I "grew up" in a time when you could easily buy a "basket case" motorcycle for $200 and take 6 months or a year assembling it. You learned to work on your bike back then if you rode, because mechanics quite often were too expensive, and having learned on their own bikes may or may not know more than you do. This was before the motorcycle riding explosion. 

     Glen "Hip" Kachel is a product of the same time frame. He just took it one step farther than even most of us "hard core" riders. Hip is a 40 + time world record holder in the AHDRA, and owner of Hip's House of Horsepower in Cape Coral, Florida. For over 30 years this man has been involved with motorcycles and getting the most out of them in every way, shape and form. Doing everything from testing for S&S,  to figuring out safety and horsepower tricks that set his 40 + records; Hip and others like him made it possible for many like me to take care of  and occasionally race our own bikes.

     But none of the things that you have read, or remember about this man can compare with meeting him and talking to him. The intensity and conviction of his beliefs comes out in his words and in his eyes.

     We started out talking about his records and preferences for kinds of bikes to race. There are pictures of him at various races all over the country framed on the walls and one of the first things I learn as he talks is that many of his records were set with an old ironhead. Hip likes the smaller engines and the sportster one- piece configuration for racing. 

     "Today, with the trend towards the choppers, I think anything over 100 cubic inches is a waste! I mean we're in traffic not at Bonneville Salt Flats. And I can make the 100 ci engines do everything a customer will want it to do" Hip says.

     Hip goes on, "The  important thing with the bikes is doing two things, make them safe and find the horsepower hidden in it. That's it"

     "Street riding is a lot more dangerous than the track. The riding is different. I can teach someone to drag race if that's what they want, but I teach them the bike. The configuration of it. Where the pegs should be, where the clutch should be set and so on. And how to check the safety of the bike."

     I was surprised when he told me that  his "Hip's Special" was about $1500. Until he told me what all was involved in it. He is so safety conscious, that his initial "tuneup" covers every nut and bolt, every fluid, everything. Even on a brand new bike.

     " I have had every brand in here and they all need the same thing, whether it's a $20,000 bike or a $120,000 one. They get their parts which are mass produced and "usually" fit right and they put them together by a "standard" Each one can be configured a little better. People are looking at the glitz and not at the actual riding and workings of it."

     "It's not just the way I fix or set up the bike, but I'm also going to TEACH you about the bike with all the experience behind me. How many other shops will do that?"

     Hip is more concerned with the riders and the safety of the people who do take advantage of his knowledge than with the glitz and glamour. 

     " I have been doing this for a long time. I have the knowledge behind me from racing and testing the parts we raced with. In all those races I was in, I have NEVER  blown an engine."

     Hip's plans for the future are as unique as the man himself. He has plans to open up his shop as schooling for people who want to learn the "old school" method of fixing bikes and finding their hidden horsepower. 

     " Over and above what the schools teach them about working on bikes, I'll teach them my tricks with all the experience behind it. When they get someplace, they won't just have a job, they'll be able to make a shop money!"

     To me, someone willing to share that kind of skill and knowledge, someone who cares about the safety of the individuals so much, someone who put his life on the line to make a sport better for all of us, is a hero.  This is a man who gives and gets the most out of everything he does so that others can benefit. Glen "Hip" Kachel should be in the AHDRA Hall of Fame.

     He's definitely in ours!

     Story by Shadow Wolf,

     Courtesy of White Line Magazine

     WhiteLineMagazine.com

     copyright 2005