here’s an old saying: “What a difference a week makes.” That was never more true for my parents, Floyd and Florence Emde, than a week they had back in 1947. At the end of the day on August 23rd that year, they celebrated Floyd’s first-ever AMA National win, the 10-mile National at Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
     Only the week earlier, though, the story was very different. Floyd was involved in a heat race crash at the Springfield, Illinois National that resulted in the death of a fellow rider. Both Floyd and the other rider, Kenny Ingles, were wearing identical black & white Harley-Davidson race jerseys that day and someone from the scene raced back to the pits and told Florence that it was Floyd that had been killed. It was some five minutes or so that she had to endure the feelings of having just lost her husband. I’ve heard her recount the story many times and she said that Ingles wife was among the many who were trying to offer her comfort. Then, the mistake was announced and it was Ingles wife who was now in need of comfort from the cruel turn of events for her.
     Even though my mom now had the relief that my dad was indeed safe, their troubles were not over. Floyd’s Harley-Davidson race bike was totally destroyed in the crash and the big race at Milwaukee was the following week. John Harley, the head of Engineering at Harley-Davidson and son of the co-founder, told my dad to get to Milwaukee as soon as he could and they would supply him with whatever he needed to put a new motorcycle together for the race.
In those days the factories were allowed to give racers free parts, but not free motorcycles, so Floyd had to assemble a new machine in the parking lot at Harley-Davidson’s headquarters totally from parts.
     That next Sunday, Floyd rewarded the management of the Harley-Davidson Motor Company for their generosity by winning his heat race and the Main Event on the bike he built. It capped off a most incredible week filled with the highest of high feelings and also the lowest of the lows.