R
andy Fels is the type of man I had the pleasure growing up around in the western Pennsylvania part of this country. He’s done the same thing for most of his adult life for work, he’s raised a family, and in his off hours, he’s lived his life around a motorcycle. Randy worked on the railroads in this part of the country to make his living, starting as a trackworker early on, then moving up to the shops as a welder for the remainder of his
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time before retiring. In those early days, he was on the crew that laid the tracks down around the now famous Horseshoe Curve in Altoona. I met Mr. Fels the day we had our bike show at Thunder In The Valley this year, and as soon as I saw him, I knew he was a man with a story, the kind of story I like to bring our readers. It turned out I was right, and I’m thrilled we presented him with our Best Shovelhead Award that day. Randy got his first bike right out of high school, a 650 Bonneville. Although it looks a lot different from when he got it, he spent very little
money on it over the years. That’s the thing about being a working man raising a family back then. First, you didn’t have a catalog to buy parts, and second, you didn’t have money to buy them anyway. Randy was raising four kids... three of them were daughters so there was always someone who needed shoes or clothes. Not to mention with three girls, the garage provided a much-needed sanctuary at times, so like many of us, Randy just figured out how to make parts for his bikes.
