Excelsior – The ExhaustNotes Blog

Susie and I saw Jay Leno this weekend at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts and he was great. The 90-minute show felt like it passed in a heartbeat, and I guess that’s the sign of greatness. I laughed so hard my sides hurt.

I’ve seen Jay Leno in person several times at motorcycle events over the last few years, and I was surprised when writing this blog at how many photos I had. He’s a regular at the Rock Store on Sunday mornings, and it was at the Rock Store where I first saw him in person. He had arrived on his Y2K Huey-helicopter-jet-engine motorcycle before I did, and I didn’t realize he was there until I heard the characteristic whine of the Huey engine when he fired up his bike to leave. It was pretty cool.

Jay Leno on his jet-powered Y2K motorcycle at the Rock Store.

Another shot of Jay Leno on his Y2K. I didn’t realize it when I grabbed this quick photo, but I caught my own image in Jay’s faceshield.

On another occasion, good buddy Marty and I were at a Hansen Dam Britbike bike get-together. Most of the folks had already left for the classic bike run through the mountains when I saw this very classic vintage Excelsior enter the parking lot. I was focused on the bike, as I could see it was unrestored but still in very good condition.

An unrestored but pristine Excelsior Four. It was an impressive motorcycle.

I was snapping photos while the rider was still on the machine, with no idea who he was. When the helmet came off, though, there was Jay Leno. For a few minutes, it was just him and me. “Hi,” I said. I can be very articulate sometimes.

“Hi back,” Jay responded, and then the standup started, from a world famous comedian sitting on a nearly-80-year-old motorcycle. “It’s a ’36 Excelsior. I got a call from a 92-year-old guy in Vegas getting a divorce and he needed to raise cash,” Jay said.

“Really?” Like I said, I have a way with words. Leno just smiled and shook his head. It’s not often people can fool me, but if it’s going to happen, I guess if it’s Jay Leno it’s okay.

Jay Leno. Up close and personal at Hansen Dam. That motorcycle was unrestored.

On another occasion, good buddy Marty and I rode to an event celebrating the life of Bud Ekins, the guy who brought Steve McQueen into the motorcycle world and went on to become one of Hollywood’s greatest stunt drivers. Jay Leno was one of the speakers at this event (it was at Warner Brothers Studios), and I was able to get another photo.

Jay Leno speaking at Warner Brothers Studios. The guy on the left is Harvey Weinstein.

Here’s one last photo, and it’s another one at the Rock Store. When Jay Leno arrives, he’s always by himself and he’s immediately mobbed by folks wanting autographs and photos. That’s lasts for 15 minutes or so, Jay is always gracious, and then the crowd leaves to let him just poke around, looking at the bikes and making small talk like everyone else. What always impressed me was that Jay Leno is completely unpretentious. He’s just one of the guys. My good buddy Dave Walker and I had ridden to the Rock Store on our Harleys when Jay happened by, and I asked him if I could get a photo with Dave. Jay was on it in a New York minute, I probably took 20 photos, and Mr. Leno kept up a running banter the entire time.

After Jay left the Rock Store that day, I’m sure he spent the next several days telling folks he met Dave Walker.

I’ve seen Jay Leno a few other times when I didn’t grab photos, and he’s always the same nice guy, and he’s always good for a laugh. He is exactly the guy we used to see every night on the Tonight show. At the Love Run one year, he was the emcee and he asked if anyone had seen his buddy. “He’s wearing a Harley T-shirt, he has gray hair and a beard, and he’s got a pot belly…”

Jay is still out there and he’s still doing standup. And he’s still funny. If you ever get a chance to see him, take it. The guy does a great show, and it’s not an act. He’s the real deal.

Seriously? A 1931 Excelsior-Henderson? That’s my dream bike? Well, sort of. This was a bike that had its day well before I was born, and you might wonder: How did it come to be my dream bike?

The story goes like this: In April of 2006, my good buddy Marty and I rode to the Hansen Dam British Bike Meet here in southern California. It’s a cool event that happens once of twice a year (the next one is this weekend, as a matter of fact). The Hansen Dam meet is a photo op on steroids, as the classic British and other bikes that show up are incredibly beautiful. I’ve been going for years and I have a lot of photos to show for it.

Anyway, the events run like this: The bikes all gather (typically around 400 or so show up), and after everybody socializes and oogles the bikes for a couple of hours (that’s oogles, not Googles), most of the bikes leave for a big ride through the mountains. On advice of counsel (that would be Marty), I never went on the ride. To hear Marty explain it, these are old British bikes, and riding in that parade involves a lot of dodging and weaving to avoid oil spills and, you know, pieces of old British motorcycles. We always wait for the mass exodus to leave, and then Marty and I bail.

That’s what we had done on that April morning back in 2006. Most of the older classics had left and Marty and I were just about to saddle up and go home when this really classy old bike rode in. I was intrigued by the bike, it looked to be all original, and I snapped a quick photo when it rolled to a stop…

Most of the other classics had already left, and this old masterpiece arrived…it was magnificent!

I was totally focused on the bike and I was snapping away with my little Sony Mavica (those early digital cameras were awesome). I hardly noticed the rider…even after he took his helmet off. But then…wowee!

You know, you always think of the great things to say after the fact. I should have asked, “Can I have your autograph, Mr. Letterman?”

Yep, it was Jay Leno. At first, I was the only guy there taking pictures. I asked what the bike was and he told me: A ’31 Henderson. Where’d you find it, I asked. “I just got it. This 92-year-old guy called me from Vegas, said he was getting a divorce, and he needed cash fast…”

I thought old Jay was pulling my leg, and then I saw the video I’ve included below. I guess that was a true story. Go figure.

Jay was pretty pumped up about the bike. I think it might have been the first time he had it out. He told me the bike was running 70 mph on the way over, and he pointed out the speedo telltale to prove it (Mr. Leno talks about that in the YouTube below, too).

Hey, but that’s enough of my yapping and keyboard tapping…check out the photos!

A thing of beauty. Look at this inline four and its cooling fins.

What a cool dash! Look at the speedometer’s telltale.

The view from the left. Today’s faired motorcycles just don’t get it. You’re supposed to be able to see the motor on a motorcycle! Modern faired bikes look kind of like a washing machine when you take the fairings off. This is a motorcycle!

That’s not shaft drive, my friends. Those giant gears drive the speedo cable. That’s how they rolled in the early 1930s. And how about that rear brake!

The horn, the headlight, and the front suspension. We don’t need no stinkin’ fork seals!

With a crowd watching, it took Jay two or three kicks to get the Henderson fired up. In the video below, he does it with a single kick. The badge on Jay’s jacket is from the California Highway Patrol. I’ll bet there’s a cool story behind that, too.

I sort of remembered Jay telling me the bike was a ’36, but I guess my memory is fuzzy. I found a video online and it’s a 1931 model. The video is cool, and I’m including it here for you to enjoy…

I’ve seen Jay Leno a half dozen times or so at motorcycle gatherings here in southern California. He really is a nice guy. There’s no pretentiousness or arrogance at all, and no security entourage. It’s just Jay, a fellow gearhead. I remember talking to this nice elderly woman at the Rock Store souvenir shop and she told me Jay was a nice guy. She went on to tell me that most of the other celebs who show up at the Rock Store were (to use her words) “real assholes.”

When Jay arrives at an event, he is swamped with folks wanting photos and autographs as soon as he takes his helmet off, and he always goes along with the requests. The pattern I’ve observed is that the attention lasts 15 or 20 minutes, folks get their photos and autographs, and then the King of Late Night Comedy is just another one of the guys wandering around checking out the other bikes. I’ve got a few photos of Jay over the years, and it’s always a treat to see him. I came home and told everybody I knew about seeing Jay Leno the first time it happened, and hey, maybe he went home and told everybody he knew about seeing me. I’ve seen Jay Leno at the Rock Store, at Newcomb’s, and at the Hansen Dam events. I even bumped into him once at Warner Brothers, but that’s a story for another time and another blog.

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