Kelley's Triumph 250

KELLEY’S TRIUMPH 250
Was there anyone within a three mile radius of Farms Circle Road that didn’t ride or ride on Kelley’s Triumph Trophy? Answer absolutely not! Did anyone have a license that rode it? Answer no way! And what were the magic words necessary to ride this Triumph…..”Paul could I have a ride?” Yes Paul Kelley believed everyone should experience the same feeling of freedom that he did motoring on two wheels. He was a one man ambassador introducing motorcycles to all his friends! Of course few did ever feel the same wicked passion he did fortunately I didn’t fall into that group. I was addicted from the first ride.

Paul would ride the bike from Farms Circle to my house on Lois Avenue and let Tom Selvaggio, Donny Hansen and I take turns riding it. We were all about 12 and we would ride through the neighborhood and in the woods behind my house. The guys that were waiting to ride the bike would always shout out to the guy riding it that the police were coming. This was a ruse to get you to stop so someone else could take their turn. It never worked but it didn’t stop us from trying. One day while Tom was riding the bike the police really did come and of course he got caught riding it without a helmet or license. The officer asked him where he got the bike. No answer. He then ran the plate that was on the bike and asked if there was a Paul Kelley present. Paul didn’t answer and the office said if no one claimed the bike he was having it towed. Paul then said, “I think it’s mine”. He asked Paul if he had the registration and that’s when Paul confessed the plate didn’t belong to the bike it was the plate on the back of his father’s hot dog stand. That seemed to confuse the officer and he decided to take Tom and Paul to the police station. He placed Tom and Paul in the back seat of the police car and continued to get numbers off the bikes motor and frame. He asked if was ok to leave the bike at my house and so long as we had the keys I was ok with that. For whatever reason Tom and Kelley were laughing so hard in the back of the police car they had fogged up all the windows. The cop had to defrost them before he took off. I drove the bike over to Paul’s house and told him mom what happened. Sure enough Paul called her a few minutes later to get a ride home. They just gave him a slap on the wrist, no fines, penalties, no penance. We figured it must have been one of the neighbors complaining. But we did all learn a lesson that day…sometimes when the guys are telling you the cops are coming they are!
Just a few days later I was riding the bike and a police car began to chase me on Merrill Avenue. He followed me all the way up to Memorial School but it was getting dark and I didn’t have the lights on so I was losing him when the bike started to sputter and I ran out of gas. I went to switch the reserve tank on to find out I was already on reserve. I was so pissed I was always running out of gas on Paul’s bike but the timing couldn’t be worse. I pushed the bike as fast as I could into the back yard of the closest house. I was ducked down behind these hedges with the bike on the ground. The cop was driving by with his cherry on and the spot light searching for me. All I could think was they would probably take Paul’s bike this time on account of me. That couldn’t happen I would feel like total shit. I felt so relieved as the black and white drove right past the house. I was still a little shaky so I stayed down waiting for the cop to be out of sight when all of a sudden I felt this hand on my back and a voice asking me if that cop was looking for me. I’m lucky I didn’t wet myself. Just when I thought I was home free it appeared I was gonna be turned in. I turned around and looked up as the stranger behind me only to realize he wasn’t a stranger. It was Mr. Florick a teacher and Soccer Coach at East Brunswick High School and more importantly a friend of my dad’s. He asked me if I wanted to come in for a while to wait for the cop to leave. Great idea I thought. He never asked me why the cop was chasing me. He even gave me some gas to get home and to my knowledge never told my dad. I never had Mr. Florick as a teacher or coach but I always wished I had!