Since I mentioned the "hidden room" tale in my article about Squibb Henrich and the 1924 trip to the Arizona desert, I thought maybe you guys would enjoy hearing more of the details.
Please give me your opinions. Some people blow it off, but guys like Squibb and Sherbie had no reason to lie. They were there and were the authentic guys who helped make early Harley-Davidson great.
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There is a story of a hidden room in the basement in the 1910-1911 portion of the Harley-Davidson factory. I got this story from an old guy named Albert "Squibb" Henrich who worked there starting in 1923. Squib was a test rider, and one day in the 1920s he was down in the testers' room in the basement with a guy named "Sherbie" Becker who was his boss. At lunch one day, they were talking about "old motorcycles" and Sherbie took Henrich around the corner by the west elevator and pointed to a spot on the concrete wall and said that back when the plant was constructed some old belt-drive motorcycles were walled up in there. Henrich said that Sherbie "knew everything" and "wasn't fooling." He also said that shortly after Sherbie told him the story, Sherbie was killed on a motorcycle near Milwaukee.
My first reaction was scepticism as I remembered Geraldo and Capone's vault and that TV show flop. Harley-Davidson actually did drill a couple shallow holes into the wall down there as I reported the story in Enthusiast mag but they found nothing. But that walled area of the factory basement (I've seen it) is very extensive and the walls gotta be thick. Then they dropped it.
But I didn't drop it. Instead I kept this guy "Sherbie" Becker in mind and tried to find out more about him. It turned out that Edwin "Sherbie" Becker was already working for Harley-Davidson in 1907 along with several other Beckers who were his brothers and uncles and cousins. The Beckers all lived up on Vliet Street just north of the Harley factory. Sherbie is positively identified in 1907 photos of Harley-Davidson employees and in many other places. And Sherbie really was killed on a motorcycle in 1926 near Mayville, Wisconson. Not far from Horicon Marsh and "the Ledge" (Niagara Escarpment).
Is this story about a "hidden room" at Harley-Davidson true or not?
What do you think?
http://www.atthecreation.com/
Please give me your opinions. Some people blow it off, but guys like Squibb and Sherbie had no reason to lie. They were there and were the authentic guys who helped make early Harley-Davidson great.
==========================
There is a story of a hidden room in the basement in the 1910-1911 portion of the Harley-Davidson factory. I got this story from an old guy named Albert "Squibb" Henrich who worked there starting in 1923. Squib was a test rider, and one day in the 1920s he was down in the testers' room in the basement with a guy named "Sherbie" Becker who was his boss. At lunch one day, they were talking about "old motorcycles" and Sherbie took Henrich around the corner by the west elevator and pointed to a spot on the concrete wall and said that back when the plant was constructed some old belt-drive motorcycles were walled up in there. Henrich said that Sherbie "knew everything" and "wasn't fooling." He also said that shortly after Sherbie told him the story, Sherbie was killed on a motorcycle near Milwaukee.
My first reaction was scepticism as I remembered Geraldo and Capone's vault and that TV show flop. Harley-Davidson actually did drill a couple shallow holes into the wall down there as I reported the story in Enthusiast mag but they found nothing. But that walled area of the factory basement (I've seen it) is very extensive and the walls gotta be thick. Then they dropped it.
But I didn't drop it. Instead I kept this guy "Sherbie" Becker in mind and tried to find out more about him. It turned out that Edwin "Sherbie" Becker was already working for Harley-Davidson in 1907 along with several other Beckers who were his brothers and uncles and cousins. The Beckers all lived up on Vliet Street just north of the Harley factory. Sherbie is positively identified in 1907 photos of Harley-Davidson employees and in many other places. And Sherbie really was killed on a motorcycle in 1926 near Mayville, Wisconson. Not far from Horicon Marsh and "the Ledge" (Niagara Escarpment).
Is this story about a "hidden room" at Harley-Davidson true or not?
What do you think?
http://www.atthecreation.com/
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