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Television’s “Biker Build Off” is where most of us first met Larry Desmedt, more commonly known as “Indian Larry”.
While most builders of choppers were concentrating on the long, low and lean approach, Indian Larry seemed to have an aversion to extended forks and huge rear tires. Instead, he was bringing the “old school” look back to motorcycles, and the biker world was ready for it.
Author Dave Nichols gives us a pretty thorough look at Indian Larry from the viewpoint of him as a “shaman” or somewhat mystical character in life.
From Larry’s early years, right up to his tragic death in August of 2004, Mr. Nichols maintains that Indian Larry’s life was so far out of line with the “mainstream” that, surely, he was fulfilling a destiny that was laid out by higher powers, much as a Swami or Guru has no choice but to be a window to the other side.
Photographer Michael Lichter, who has had his work continually published in Easy Rider magazine, provides the beautiful, full color documentation of Indian Larry’s wild and crazy life, from his passion for tattoos to his work with a Coney Island Thrill Show that eventually took his life. Indian Larry’s wife, Bambi, also furnished some of the photography and shared many of the lesser-known stories of Larry’s life with author Nichols.
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