Dudley Perkins (motorcyclist)

Dudley B. Perkins (May 19, 1893 - February 26, 1978 ) was an American champion motorcycle hillclimb competitor and Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealer. The American Motorcyclist Association's highest award, the AMA Dud Perkins Lifetime Achievement Award, was named after him in 1970, and he was its first recipient.

Perkins was born in Kern, California, now a part of Bakersfield, California. He began riding motorcycles in 1907 when attending school in Los Angeles. A neighbor offered to let him ride his Reading-Standard motorcycle, and Perkins was "quite thrilled."

After his family moved to , Perkins began working part-time for an Indian motorcycle dealer while still a student. He first competed on May 10, 1911, winning a one-mile race. After his step-mother died, Perkins went to live with his grandmother in Rocklin, California, where he rode an Excelsior motorcycle. Later, he moved to live with his father in San Francisco, and began hanging around at the local Indian dealership, later working there. He continued racing his Excelsior with success.

In 1913, Perkins entered into a partnership with Al Maggini, then a San Francisco dealer for DeLuxe motorcycles. In January, 1914, Perkins acquired sole control of the business, which was renamed the Dudley Perkins Company, and began selling Harley-Davidsons. He said that he sold 125 motorcycles in his first year in business.

During World War I, all of Harley-Davidson's production was furnished to the U.S. military, so the Dudley Perkins Company survived by buying, refurbishing and reselling used motorcycles. At the beginning of the Depression, Perkins reported that the company was able to sell only 15 motorcycles in 1930, but business improved as the years went along. When the California Highway Patrol formed its motorcycle unit in the 1930s, the Dudley Perkins Company sold them the equipment, and Perkins helped train its officers. At the end of World War II, the company thrived by buying military surplus Harley-Davidsons, repainting them, and selling them to the civilian market. His company purchased those bikes for $125.00 each and sold them for $325.00 each.

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