Shovelhead Redemption: The Ride Back from Hell
People have asked, "Where's the Shovelhead?" If you're looking specifically for a Shovelhead, it's on the cover. Here's the Shovelhead story that was edited out of the book. Why? I don't know. Lots of things  got chopped in order to keep the book moving, and I'm told it moves well.When I owned the bike shop with Jimmy in the early eighties, we had a customer who paid to have a running bike built. Not a flashy bike. Nothing that would turn heads or win trophies, but a running motorcycle.  In those days, a Shovelhead was considered a late model Harley-Davidson. Jimmy was throwing it in a swingarm frame and putting it together with whatever parts he had laying around or could pick up at  a low cost. The customer was not paying for nor had asked for anything more. However, his girlfriend thought it should be nicer than that. She didn't like the seat. She didn't like the footpegs. She didn't like... anything, basically, and why these guys even listened to anything she said, I don't know.Those were the days when I liked to party a lot, and swap meets were always a good time to indulge. Not too long into the day, I ran into the  girlfriend and got into her face about her demands. I got pulled away, and that was that. Or so I thought. I still don't know for sure, but I'm  guessing that this chick I thought was a friend suggested I come out back with her. I did, and the girlfriend was waiting for me. I was even more wasted at that point, and I was an easy target. Someone finally pulled her off of me when she was slamming my head into the concrete.Fast forward to 2010, and I started dating a guy with a Shovelhead (among several other bikes). He was a decent guy, and his Shovel was cool, and I was writing the book. That's when I came up with the name "Shovelhead Redemption." Everyone liked the title and it stuck. But the story came out, which left people wondering where the Shovelhead is.So that's the story! Lots of Panheads, a few Twin Cams, maybe a Knuckle or two, but no Shovelheads. It's still a good story, and I'm sure that if you like Shovelheads, you'll like the book.