Ted Kieper
My first motorcycle was a 175cc Allstate/Puch in 1959. I
loved that bike. It would do 80. We did it a lot. I've always LOVED speed.
My next bike was a brand new 1959 Ducati 200. Candy apple red. Beautiful
machine. Wish I still had it.
At age 17 I arrived in Las Vegas in 1960 to serve my 4 year Air Force
enlistment earning just over $70 per month as a jet mechanic. I earned more money from my
paper route when I was 14.
I began my racing career in 1962 competing in Nevada
desert races riding a '57 650 Triumph. Real speed! Imagine dodging
boulders and cactuses at 80!
I began my business career in 1963
with a storefront in Las Vegas catering to racing bikes. I named it
Competition Cycle Center. It continued in Milwaukee when I left the Air
Force in my garage until I rented an old service station on
South 22nd and Greenfield Avenue in 1967 to have a place to work on
my racing motorcycles.
To support my expensive racing habit I
began repairing motorcycles for the public. I was traveling to races all
over the mid-west and it was getting hard to make ends meet. I had just
left my two year (1965 - 1967) job at Harley-Davidson Motor Company as a
factory mechanic so I needed to earn some money. Through the fall of 1967
and winter of 1968 I drove a taxi cab 7 nights a week to survive. Driving
a cab is more dangerous than racing.
In March of 1968 I placed a radio ad on
WRIT in Milwaukee for motorcycle
repair and tune-ups and became the 1st Milwaukee area motorcycle
business to advertise on the radio. It brought me instant credibility and
business and by fall 1968 I was looking for a larger building which I found on South 27th
and National. By 1972 I had to build an addition on to the building to house
my 21 employees.
In the summer of 1968 I raced a 500cc BSA Gold Star
flat tracker for Bob
Hansen (Team Hansen- check out a current
Photo Galery picture of Bob) all over the country. We won races, stopped at most
Dairy Queens, had lots of fun and are still friends.
In summer of 1970 I performed for two
days as the
opening act in the Motordrome at Summerfest in Milwaukee after their
regular opening act rider disappeared. I rode my American Eagle 405cc
Husky clone TT dirt tracker and it was way too fast
but still an incredibly fun adventure. When you go too fast in the big
wooden barrel the centrifical force drains the blood from your brain and
you get dizzy and crash. I found that out the hard way. 3 things happen,
you hit the wall and stop real quick, you fall to the bottom of the pit
and then your bike falls on top of you if it hasn't run over you yet. NOT
much fun there.
In the early '70s I was traveling with my motorcycle
thrill show which included me jumping over cars for 2 years. We did county
fairs, drag strips and car races. A movie
called "The Thrill Seekers" starring Chuck Conner was based on my thrill
show the year after I quit because I was tired of traveling with other
people. I did have a lot of fun and met some great people.
In the fall of 1982 I started a computer
business which grew rapidly and in 1990 I sold the motorcycle business.
I love helping people and I'm truly lucky to
be able to make a living working with clients and their computers. Every
business I've owned has been a hobby that got out of hand. I feel like I've
never had to work because I've always done for a living what many people enjoy
as a hobby.
Ted Kieper owner
