wall. (Mr. Forbes owned 80 mo-
torcycles at the time of his
death and was a member of a
riding gang, the Capitalist
Tools.)
Mr. Katkowsky rides nine
months out of the year. He dri-
ves the BMW motorcycle to
work ("people leave it alone").
The Harley often takes him to
synagogue at Congregation
Beth Achim.
But what began as personal
freedom has become political
activism.
arry Katkowsky
In 1977, Mr. Katkowsky
tries to instill that
thinking in his stu-
dents. Known as
"The weather
the "Katman" and an
MOT, Mr. Katkowsky breaks and you take
spends days in the court-
that ultimate-
room representing bikers
and weekends training
freedom machine
riders-to-be road safety.
out and whoosh
At Keller and Katkowsky, his
Southfield office, Mr.
it's instant."
Katkowsky keeps a wall-size
— Larry Katkowsky
poster of Sturgis, S.D., rolled
up. There's a framed photo-
graph of the Katman and Mal- joined the bikers' rights move-
com Forbes, both dressed in ment — ABATE — A Brother-
dapper white jackets, on the hood Against Totalitarian
"If you let the fear not
let you ride, then you'll
live your life frustrated.
My father died of cancer.
He always said he'd 'do
his thing' when he re-
tired. He never got the
chance. I don't want to
live like that," Mr. Her-
man said. "But I also ride
differently now than
when I was 20. At 20 I
was immortal. Now I'm
mortal."
I
could be accused of looking
almost preppy. Professionals,
paying $15,000 and up, order
their "hogs" a year in advance.
(For example, all 1995 Harley
Davidson models are sold, al-
though none have been de-
livered yet.)
Sturgis, S.D., the site of
week-long Harley Davidson
street parties complete with
racing, trading and buying for
more than 50 years, has been
the subject of feature profiles
on prime-time television news
shows.
Ms. Herman calls it the
harmless mid-life crisis — one
Jews are no more immune to
than any other group.
A line of MOT Harleys is of-
ten seen on Royal Oak's Main
Street on weekends. Mr. Her-
man's bike sticks out with a
Tasmanian Devil painted on
the body and a Porky Pig in a
leather cap strapped to the
back. His wife talks about
painting her machine red and
with Betty Boop. The MOTs are
;sipping cappuccino and munch-
.ing on muffins and scones.
And although Mr. and Ms.
Herman affectionately refer to
their motorcycles as "deli to deli
bikes," the couple's idea of a va-
.! cation is riding cross-country on
the open roads. They have trav-
eled to South Dakota and Flori-
da and been rear-ended in
Traverse City, hard enough to
send both of them flying from
their machines.
They insist they'll ride until
they cannot anymore.
OPPOSITE:
Sal and Judee Herman: Riding out of
their driveway In West Bloomfield.
ABOVE:
Lillian Lloyd: Known to friends and
bikers as Diamond Lill.
WAIL
Lillian Lloyd rides her dream bike —
a 900 Honda Custom.
Enactments or American Bik-
ers Aiming Toward Education
(choose one, both are accepted).
As a member of the board of di-
rectors of ABATE of Michigan,
Mr. Katkowsky often finds him-
self wrapped up in legislation
affecting bikers, primarily hel-
met-related laws.
"I'm not anti-helmet, but I be-
lieve in a choice. (Mr.
Katkowsky wears a helmet on
his motorcycle and his bicycle.)
I think if all the energy going
toward helmet laws was di-
rected toward education, we
would save more lives," Mr.
Katkowsky said. "I make my
living when people get hurt on
motorcycles. This is how I pay
back."
Several times during the
year, Mr. Katkowsky rises be-
fore dawn to set up pylons and
run through weekend safety ex-
ercises with new riders. He is
certified through the Michigan
Department of Education to
teach the course.
About 2,000 Metropolitan
Detroit riders complete the
course with Mr. Katkowsky or
other instructors each year.
Bikers younger than 18 and in-
dividuals who have failed the
Secretary of State driving test