The Milwaukee Post

By KATHERINE MICHALETS Special to The Post BROOKFIELD — When Chester Zawalich was pulled over last year on his Harley-Davidson in Brookfield for making a turn from the center lane early in the morning, he started to explain his reasoning to the officer. The officer didn't seem likely to cut him any slack based on Zawalich's response — until he got a look at his driver's license and record. Zawalich was 99 with no previous tickets. After talking for a long time, the officer let Zawalich go with a warning. Zawalich celebrated his 100th birthday on Aug. 19 and at about the same time he bought himself a fixer-upper 1981 Harley- Davidson FLT Classic for $2,500. "I want to play around and see what I can do," he said. The prob- lem so far has been that Harley- Davidson doesn't make the parts anymore so Zawalich will have to order them custom made. Since he got his first Harley at age 16 in 1930, Zawalich has been fixing up motorcycles and selling them for a profit. It's even how he met his late wife and his current lady friend. It was love at first sight when Zawalich got to ride his first Harley at age 15. "I rode the first motorcycle built (by Harley-Davidson). The guy let me drive it around in a field a bit," he recalled on a recent after noon in the Brookfield home he shares with his grandson. When he got a job in 1930 delivering auto parts for a Bay View business, Zawalich deliv- ered them in his Harley year- round, racking up 600 to 700 miles per week. For his work, he got paid 40 cents per hour. The way he afforded the bike was he swapped a 1928 Chevrolet convertible and $50. Through the years, Zawalich would find a good deal on a bike, fix it up — often making it more powerful — and would then sell it for a profit. While it's a Harley he loves the most, through the years Zawalich has owned Indian and Honda motorcycles. His late wife, Emily, said any- thing other than a Harley was too quiet. At age 25, Zawalich bought his first new Harley-Davidson. At about the same time, he met Emily. She would sit on the porch of her home at Fourth and Lincoln in Milwaukee and the two would wave at each other when he passed on his motorcy- cle. "I thought someday I am going to marry her," Zawalich recount- ed. When he told his mother about the young woman, she asked if he knew her and he responded, "not yet." One of Zawalich's friends asked Emily out first, but Zawalich went behind his back and asked her if she'd rather go out with him and she accepted. The couple rode together for 56 years. Sometimes Emily would take control of the steering, but always with her husband behind her shifting and helping. After Emily died in her 90s, Zawalich found life to be lonely because the other members of his two motorcycle groups had died and it was hard to make friends with the members of the newer groups who are in their 60s and 70s. One day when he was sitting at a restaurant, a woman came over and asked him if she could sit with him. The two talked for hours and have become close. Zawalich even gave Luanne, 62, his now-girlfriend, her first ride on a motorcycle. He still enjoys taking his 1998 Harley-Davidson Demon Ultra Classic, which has a matching white sidecar, for a spin around the area on warm, sunny days. The farthest he has ever traveled on a motorcycle is California. While Zawalich may have had much sadness in his life, includ- ing his only son dying in a tragic accident, he maintains a positive attitude and starts each day with a prayer. "Lord bless me to have a nice day today and let me make some- one happy today," he said. Long life is in his genes — his mother lived to 101. In some ways, it's amazing he has lived to 100 without getting a traffic tick- et or into any accidents, consid- ering how he would do tricks on his motorcycles in his younger days. He also once rode a bike he had purchased for $350 into a river. The bike was still usable afterward, but needed repairs. Despite that, a young man who saw him riding the motorcycle offered him $250 for it, but he later pushed the bike too hard and the engine was ruined. Other memorable motorcycles included a 1967 Harley that was from the final year the company made bikes with a kick starter. He sold that one for a $500 profit after having it for 10 years. His most recent bike he bought from a man who was too short to keep his balance when he stopped. The trick to keeping his motorcycles in good shape is to keep them clean, Zawalich said, which is also how he keeps his Buick and the home he built for $19,000. 6 • Milwaukee County Post • September 5, 2014 100 and still high on his Hog Former Milwaukeean and now centenarian fixes up Harleys, has perfect driving record Photo by Charles Auer/Conley News Service Chester Zawalich talks about his 1998 Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Submitted photo Chester Zawalich and his wife, Emily, then his girl- friend, sit on his 1937 Harley Davidson.

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