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'Bits and pieces' make Betty Boop

Bill Harlan, Journal staff | Posted: Friday, August 3, 2007 11:00 pm | (0) Comments

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buy this photo Howard Tyrrell spent a year and a half building his custom Betty Boop Harley-Davidson motorcycle, which features an airbrushed B.B. on the tank and fenders. (Photo by Bill Harlan, Journal staff)

STURGIS - Howard Tyrrell says his pink, custom-built Betty Boop motorcycle has certain magnetism.
"The women love it," Tyrrell told me Friday afternoon, as we chatted on Main Street in Sturgis. As if to prove his point, a young woman walking by shouted, "Nice bike!"
Tyrrell gets that a lot on Main Street, where he hangs out hawking for Fat Cats Tattoos by Jazzy Jeff.
"One girl's been by every day," Tyrrrell said. She wanted to rent Betty Boop, and he was willing. The cost: $8,000 a day, which, not so coincidentally, is exactly the selling price for this mostly Harley-Davidson motorcycle. "What am I gonna do, rent it and have her tip it over right there?" Tyrrell asked, pointing to the middle of Main Street.
Any rider might dump this machine, with its left-hand throttle, left-foot clutch and right-hand, eight-ball shift lever. Tyrrell trailered Betty Boop to Sturgis from his home in Warren, Ohio. "It'd kill me to ride it that far," he admitted.
Writing a classified ad to sell this motorcycle would be challenging, too.
Tyrrell describes it as a "37 to 92" Harley-Davidson, meaning the parts range from 1937 (the rear fender) to 1992 (assorted parts). "I got all kinds of bits and pieces in this," he said.
The motor is a 900 Ironhead Sportster out of a 1969 Harley-Davidson.
The frame is from a 1956 FL Hydra Glide Harley-Davidson.
The shift lever is from a 1988 Cadillac.
Why Betty Boop?
"I don't know," Tyrrell said. "Why do I ride motorcycles? Why did I get a tattoo? I just like her. She's cute."
Besides, the pink motorcycle makes it easier to explain his pink plastic sunglasses. It's all part of the package.
Tyrrell, 58, is a retired millwright and pipefitter. He's also a Vietnam veteran, and it turns out we were at the same base camp in 1970 with the same unit, the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment.
Ah, the weird synchronicity of Sturgis - or maybe it's just demographics.
"Seems there's a lot of us here in our 50s and 60s," Tyrrell said.
You can bet your Betty Boop on that.
Reporter Bill Harlan's column runs daily during the Sturgis motorcycle rally. Contact him at 394-8424 or at wrh2@rushmore.com. Go to www.rapidcityjournal.com and click on the Sturgis street blog for online reports.

Posted in Top-stories on Friday, August 3, 2007 11:00 pm

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