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f you are regular reader of this rag, then you know I don’t usually write feature bike stories. Well, this is a special one, and I wanted to give it a go so bear with me. At the risk of repeating myself, if you are a regular reader of our monthly offering then you also know just as well as I do that quite often it’s the story behind a bike that makes it feature worthy and not just the bike. In this case, it’s both, a bitchin bike and a tale that chokes me up every time I hear or tell it. The War Pony started its life as a 2003 Harley-Davidson® Ultra Classic (The Black Pearl, aka The Pearl) that founds its way to Chris Callen, the founder, publisher and editor of Cycle Source Magazine in 2005 or so. It was just around the time that Cycle Source could be found on the national
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December ‘18 - CYCLE SOURCE MAGAZINE
newsstands. What most don’t know is that it is entirely possible that this mag wouldn’t be in your hands today if it weren’t for that motorcycle. You see, along with the prestige of going national came the bills, and traveling by motorcycle was the only way Chris could afford to be at all of the events getting the stories he needed to fill pages. If it weren’t for Chris being able to load up the Ultra with camera gear and cases of magazines he would never have gotten anywhere, never would have had stories to share. Over the next decade, Chris and The Pearl fought wars together. They crossed this country dozens of times bringing magazines, stories, and memories back and forth for roughly 250,000 miles. When his mother passed, after a demon-filled life, Chris
