Ken Maely question

[Paul Danik]

" Back in the day", we were provided with fanny packs for the 1973 ISDT and I have always remembered that they were given to us by Ken Maely, who is mostly known for his steel shoes. As the years went by I got to thinking that maybe I was wrong on who supplied the team with those fanny packs. BUT, tonight while putting some items away I took a really close look at the fanny pack, now almost 40 years old, and sure enough it has Maely Enterprises on it.  My question is, did they ever go into production ? I also wonder how a flat track steel shoe maker got into supplying fanny packs to the Penton ISDT Team. Any info or thoughts will be greatly appreciated.


Thanks,
Paul

[Daniel P. McEntee]

He might have been into trials. I don't remember people wearing them in enduros back then, probably because of the way they tend to flop up and down on rough trails. But I remember guy useing them in trials back then. Most kept a spare plug, plug wrench, and a candy bar or something in them, not too much. I was into flying free flight model airplanes at that time, and fanny packs were advertised in some model publications also. I don't think they became "main stream" and people everywhere using them intil about 15 or 20 years ago, like they were something new and trendy! They were probably a new item in '73 to most off road motorcycle people. Yours might have been the first.
  Type at you later,
   Dan McEntee

[SouthRider]

Paul - My best guess would be that by 73 Maely's side business of shoe making had gone mainstream, and like many others (say Malcolm Smith) was trying to diversify into other products that riders would buy. Great advertising ploy to give them to the 6 day riders. The shoes had leather straps - so not much of a leap....

I met his son at the New Orleans French Market in the late 70's or early 80's. Super nice guy. If I remember correctly he was selling leather sandals. I found out who he was because he was wearing a Ken Maely "hot shoe" t-shirt, and I asked about it (not many flat trackers EVER around NOLA). He gave me the shirt because I was so complimentary about his Dad. I knew about Ken from Don Burgess (NOLA Penton dealer & my mentor) who had tried a little flat tracking & had one of Ken's shoes. It was a prized possession because each of them was custom made for the rider.

Dan - fanny packs were indeed used "en masse" by enduro riders in the deep south by the mid 70's (although 73 would still have been early). They did truly filter down from the 2 day riders (so the advertising must have worked). The idea was that an open tank or fender mounted bag would throw it's contents all over the ground when the bike was layed down for maintenance or repairs. Most of those we sold came from Hi-Point. Their use increased as sales of the bike mounted bags all but disappeared by 1978 or so.

Plus - a properly worn fanny pack hangs from the hip bones where you don't feel it, and it lowers the center of gravity of the bike when you are on the pegs. When seated you are going slower & it sits behind you on the seat.


Clark Gristina

_____________________________________________________________________________________

"We the willing, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible, for the ungrateful. We have done so much, for so long, with so little, that we are now qualified to do almost anything, with nothing."

1972 Penton Berkshire 100
1983 Husqvarna 250 XC
2011 Jayco 31.5 RLDS
2009 Chevy 2500 HD Duramax

[Paul Danik]

Thanks for the replies.  

I had never thought about the leather strap from the steel shoe connection to Ken making the leather fanny packs.  I can tell you the fanny pack is very well made out of top notch materials, I am sure the leather straps on the steel shoes had to be top notch as well as they sure took some abuse.

Thanks,
Paul

[sixdazed]

Paul,He also sold,or maybe just distributed the lineman type boots if memory serves as well.I had one of his steelshoes but it's long gone ,lost in the shuffle over the years.Probably because it didn't fit the newer mx style boots we all changed to.
                                                       Ric
Jeez,i almost forgot the Maely speedway bikes,his ranch/training facility in Corona.Also a lot of tuners used fanny packs to carry tools to the start lines (and still do).