Gone But Not Forgotten in San Antonio! - Part II (Victoria: infant, commercials)

[Twinpilot001]

I cant forget =Krumm's cycles -1st met raymond Krumm @ his home-where he did motorcycle work!! raymond was instrumental in the san antonio Police force & was their head mechanic!! He is the one that origionally came up with the Black & white paint design for all police motorcycles. All were harley davidsons too -even service cars as they were called (3 wheelers & 2 wheeled police use)-- thinking i was about 13 age then- raymond went on to move to bandera road im thinking about 1961-2?? built a nice shpo on property -where he sold ducati & norton bikes. I recieved a new ducati in 1962 and after a 1965 bsa. I was close friends to the family & can remember when the twin girls were born - friends with Mark krumm for some years. seems like there were ?? 5 kids total.?? Mark & i used to ride together & visit many times as friends will do - remember my 1st drivers license was @ age 14 then in texas & allowed us to drive ANY!! vehicle- way before commercial 7 motorcycle licencees wrer thought of!! Raymonds brother in austin texas was named =adrian Krumm-has a nice shop on ? barton springs road as my memory says! He had a son bout the same age as mark was too -funny thing wAas raymonds son mark - was spittin image of adrain & adrians son was same image as raymond!! Like the kids got mixed up @ the hospital!! never will forget that!! I do believe adrian sold the ducati or bsa before raymond had his shop up @ new location! Later ray sold ducatis. Skinny pierce had an old indian bike that was old & rusty!! flathead too yet was revered as the fastest bike in sat for many years. I remember a young man coming in skinnys old shop & said his bike would beat skinnys old relic - he had a 750 2 stroke kawasaki !! they were fast then too! Money was bet -a bunch too! and skinny fueled the old bike & got it started- rust & smoke everywhere!! The race was on - skinny said the race was for 2 city blocks- yes on the city streets!!!!!!!! The race started & skinnys bike was 2 car lenghts in front of that mans new bike when finished!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Man never showed his face there again too~!! I hope all the krumms are doing well & happy =fond memories for me-Matt Hohmann - spokane washington & still riding!!

[Basse Bud]

Motorcycle shops in the 1950's, early 60's:

Grahams Cycle Shop, Blanco, just south of San Angelo; Dealer for BSA, Velocette, Mustang.
Chuck Earnhardt Cycle Shop, Broadway around 6th; Dealer for Matchless, BMW (and if memory serves, Simplex!) also carried the Messerschmidt (sp) "Torpedo".
Pierce Brothers, N. St.Mary's Dealer for Indian ( The Royal-Enfield variety ).
Bill Walters, E. Houston (only open in the early evenings) Dealer for Triumph (maybe Ariel?)
San Antonio Harley Davidson, Broadway and Grayson. SA's only Harley dealer for years.

The Krumm brothers opened later, after Earnhardt, Walters and Grahams had closed, if I remember
correctly (not 100% sure).

The 50's were fun (pre-Brando and The Wild Ones!) with Lime Runs, Rocket Runs, Map Runs and an assortment of variations. Seems all those events ended at a bar (Ice House?) somewhere on the
South side. The scrambles course was located at the Northwest corner of the intersection of Bitters and Wetmore Road. The road race events were held at the old Castroville (Army Air Corps!) airfield which
had been closed for years. The main runway made for one hell of a long straight-away, which then
required a 180 degree left turn ( on the grass at the end of the runway ) to return on the taxiway
with a few additional turns, to the starting line. A chap by the name of Bill Tillery, riding a 650 BSA
seemed to win more often than not.

It was not unusual to see some spectators (riders) hang around after the races to indulge in some
non-sanctioned ( and probably illegal ) drag racing on the closed main runway (which still had the
distance markers in place. Someone had thought to flag the markers ( red shop rags ) at the
quarter mile point.

One late afternoon found two would-be motorcycle drag racers, one on a new Harley "K" model
Sportster, the other on a two-stroke Zundap 250cc. The laughter subsided and turned to cheers
when the Sportster finally caught up with and passed the Zundap about 200 feet from the finish
markers!!! Suddenly the thought of two-stroke'ers kicking a "real" motorcycle's butt turned to awe.
The few in attendance who rode their Puch, sold as Allstate 125's and 250's, seemed to sit a bit
taller as they proudly departed the course. Dunno' how the Harley riders felt...

[Twinpilot001]

Raymond krumm actually worked for skinny pierce as mechanic -before running the sat police m/c division shop.

[Basse Bud]

[quote=Twinpilot001;34689617]Raymond krumm actually worked for skinny pierce as mechanic -before running the sat police m/c division shop.[/quot

Was unaware Ray Krumm worked for Pierce. The motorcycling community in SA was not that large
in those days.

What would be of interest is: What happened to all those old "junk" machines that were always present
(sometimes in large numbers) around the shops? Grahams Cycle comes to mind, as there were a couple
of seldom opened sheds containing older bikes in various states of disrepair. "Cannibalized" basket cases?

There remains to this day an old (very old, late 50's) urban myth(?) Someone's wishful thinking(?) Actually
true story(?) of the bike collection/accumulation near Victoria which was reportedly/fabricated/wishful thinking, buried by a soon-to-be-exwife with a front loader! Had this story not been told by several unrelated sources, it would have been classified as Good Ole Boy BS. Anyone ever hear of this?

[huckster]

It have heard that recently that there is A new Corvette- for $200.00 that has been wrecked, but, not too badly. Easily repairable.
The real problem of the situation is that the the driver, well this guy from San Antonio had lost control , ran off the road out there on one of those hill country backroads outside Boerne, got killed in a crash and the decomposing body lay unrecovered for over a month trapped inside the auto and so, decomposed quite badly. I guess sight of the sports car was obscured by heavy brush at the bottom a ravine and so the extended amount of time to find the car.
While it is beautiul car alright, it is so very malodorous, the interior stench is so bad noone wants to
attempt it.
It might be a fixer upper however. Merely by replacing the interior.
All one has to do to see it is drive out I-10 and exit the Boerne ramp there, stop at the gas station at the corner across from the HEB and ask about the car, they will tell all about it and give directions as to its' location.
It might be worth a drive. Those newer corvettes are surely nice.

and was[quote=Basse Bud;34735565]

Originally Posted by Twinpilot001

Raymond krumm actually worked for skinny pierce as mechanic -before running the sat police m/c division shop.[/quot

Was unaware Ray Krumm worked for Pierce. The motorcycling community in SA was not that large
in those days.

What would be of interest is: What happened to all those old "junk" machines that were always present
(sometimes in large numbers) around the shops? Grahams Cycle comes to mind, as there were a couple
of seldom opened sheds containing older bikes in various states of disrepair. "Cannibalized" basket cases?

There remains to this day an old (very old, late 50's) urban myth(?) Someone's wishful thinking(?) Actually
true story(?) of the bike collection/accumulation near Victoria which was reportedly/fabricated/wishful thinking, buried by a soon-to-be-exwife with a front loader! Had this story not been told by several unrelated sources, it would have been classified as Good Ole Boy BS. Anyone ever hear of this?

[*mud*]

Originally Posted by Basse Bud

.

snip

What would be of interest is: What happened to all those old "junk" machines that were always present
(sometimes in large numbers) around the shops?

Grahams Cycle comes to mind, as there were a couple
of seldom opened sheds containing older bikes in various states of disrepair. "Cannibalized" basket cases?

snip

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.
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I'm guessing it was in the early 80s.

saw an ad in the paper for a 48 Chevy Woody Wagon.

went to have a look - way out Blanco Road nearly to 46.

turns out the ad was placed by Gene Graham's son.

there was not one single part or piece on that wagon that was usable.

trees were growing through the floorboard.

total rust bucket, top to bottom.

don't know about the acreage of the place, but it was large.

dozens, probably 100s of scooters cycles cars trucks appliances etc.

everything was nothing more than trash.

a crying shame..........
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[Basse Bud]

Mud,

I remember when Gene, by that time was selling tires for Sears(?), moved to the place in Bulverde.
I suspect this may be the location you were referring to. I was told many years ago by a former
Graham's employee that Gene had stored several(?) cycles under the Bulverde house, so as to keep
them out of the weather. (apparently no sheds/barns were available.)

I wonder if the house is still standing and if the bikes are still there?

Sadly, it seems more old "treasures" are lost to the elements than to more mechanical means.

I've noticed over the past few years the International Auction folks ( they do several at various locations
around the U.S.) are experiencing more collection liquidations than individual sellers posting bikes for auction.

While they have one large auction in Las Vegas (in January?), there are others. The last one I attended (at Southfork,
yes, THAT Southfork, in Plano) I picked up 8 yr old Yamaha 4-cylinder rider for $400. Unfortunately, the cost of
rebuilding and synchronizing the carbs would have cost another $400. I chose to ride a slightly-mistuned, cosmetically
perfect old bike for a couple of years, until a youngster (who had recently graduated from some bike repair school)
left a note on the bike that he was interested in buying it. Done Deal! Shortly after, I saw the old bike in the same parking lot, as I was returning to my car, I noticed a young man approach the bike while strapping on a helmet. I walked back and introduced myself to the new owner. Seems he had just bought the bike for $1100 dollars and was very
pleased with the deal. I was amazed to see how easily it started, and with no indication of any carb issues, motored
smoothly out of the lot. ...maybe I should have spent the $400, and still be riding it to this day (barring anymore $400 carb jobs!)

[ranchodrive]

.
H.E.B. on Nogalitos St.

My first job as "pkg. boy" was here.
It's all torn down except for the front entrance.

On left side was a Bruner's Store... but not 100 % sure on the name.

[Greg08]

The full jingle was ...

Let's have Lone Star, join in the fun, then you'll agree Lone Star's the only one. Certified premium quality, light, bright, and clear. Have an ice cold Lone Star beer!

[huckster]

That takes me back in time.

Originally Posted by ranchodrive

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H.E.B. on Nogalitos St.

My first job as "pkg. boy" was here.
It's all torn down except for the front entrance.

On left side was a Bruner's Store... but not 100 % sure on the name.