#51 “Panhead” Pat
Monrovia, MD
Hi, “Panhead” Pat here, the owner/rider of a 1929 Harley JD, hailing from Monrovia, MD, a small community outside of Frederick, MD. I have always loved things mechanical, cars, motorcycles, and racing. I brought home my first Harley, a 58 Panhead, hence the nickname, in boxes when I was about 20. Built it and off I went, down a road I would have never expected!
After working in several gas stations & repair shops for years, in 1989, I decided to start my own auto repair business. Then, in 2005, I decided to offer motorcycle parts and service. That was the start of Pat’s Cycle Works. Having heard about the Bonneville Salt Flats as a kid and been a racer most of my life, I wanted to try something different: Land Speed Racing. In 2007, a good friend, Mark Kapowitz, and I built an LSR bike from extra parts around the shop, friends’ garages & E-bay and went racing. I now hold numerous Land Speed Records and the honor of having the world’s fastest (?) 80″ Evo. Mark’s always used the word hooha to replace whatchamacallit or thingamajig. ie; hand me that thingamajig over there. After his passing, to honor his memory, I named the racing venture HooHa RACING.
With Evo’s, Shovelheads, Panheads & Flatheads in my garage, it was time to add a motorcycle that was really old. I heard of a project, “actually a pile of parts,” from a local basement that was for sale. Again, another Harley, well, some of a 1929 JD, came home in boxes. Took me about 1 1/2 years, the help of lots of friends, a ton of research, figuring out what went where, what I still needed, finding it to keep it ~95% original/period correct. It came to life on the second kick on Christmas Day 2018. She is far from the prettiest, but she ain’t sitting in pieces in a basement rotting away. I was able to get a spot in the 2020/2021 Cannonball riding border to border. I had a few minor issues that I was able to fix on the side of the road, and thanks to a GREAT support team to help service it every night, I finished every mile and then some!
In 2024, it was awarded the Palmetto Award at the Hilton Head Concourse d’Elegance, and in 2025, one of my 1941 ULs was an award winner.
So what’s next? Well, having ridden cross country several times on much newer bikes and accomplishing border to border on an almost 100 year old motorcycle, time to take on coast to coast! I am looking forward to seeing old friends, an AWESOME adventure, and making a bunch of new ones along with the memories!
