T.O.B.E.: Sugar Bear - The Other Black Experience

[Afro-Punk]

Sugar Bear

Legendary Black biker finally celebrated by the motorcylcle industry.

Sugar Bear's shop opened its doors in Los Angeles in 1971, with the intent to produce street rideable choppers and products. It soon became apparent that a quality custom springer needed to be built to achieve the "long" look desired by his customers.
The strong and stylish Sugar Bear Springer for which he became famous was constructed with steel (rather than tubes).


Sugar Bear is also a bike builder. As custom bikes and the biker lifestyle have historically been considered a white man's culture, his business relied heavily on word-of-mouth, and he was unable to gain coverage in motorcycle publications because of his race.
In the past few years, he has started to receive the credit and recognition he deserves. Most recently, he was invited by the Harley-Davidson Museum for a presentation entitled "Untold Stories Of The American Chopper".

[Matthew]

Thank you Jahluv for turing me on to him last year. I've been spreading the word every since. Matthew

[jahluv]

Good lookin' out on the inculsion of Sugar Bear as a TOBE feature. He's a really nice guy on top of all he's accomplished.