Indian Larry: Chopper Shaman

A stunt man and sideshow performer made famous by the Discovery Channel, Indian Larry Desmedt is best remembered for his remarkable custom motorcycles, his wild tattoos, and his love for building and riding rolling art. This book, by those who knew him best, offers a closer look at this chopper shaman admired by so many.

Full of photographs that document a uniquely colorful life, the book follows Larry from his humble beginnings to his unlikely stardom, tracing his short career as a bank robber, his time in prison, his spiral downward into heroin addiction, and his rebirth in 1994 as the spiritual bike builder revered by so many—and, running through it all, the love of hot rods and motorcycles that finally brought him happiness.

Why was he nicknamed Indian Larry? Because early in his career, he ceaselessly rode his Indian Motorcycles through the street of New York City. 

“A great glimpse into the life of a legend.”

—Motorcycle Product News

Biker, bank robber, heroin addict: Indian Larry Desmedt filled all these roles in his too-short, complicated life. But he also filled other roles, like lover, healer, mystic, artist. Before his untimely death in 2004 Larry had descended into the deepest pits of hell, but he had returned with a strength and vision few ever attain. Indian Larry: Chopper Shaman chronicles Larry’s epic journey, from his early outlaw years to his rise to the top of the chopper world.

“This tome is a tribute to a great and inspirational man who was able to transcend the sinister side of his soul and triumph over the demons that haunted him. The book leaves us with a message of hope. We all have the ability to be heroes. We all live a hero’s journey.”

—Thunder Press

“With excellent—and diverse—photography, along with a compelling narrative, this is a good one for both the reading room and the archive.” —Fort Worth Star-Telegram

“ . . . intriguing paean to a New York legend . . . a fitting tribute to a revered character.”

—American Iron

Dave Nichols is the editor in chief of Easyriders and V-Twin magazines and has been instrumental in getting chopper builders on television. He is an avid rider and one of the most enthusiastic supporters of custom bike builders in the entire motorcycle industry. He is the author of the best-selling Motorbooks titles Top Chops: Master Chopper Builders and Indian Larry: Chopper Shaman.

Better known by her stage name, Bambi the Mermaid, Andrea Cambridge is a performer at Coney Island, where she met and married Indian Larry in the late 1990s.

Since the early 1980s, Michael Lichter has been photographing custom motorcycles, often hanging from the beds of pickup trucks during rainstorms, photographing packs of bikers in places like Daytona Beach and Sturgis, South Dakota for the pages of Easyriders magazine. He has written and photographed a number of books. He lives and works in Boulder, Colorado.