lights.” Joe was referring to the picture in his hand of an Ace motorcycle equipped with a gaslight. “You see this here motorcycle? This is a Presto tank. This is a Presto-Lite.” “That’s Charlie Cole’s first Ace.” Doug informed him. “Charlie Cole’s first Ace?” Joe repeated. “Uh huh. Probably a 1920 model.” “My uncle said, ‘It’s too bad that that Presto tank being on the handle bar is too heavy.’ I still have one of those tanks here. A Presto tank.” 05/22/00 Preliminary Draft Page 39 of 43
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