Indian Larry Rides On...

By Jim Buck

The biker world has lost one of its brightest stars. Indian Larry, Bike Builder and Stunt Rider, Dies at  55.

"Indian Larry" Desmedt, the legendary tattooed, long-haired, biker, bike-builder and stuntman, based in Brooklyn, New York, died on Monday in Charlotte, North Carolina, of injuries he suffered doing a stunt on Saturday at the Liquid Steel Classic and Custom Bike Series Show at the Cabarrus Arena & Events Center. He was 55.

Larry had gone to Charlotte for the shooting of an episode of "Biker Build-Off" on Saturday in which he has successfully competed with other riders of custom-made bikes. The accident happened afterward in a parking lot, with a crowd of about 8,000 watching.

It was reported that Larry, wearing a protective suit but not a helmet, was standing up on his seat as he went down the parking lot in a crowd-pleasing routine and may have been blinded by the sun when the bike started to wobble, and he wasn't able to regain control; he fell and hit his head. Larry suffered head injuries and was airlifted to the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte where he died early Monday.

Indian Larry, who lived in the East Village, had his workshop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He was a legend among biking enthusiasts and other custom builders. He regarded his craft as a form of art and got his nickname from the classic Indian brand of a motorcycle he rode years ago.

Larry was born in Cornwall-on-Hudson, N.Y. His wife, Bambi described him as a lone wolf, who never joined a motorcycle club but was a familiar figure to fans across the country. He was known among bikers as a metal sculptor and highly skilled mechanic.

His first motorbike was a 1939 Knucklehead he bought for $200 when he was a teenager, he said in a Rolling Stone interview. Within hours, he had taken it apart, and it took him nine months to put it back together.

He later went to California to apprentice himself to one of his heroes, the legendary hot rod builder Ed (Big Daddy) Roth. He had spent a wild youth and was a frequent subject of his friend the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, who was attracted to his "crash and burn" way of life. But in 1991 he decided to become "the best chopper builder in the world," according to an autobiography scheduled for publication by Crown in 2005, and devoted himself to becoming what he called a motorcycle artist. His most famous motorcycle, called

Grease Monkey, was named Easyrider Magazine's chopper of the year. Besides his wife, a performer billed as Bambi the Mermaid of Coney Island, Mr. Desmedt leaves his mother, Dorothy Desmedt, and a sister, Tina Wells, both of Middletown, N.Y.

"It was not a particularly dangerous maneuver he performed on Saturday, Bambi Desmedt said. "It was his way of blowing off steam after the bigger stunts," she added, "and winding down."

Through the years Larry had his ups and downs. Drugs and legal hassles set him back for a while but couldn't hold him down for long because he was determined. Larry paid his dues.

I met Larry, like thousands of others over the years; I shook his hand and told him how cool his work was when I'd see him at bike events. I had the opportunity to ride with him on a few occasions' years back before his TV fame. Riding with Larry through the streets of Da Bronx and on Rt. 80 in Jersey was a trip you don't ever forget. He would jam gears through traffic, do burnouts, pop wheelies and do his ironcross routine.

Many of my Down & Dirty Anti-Social Club brothers knew Larry very well. "He will be missed by the bike-building community, said Brothers Panhead Clint and Ali of the Down & Dirty. Both of these long time riders have had bikes worked on and/or built by Indian Larry.

Brother Ali's ol' school stroked Shovel has the classic Indian Larry imprint, such as the nickel plated frame, Candy Apple Red metal flake paint and classic brass dogbone risers as well as other brass touches and the hand made custom leather saddle by the leather master Paul Cox. (See more on this bike in an upcoming article.)

"Everybody thought he was a wildman, but he was really a nice guy and an eccentric," Clint said. Indian Larry was a true renaissance man with great skill and talent. He was a biker, master mechanic, metal sculptor, bike builder, stuntman and actor. He appeared in several movies and television shows, he was a supporting cast member on the popular HBO series OZ where he played an inmate.

The Discovery Channel has featured him on its show "The Great Biker Build-Off" series in which motorcycle builders design and build bikes from scratch, then have them judged by motorcycle aficionados. Larry also appeared in an episode of "Monster Garage" with West Coast Chopper's Jesse James. In that episode they built a cool-as-shit hot dog wagon dragster. "I know he does have a huge following," said Liz Hillman, head of communications for Discovery Channel. It's unclear whether the Discovery Channel will air future episodes featuring Indian Larry, Hillman said.

When Larry won the Biker Build Off Final against Billy Lane, it was what he did with that trophy that told everyone, everything they needed to know about who Indian Larry really was. He had shown his class to the world that day buy cutting the trophy in pieces and sharing the glory with Billy Lane and the crowd.

One of my brothers, Big Ching worked as the Associate Editor for Iron Horse Magazine in the '80s and was introduced to Indian Larry back then. "He was building bikes when building bikes wasn't cool. Larry was famous for his hand-built "old-school bikes" that look like they're from the '50s and '60s" Big Ching said.

"He was just getting the recognition he deserves. It's a tragedy. Larry will be missed." Over the past few years Larry's star has shown bright. He has been featured in most of the major newsstand bike mags. To their credit, the Horse - Backstreet Choppers (one time Iron Horse mag) has featured Larry from the beginning, long before his current popularity. The newfound TV fame he gained came with some drawbacks. The main ones being freedom and time to ride and just be left alone to build his bikes.

We live in a world of fads where everyone is building fat tire, stretched out, tricked-out choppers, that have become hot TV that the media spits out as main stream fodder. Larry stuck by his guns and built bulletproof rides to be ridden on the mean streets of NYC, not just for show or some contest. He preferred and perfected the ol' school minimalist approach to bike building. This was his claim to fame and will be his legacy.

Here's to you Larry, you will always be remembered as truly a "One Of A Kind" individual - your style and your class will be Greatly Missed! He lived the life he loved and loved the life he lived and he went out doing what he loved - ridin' his bike.

What more can any of us ask for?

Ride on Larry...

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