- Vehicle
- 1972 Harley-Davidson FLH Electra-Glide
- ASSOCIATED CHARACTERS
- Wayne Conrad
- Austin Conrad
- ABOUT
- Austin Conrad is a gearhead, and loves his cars, trucks and motorcycles. But perhaps his most prized possession is the 1972 Harley-Davidson FLH Electra Glide he inherited from his father, Wayne Conrad. From the pages of No Time To Bleed:
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The 1972 FLH Electra Glide he was riding had belonged to his dad. Wayne Conrad bought it used in 1975, only a few years old but having been laid down on the asphalt and in need of some work. That was shortly after he returned from ‘Nam. He had bought the scooter in part as an act of rebellion. But mostly he had bought it so he could hit the road, to escape the bullshit returning vets had to deal with back in those days. And perhaps try to outrun the demons that had followed him home.
The old man had passed away while Austin was off fighting in his own war, of sorts. Only two years out of high school, he was in Panama chasing Noriega. Operation Just Cause had been the first combat jump of the 82nd Airborne since World War II, but that’s not what had seared the date into Austin’s memory so clearly.
On Christmas Eve 1989, they had been mopping up after an assault on the Panama City airport. Austin was sitting on a baggage cart picking at an MRE when a messenger found him and delivered the news. But it would be weeks before he could get back home and sort out the details of his dad’s death. The old man hadn’t left him much, other than a 2-bedroom house near downtown Riverside, a few knives and guns, and the Electra Glide.
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