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Century Motorcycles: The Home of Some of the Most Famous Motorcycles and People



Century College offers motorcycle safety and operational skills taught in-classroom and on-cycle by certified instructors; includes personalized coaching and practice. For further information, please contact Katie Swenson at katie.swenson@century.edu or 651-779-3362.




Century Motorcycles



Custom rosettes will be given to fifth place in two divisions, Classic and Modern. Bikes with a vintage 1990 or earlier will go on the classic division and everything 1991 forward, in the modern division. Darren Martinelli of Newcomb's Ranch will judge this first fundraiser show. $20.00 per motorcycle gets you a place in the line up and in the program if you register by October 5. If you show up on Bike Night, you can still get in the show for a donation of $25.00 cash. New Century Motorcycles will donate all the show proceeds to Redbird, a non profit organization located locally in the Angeles National Forest. All brands and kinds of motorcycles are welcome, including custom bikes.


My name is Jeanne Gartner and I am the author of this blog. Lewis Reed, the founder of Reed Brothers Dodge was my grandfather. We were a family-owned and operated car dealership in Rockville, Maryland for almost a century.


Lewis Reed was also a well-known photographer in Montgomery County. The blog provides a century of knowledge and information extending beyond the automobile. There are 200+ posts that gives a snapshot of what life was like more than 100 years ago.


Later, with money earned working at a general store and as an underage professional boxer--he won the Kansas light-heavyweight boxing championship at age of 17--Cottom bought a brand new Harley-Davidson, the first of many motorcycles he would own.


During the early years of the Depression, Cottom worked as a sparring partner in Chicago and raced motorcycles for cash on wooden board race tracks--one of the most dangerous kinds of racing there was. Cottom came to San Pedro in 1935 to help his brothers run their Century Sign business.


He opened Century Motorcycles at Pacific and 17th Street that year, specializing in vintage and British-made motorcycles such as Vincents, BSAs and Triumphs. The shop soon became a prominent hangout for bikers from throughout the Los Angeles area and beyond.


Century Motorcycle located at 1640 S. Pacific Avenue has, for several decades, held a Father's Day get-together. Free food, music and a chance to show off vintage motorcycles bring hundreds of participants to the event. Century Motorcycles has been in business since 1936 and is family owned and operated. In this photograph, several motorcycles, including a Vincent H.R.D. motorcycle, and their riders are seen parked in front of The Bike Palace, which is fairly close in proximity to the Father's Day get-together gathering. The Bike palace, which opened its doors in the summer of 1973, is also very involved in the community offering group get-togethers for Saturday morning rides, weekday evening rides, and Friday night social cruise rides in and around San Pedro. This shop is located at 1600 S. Pacific Avenue. Photograph dated June 2001.


Open Road: The Lure of Motorcycling in Ohio, is a one-of-a-kind exhibit featuring a fascinating selection of vintage and modern motorcycles from popular brands such as Harley-Davidson, Indian, Vincent, Triumph, Honda, Kawasaki, and Suzuki, as well as lesser-known brands such as Penton, Velocette and Tehuelche.


It's a sound some people love, some people hate. People have been hearing it, at any rate, for more than a century. Harley is celebrating its 105th anniversary this month in Milwaukee by opening a museum. The company isn't just looking back. It's trying to bring in new customers and keep its iconic brand alive. Ann-Elise Henzl of member station WUWM in Milwaukee reports.


ANN-ELISE HENZL: Harley-Davidson got its start in a shed in Milwaukee, when the founders attached a motor to what was essentially a bicycle frame. Over the next few decades, the design evolved, and the motorcycles grew in popularity. But it took the Second World War to really put the company on the map. An exhibit at the Harley-Davidson Museum features army-green Harleys, with large holsters designed to carry Tommy guns. The newsreel shows soldiers learning to ride.


HENZL: With the median age of a Harley rider pushing 50, McDonald says they have to attract younger riders who are often drawn to faster, quieter, imported motorcycles. Potential customers like 17-year-old Dakota Warren, who at the festival's display is admiring one of Harley's retro-look bikes. He's more interested in the Harley-Davidson look and sound than speed.


This addition to the Badger Biographies series tells the story of four young inventors who shared a dream: to create the best motorized bicycle in America. Their turn of the century aspirations took them from a backyard machine shop to a highly successful business empire - and all in the span of just a few years. With grit, determination, and not a little elbow grease, Bill Harley and the Davidson brothers - Arthur, William, and Walter - used their engineering and machine-shop expertise to continually perfect their designs and present the best possible products to the American public. Along the way they made their mark on the racing circuit and introduced safety measures that continue to this day. After their deaths, their sons and daughters continued this legacy, buying back the company after it changed hands and re-establishing Harley-Davidson as the king of the motorcycle world. From the old Knucklehead, Panhead and Shovelhead motors to the Evolution, Revolution and Twin Cam engines that followed, the story of Harley and the Davidsons remains one of the great success stories of the 20th century.


On this day, a century ago, two men met at a hotel in Manchester and decided to create automobiles bearing their surnames. These cars would be exceptional in every aspect, with no compromise in quality, detailing, performance or road behaviour -- even today we recognise the fact that Rolls-Royce is synonymous with brilliant engineering.


Rolls was educated at the finest of colleges and was a motoring enthusiast, racing cars and motorcycles for pleasure. Royce, on the other hand, got an opportunity to work as an apprentice at a railway works through the generosity of his aunt. There, he used his spare time to learn, among other things, the newfound subject of electricity. 2ff7e9595c


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