GALION- Richard ‘Doc’ Goughenour has always had a passion for Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
Goughenour, 83, is a veteran and has been a resident of Galion for about 30 years. Throughout his life, he has been around Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Recently, Goughenour completed a rebuild of a Harley and invited all of his ‘Ol Timers’ from West Virginia to take a look and hear his 1961 Panhead Harley-Davidson masterpiece. Goughenour added it was an Aftermarket Softail frame.
“I’ve torn it down so many times until I finally got to this point. So, all my brothers (‘Ol Timers) came down to make it a special occasion and I just fired it up for the first time just a little bit ago,” Goughenour said.
Before unveiling his work, Goughenour explained he had polished the motorcycle for many hours and also designed and made the pipes. In addition, Bill Grogg from Galion, welded the exhaust that Goughenour designed and made.
Goughenour began his work on his motorcycle back in 1985, however, he explained he really devoted a lot of his time on it throughout the last 10 years. During the rebuild of the motorcycle, Goughenour has also done it with just one leg.
“I just kept changing things because I am a perfectionist. I have built a few (motorcycles) for myself and other guys. I’ve probably built five or six bikes. I built a show bike back in 1971. I didn’t even have pictures of it because I wasn’t thinking ahead,” Goughenour said.
Goughenour’s love of Harley’s first developed when his father took him for a ride on his Harley and from there, he passed on the passion for motorcycles down to his grandson.
“Another reason it took me so long to get this bike finished was because I had a grandson that wanted to race. So, I put the runner on hold so he could have a racing career. It worked out great, he turned out to be a really fast racer. He did retire from racing and got married and had three kids, but he still has his race bikes. He will never sell those,” Goughenour said. “My grandson got so good because he took one year and went outside in the winter, it didn’t matter how much snow or how cold it was outside. He would ride his little pit bike and he did it all winter. He never missed a day,” Goughenour added.
With Goughenour’s work completed, he shared the motorcycle was in memory of its original owner, Bob “RoadRunner” Ballentine. Ballentine passed away in 1984.
“I did this in memory of him and I was his mechanic. He told his wife if anything ever happened to him I was to get the bike. So, she gave it to me. This bike has went through so many changes. I kick it and start it myself,” Goughenour said.
When it comes to what Goughenour thinks of his creation he shared, “Patience is a virtue.”
