September 2004

Rucker injured in motorcycle accident

Powersports Business

September 2004 - It was about noon when the bike crashed, on a stretch of wet, curving road outside Delta, in western Colorado, Thursday, August 19. Bill Rucker and his wife, Laura, had left the Sturgis, S.D. rally a few days earlier on an extended riding vacation, riding two up on a Harley Electraglide.

Things were going well as they rounded a curve on Hwy. 92. Bill’s new bikes had been well received at Sturgis and production was set to begin back at the plant in Fort Worth, Texas.

Rucker Performance was Bill’s latest venture and he was excited about the months ahead when the first of his high-end motorcycles, ones selling for $40,000 or more, would roll off the line.

Rucker had launched several ventures over the years, and probably was best known for American IronHorse, the motorcycle manufacturer he co-founded.

But he was really pumped about Rucker Performance when we talked earlier this year. He had just returned from a ride with Laura and some friends that had taken several weeks and covered thousands of miles. “I wanted to revisit, to recapture, that freedom and spirit of the road that you only find on a motorcycle,” he told me

As Bill and Laura rounded that curve near Delta, they saw, only for an instant, the blue Mercury sedan hugging the centerline. Then the crash.

The two were tossed into the car’s windshield and tumbled over the car. Both were wearing helmets and full leathers. Laura got by with multiple scrapes and bruises, but Bill wasn’t so lucky.

Rucker suffered a broken left hip joint and smashed his lower leg in several places. He was in such bad shape that he had to be air-lifted to Swedish Medical Center in Denver.

The crushed bones cut off circulation to his left foot, and doctors had to amputate several toes to save the leg.

Rucker, who’s put close to 60,000 miles on his bikes in the last five years had never had a riding accident.

Talking from his hospital bed, Rucker said that rehabilitation could take as long as a year. ”It’s been an interesting few weeks,” he told me, “but we’re blessed that we made it this far.”

When Rucker and I chatted, he didn’t want to talk much about his accident or about the new bikes he showed at Sturgis. He wanted to talk about his daughter, Erin, who is running the day-to-day operations of the company.

Erin, who graduated from Texas Christian University last May with a degree in English, has stepped up to the challenge as the saying goes.

“I talk with her everyday,” says Rucker, “but she’s running the company. She was scared at first, but I think she is doing a good job.”

Erin, 23, said she was devastated when she heard about the accident. “I couldn’t talk with them,” she says, “and I think I withdrew for a couple of days. Then, I thought about it, I could either go to Denver and watch my dad, or stay here and do something for him.” She stayed.

Erin didn’t have any formal business training and she’d never run an organization, not even a volunteer group. But she did have one thing, she’d been hanging around Bill’s businesses since she was six. “I was at the shop and he was teaching me how to rebuild engines,” she told me.” “I had bows in my hair and grease on my face.”

The first thing Erin did on Monday morning was meet with the employees and tell them it was going to be business as usual. Then she sat down and called dealers and suppliers. “I have a great support team,” she says, “and we’re going to do everything to keep Bill’s dream going.

Everyday at 4 o’clock Erin calls Bill with a list of questions. “We go down the list, and get every question answered.” It seems to be working. The first Rucker machine rolled off the line last week. “While he is not here,” says Erin, “he’s still an inspiration. He wants to know what’s going on. He doesn’t want to talk about being in a hospital bed, he wants to talk about his business.”

November 8, 2006 11:15 AM | send page | Press Releases