As she writes in her wonderful autobiography , “ Real women kickstart their bikes !” And do it with a smile , too .
Right until she broke her hip Gloria was a traveling fool , doing book tours and hitting bike events
era – to the beach races at Daytona , perhaps , or one of the early Motor Maids conventions in the ’ 40s or ’ 50s , or maybe to her family ’ s Excelsior-Henderson shop in Clifton , New Jersey during the ’ 20s or ’ 30s . All of which makes Gloria Tramontin Struck motorcycling ’ s
Grand Dame . She ’ s a trailblazer with a story that ’ s epic in scope , as in many ways it ’ s the story of motorcycling ’ s amazing first century , and the greatest generation that lived it .
Gloria Struck is one of the most amazing women I ’ ve ever met . Still riding bikes at an age when most women ( and men ) have given up such pursuits , she thinks nothing of hopping on her Harley and riding across country for some of the biggest motorcycle events in the nation . I want to be just like her when I grow up ! – Christine Paige Diers
Where did this resilient woman come from ? Some of you know this , but the nutshell version bears repeating . Gloria was born to Ernest and Pierina Tramontin in 1925 in an apartment attached to the back of the couple ’ s bicycle and motorcycle shop called Lexington Cycle in Clifton , New Jersey . It was the Roaring ’ 20s and things were mostly good in America , but darkness was approaching for young Gloria and her five-yearolder brother Arthur , both personally and nationally . Her father died in ’ 28 of gangrene poisoning after a motorcycle accident with a left-turning car destroyed his leg , and of course the stock market crash of late 1929 plunged the country into depression .
Pierina kept the shop open part-time during the ’ 30s with help from Ernest ’ s brother Joseph while also working in a sweatshop , often bringing young Gloria along as there was no one else to watch her . Gloria remembers cutting cardboard shapes to put inside her shoes when the soles wore out , and often went hungry . “ A can of pork and beans and a roll was a great meal ,” she says .
Times were tough , but the gritty family survived . In ’ 38 at the age of 13 Gloria was helping her mom in the shop , typing motor vehicle forms , doing basic accounting and paying bills . Brother Arthur – nicknamed ‘ Bub ’ – was helping , too , selling bikes ( the shop was now an Indian dealer ), selling parts and fixing them in the back . Bub was also riding a lot
THUNDERPRESS . NET | MAY 2020 | 25