The Good Life - January/February 2014

wanted, and Del didn’t have it. But
he knew he could make payments for
as long as needed if he could strike
a deal with the owner. They shook
hands, and the very next week, Del
began paying the man $25 a week. As
a Western Union deliveryman, Del
made $28.51 a week. After making
his weekly motorcycle payment, Del
was left with the paltry sum of $3.51
to his name each week to carry him
through until the next week’s payday.
But as Hofer explains himself, “I was
determined.” The phrase would be
repeated time and again throughout
the next 60-plus years.
Finally, the day arrived to make
the last payment on the most
expensive and important purchase
of 16-year-old Del Hofer’s life. At
first, he just stared at the motorcycle
sitting on the road. Slowly, he swung
a leg over and straddled the Harley.
Placing his hands on the hand grips,
he nudged the cycle stand upward
and then, simultaneously pulling
the hand accelerator toward him
and strumming the kick starter, he
felt the vibration beneath him and
off he flew like an eagle soaring
above. Del Hofer and the black 1947
Knucklehead moved and navigated
around holes in the rutted streets,
maneuvering ahead of older drivers
going five miles an hour as if he and
the Knucklehead were one machine.
As Del arrived at his parents’
home, he sat for a moment listening
to the loud tap, tap, tap of the Harley
engine before he turned it off. Del’s
mother came outside, obviously
not happy and wanting to know
“What’s that motorcycle doing here?”
Answering his mother, Del replied,
“It’s mine. I just purchased it.” Del’s
mother reacted in a manner he had
never seen before. Standing upright
as she threw her shoulders back,
Mrs. Hofer said, “You take that right
back from wherever you got it and
get your money back! I’ve got one
son that rides the wheels off his
and I’m not going to have another
one do the same!” Del’s cloud nine
feeling coming home disintegrated
into vapor. He told his mother,
“Well, Mother, I’ll take it back, get
my money back, give you the money
and then I’m outta here.” With that,
Del Hofer’s mother turned, stomped
toward the door, went inside and
slammed the door so hard Del was
sure she’d knocked the hinges off!
Not five minutes had passed
when Mrs. Hofer returned with a
180-degree attitude change, and
holding a small black camera in her
hand, she said,
“Well, if you’re going
to keep that thing, i
guess we should take
your picture.”
30 Photo submitted by: Del HOfer