Ride On Carmen Tom
by The Great Seymour
85
year old Carmen Tom, a native of Britton, South Dakota: Long revered in
the motorcycle community and longtime member of the Jolly Rogers
Motorcycle Club, spent the majority of his life in its pursuit
(motorcycles AND the community). Likeable and friendly to most, he
frequently took time to chuckle it up with visitors to his shop.
Beginning in 1958 from his business zoned house on Empire Way (now
Martin Luther King Way) in Seattle, he sold
Jawa motorcycles from his
single car garage. Eventually, he built a showroom in his front yard
which went on to replace his house. He had all manner of dealerships
including Mustang,
Simplex,
Suzuki,
Maico,
Bultaco,
Clymer's Indian,
Triumph,
BSA, and finally
Harley Davidson.
His fame was bolstered by being graced with a
full page write up in the
Seattle Times. Approaching old age, he turned the Harley dealership over
to his son Russell who bought property in Tukwila and moved it there.
Known as DownTown Harley: It continues today in Renton.
Carmen’s love for motorcycles and their riders saw him frequently at the
shop jawboning with his fans.
Little able to ride, he still keeps many motorcycles in his garage, just
so he can look at them. He has a Chinese Army sidecar rig, Velocette,
Panther, Ural, BMW, Royal Enfield, and many Harley's. An avid Bible
reader, it’s easy to imagine what his heaven will be like. Ride on,
Carmen.
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|||