socalhodaka 105 Posted January 24, 2011 Yesterday I had a great opportunity to spend the day with motorcycle legend Preston Petty. So if your not old enough to know this name here is a link to little bio.AMA Hall Of Fame This all came about with Preston buying a Hodaka from back east, and the best place to have it shipped to was my friends Greg and Diane's house. They kindly invited me to come up and have lunch and meet PP. What a great guy and of course the history behind him. Here we are looking over one of the project Hodaka 250s were building for future post vintage mx. Of course Preston wanted to kick a leg over the bike, and that fender on the front is a original Preston Petty from 1976. Beside the bit of fade its in pretty good shape. I could not help to pull out something from my vintage stuff for him to sign. My PP number plate/tool box combo. Now this was not one of his big sellers but still was pretty cool. He said he made over 1 million front fenders alone, the front fender was his first product. Like the one here on my Combat Wombat. Here he is telling Greg and Diane about his idea on making the number plate/ tool box combo. Here Preston is signing the plate, another note is he really likes to wear that color blue cover all. This was a great day I will remember for a while. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirt dame 561 Posted January 25, 2011 Who (from my good ol' days, anyway ) didn't take the fiberglass or metal fenders off of their dirt bikes and replace them with Preston Petty stuff? It must have been really neat to hear some of the stories that he had to tell. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KLXBEN 0 Posted January 25, 2011 Cool write up. Thanks for posting that Kelly. Its nice to know that some of the pioneers of our sport are still kicking around and riding. I remember my dad had a Preston Petty Products sticker on the cab of his old '49 Ford p/u from when he was a teenager. I always thought that was the coolest. I do love nostalgia. Ben. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zenosan 2 Posted January 25, 2011 Nice hookup Kelly. PP fenders were de rigeur for a long time. Never met him, I would have liked to chat with him. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Covered in Dust 163 Posted January 25, 2011 Very cool Kelly. My 72 Bultaco 350 Sherpa T has PP fenders front and rear. I've been trying to find stockers in good shape for a reasonable price for years. I guess it's all his fault I don't have the stock. But I guess it's because of him I'll find pristeen stockers sitting in some guys rafters after all these years. Covered in Plastic Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hobiee 28 Posted January 25, 2011 That dude has some clean handwriting Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mctrails 38 Posted January 25, 2011 That was great! Thanks for sharing. Preston Petty fenders came along at the perfect time in my early dirtbiking days. I bought A LOT OF THEM and was always happy with them. He was a pioneer in our sport. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KTMrad 516 Posted January 25, 2011 That's cool, Kelly ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DustyRock 0 Posted January 25, 2011 Here he is telling Greg and Diane about his idea on making the number plate/ tool box combo. Very Cool ! I still have a number plate toolbox. The foam is toast it lost all its memory. Didnt think anybody still had one of those. Cant tell you how many times I thought of pitching it but couldnt, it has sentimental value. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkug 147 Posted January 25, 2011 Thanks Kelly for sharing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doctor z 0 Posted January 25, 2011 I'm very familiar with Preston Petty and his products. Used them on a few of my bikes back in the day. Used to ride and race a Hodaka Combat Wombat also. Thanks for sharing your experience with us! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
robertaccio 412 Posted January 25, 2011 Acerbis Plastica Italia has a big connection to Mr.Petty from the start-up, Franco began his moto plastics journey with Preston Petty Products. http://dirtbike.ws/node/491 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dsfox 0 Posted January 25, 2011 thats cool kelly, ever since Catalina GP and seeing all those vintage bikes in action, I have a new appreciation for it all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnnyAirtime 2 Posted January 25, 2011 Thats just awesome. How in the world did you come by him, and being able to hang out with such a man?! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
socalhodaka 105 Posted January 26, 2011 Thats just awesome. How in the world did you come by him, and being able to hang out with such a man?! It all came about because he just bought a Hodaka Ace 90 that I forgot to take a photo of him with, he bought it from back east and had it shipped to California. We piggy back his bike with the Hodaka Tommy Croft will be racing in the Marty Tripes Works 100 Series that was back east also. With my involvement with the MT series and the Hodaka Club, I and my friend Greg are helping Tommy with the bike prep here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
