Today is Larry Desmedt’s birthday, a short tribute to him, Indian Larry.

A genius motorcycle builder/artist, daredevil extraordinaire and introspective philosopher.

Larry Desmedt, a legendary custom motorcycle builder and stunt rider who went by the name Indian Larry, died on Aug. 30 of severe head injuries he sustained in an accident. He was 55.

Born in Cornwall-on-Hudson, N.Y., Indian Larry was a teenager when he bought his first motorbike, a 1939 Harley Knucklehead, for $200. He took it apart and spent the next nine months learning how to put it back together again. He later moved to California and apprenticed under hot rod builder Ed “Big Daddy” Roth.

Larry launched the Brooklyn-based Gasoline Alley motorcycle workshop in 1991 and devoted the rest of his life to creating and riding “old school bikes.” Several of his custom-built motorcycles won awards, including the “Grease Monkey,” which was named Easy Rider magazine’s Chopper of the Year.

Larry also performed stunts in movies (“Quiz Show,” “200 Cigarettes”) and on television. He was a featured artist on the Discovery Channel’s “Biker Build-Off” series, and once rode a motorcycle through a wall of fire on “The Late Show With David Letterman.”

As Johnny Cash sang,

“If you want to save your soul from hell a-riding on our range,
Then cowboy change your ways today or with us you will ride
A-try’ng to catch the devil’s herd
Across these endless skies.”

Larry certainly did.

R.I.P. Indian Larry