The Herty Chopper Co.

The Herty Chopper

I spoke with my son last night. He called on his way home from work at about 7 PM. Among the topics of our talk, was the fact that he had won some sort of a contest at work and was going to receive a motor scooter as a prize for his achievement. He wasn't sure of much, but was rather adamant about getting it out of his house, knowing that he had a rather inquisitive 8 year old living with him, my grandson Max. Brad didn't even know what brand it was, but it's being delivered on Friday this week and wanted to know if I could research it and possibly market it, because of my vast experience in this sort of thing. I actually sold a Vespa for a friend and got her some cash for the thing. It was no easy feat and I met some really weird people. Try to picture who you might find sitting upon a motor scooter in traffic, not a motorcycle, a motor scooter. I talked to lonely older women and college students, as you would imagine. The women just wanted to talk and the college kids didn't have any money. Tough sale. 

Below is the email I sent to Brad this morning, after determining by blowing up the picture, that the scooter is a Herty brand. Sadly, they sell retail for $599 brand new. It appears that no fortune is coming his way, by way of selling it.

Well, it turns out that the Herty Chopper Company has quite a history. 

It was started by a man by the name of Albert Herty in 1892 with a bicycle that was devised for downhill racing and as the years went by, other family member joined the effort to get them where they are today. I believe it was in the 1930's that the Original Hells Angels used Herty bikes for their club bike of choice, but they later learned that due to the bore and stroke of the engine, the Herty bikes were a tad out of balance and required smaller wheels in the back of the scooter to keep it on track, so to speak. They later switched to training wheels, due to the savings they could enjoy in their manufacturing costs. (Clearly a poor decision) It was the Arizona Outlaws that first rumbled with the Hells Angels over their less than aggressive image that they were creating for the motorcycle gang culture. The Outlaws won and teased the Angels taunting them with hissing and the screaming of "Sissies". That was when the Hells Angels switched to the Harley Davidson hogs and in doing so abandoned the Herty Choppers with their training wheels. Since then, their stock has plummeted and most of their employees were coming to work in disguises. Most chose to wear the costumes of Firemen, Policemen and Cowboys n Indians and later formed the Village People, but I'll save that for another story! As they say in Yiddish, "A Vespa it's not"!

Dad