INDIAN LARRY: 04-28-49 / 08-30-04
date - August 2006
medium – ink
size - 11” x 17”
surface - Académie Heavyweight Sketch Paper

Ride on, brother...ride on

- taken from the Wikipedia entry on "Indian" Larry Desmedt [link]

"Indian" Larry Desmedt (April 28, 1949 - August 30, 2004) was a noted bike builder, stuntman, and innovator in the world of custom motorcycles.

Indian Larry was born Larry Desmedt in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York in 1949. He became interested in motorcycles at an early age, and a fan of artist Von Dutch. He later moved to California to apprentice under legendary hot rod builder and pop artist Ed "Big Daddy" Roth.

Larry was convicted of bank robbery and struggled with alcohol and drug abuse in his youth. Larry decided to leave his tumultuous early life behind and focus on his bike building talents. Larry founded the Gasoline Alley custom motorcycle shop in New York City in 1991. His "old school" choppers quickly won renown in the motorcycling world. His motorcycle "Grease Monkey" was named Easy Rider magazine's ‘Chopper of the Year’ and he was a winner of the Discovery Channel's Biker Build-Off trophy. Indian Larry is credited with re-popularizing the old school of "Bobber" custom motorcycle popular in the 1950s and 1960s.

Indian Larry was also an accomplished stuntman and actor. Larry played himself in the film Rocket's Red Glare. He performed stunts for the films Quiz Show, Muscle Machine, My Mother's Dream, and 200 Cigarettes. He also appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman.

One of his famous trademarks was a tattoo on his neck, just below his chin. It read "In God We Trust - Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord - No Fear" The middle two lines were in reverse so that he could read them when looking in a mirror.

Indian Larry was performing a motorcycle stunt at the Liquid Steel Classic and Custom Bike Series in Concord, North Carolina on August 28, 2004. In the stunt, Larry was standing on the moving motorcycle. The bike began to wobble out of control and he was thrown from the motorcycle sustaining serious head injuries. Indian Larry was taken to the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. He died there on August 30, 2004 from injuries sustained in the accident.

send any inquiries and/or fan mail to :
Indian Larry's
151 N. 14th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211

Indian Larry website [link]

- please be aware that this is a reposted image and not a brand new deviation