Inspiring the youth to ride Harleys: Bike builder combines love of sneakers and cruisers

LOS ANGELES (BIKER DAD)– Whether you like his style or not, there’s no arguing with Andrew Thompson on one point. The younger generation sees Harley Davidson as an old man’s bike. But he’s working to smash that image and get younger kids riding the bikes he loves. And he’s doing that by using another brand he loves as inspiration, Nike Air Jordans.

Thompson got his bike-building bug from his grandfather, he told ABC Los Angeles. You can see their full report in the video player above. “It kept me out the loop of getting in trouble, me finding my passion for building and designing bikes,” Thompson said.

Now his bikes are encouraging the younger generation in Southern California to put down guns and pick up tools to build their own. “It’s important because a lot of youngsters they become gang members,” Ms. Showtime, a local motorcycle rider and long-time friend of Thompson told the TV station. “A lot of the youngsters have laid down their guns and bought a motorcycle. They have seen motorcycles, but they never seen like a Nike motorcycle.”

His grandfather was a bike builder too. According to the report, he’s the only black man in the Harley Davidson museum.