The "Petrali Racer"

Bronze statue brings history alive

by Bill Andrews

Nov. 1 – Joe Petrali's fists clench the handlebars as he hugs the fuel tank, in pursuit of a land speed record and tucked behind a fairing that would be called a fly screen by today's standards. You see the wrinkles and the stitching in the fabric of his pants and jacket, the laces in his shoes and the tension in his arms.

Of course it's not really Petrali. It's a life-size statue. But the work is so detailed, and looks so real, one observer purportedly chastised the artist for ruining a perfectly good classic Harley-Davidson knucklehead engine.

As the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum gears up for the Heroes of Harley exhibit opening in 2003, one of the prized items to be displayed is Jeff Decker's life-size bronze sculpture of Petrali riding a streamlined Harley-Davidson into the land-speed record books.

The bronze alone in each 500-pound statue costs $2,000. Though a few are already on order, no more than six of the statues, valued at $75,000 each, will be produced.

The tribute to the 1937 land speed record was created by Decker and was commissioned by Bob Dron, owner of Harley-Davidson of Oakland, in California.

Dron says he was looking for a centerpiece for his store, but he wanted something different.

"I have a weakness for bronzes," Dron says, "but I didn't want to do a normal stock bike."

Enter Decker.

"Decker and I clicked in the first two minutes," Dron says. "He's such a down-to-earth guy. I saw his work, and I just loved the board track racer he made."

The two men discussed what might work in Dron's dealership.

"He didn't want to do a modern custom bike," Dron says, "and he loves the history of it. That's where I came up with using Joe Petrali. Joe was a Bay Area boy."

That fact clinched the deal. It hit the hot points Dron and Decker were looking for—something different, something local and something historic.

Decker speaks poetically about his love of historic motorcycling.

"Early motorcyclists were simply post-industrialist cowboys," he explains. "The era when the motorcycle replaced the horse is as important as the Frontier West. In fact, in terms of transportation, the motorcycle was even more important, because it was created by, and dependent upon those who rode it. It is an extension of ourselves. Without its rider, the motorcycle is nothing-just a machine. And with its rider, it must be moving or it will fall down. There is nothing that embodies the urgency of our age and the modern synergy of man and machine better than a motorcycle and its rider. It is a perfect marriage of mechanical and organic aspects of our world."

Decker's work isn't new to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum. The Jim Davis Best in Show Award, presented for the first time this year at the annual Concours d'Elegance held in conjunction with the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, features a Decker bust of Davis on the top.

Mark Mederski, the museum's executive director, couldn't be happier about having the Petrali statue on display.

"We are extremely honored to have one of Jeff Decker's 'Petrali Racer' bronzes here," he says. "It's obviously a very rare piece. I think most of them have landed in the western United States. And for us to be able to have one here, without actually owning it, for the term of the Heroes of Haley-Davidson exhibit, is just wonderful."

Mederski feels the sculpture offers visitors an added dimension to this particular hero in Harley's history.

"As opposed to just looking at Joe Petrali's bike, we're seeing a bronze representation of the bike and rider at speed, with the great wrinkles in his leathers and the details that Jeff masterfully sculpted," says Mederski. "It brings the experience of this land speed record alive on the floor of the museum."

Details, details, details... Jeff Decker puts so much effort into the details, some folks have claimed he uses a real engine.

© 2002, Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum