Ray Jahnke’s Harley-Davidson XLCH

Back in the 1960s, Ray Jahnke of Elgin, Ill., was a regular competitor at Midwestern race venues like Meadowdale Raceway in Algonquin, Ill., and Santa Fe Speedway in Hinsdale, Ill. Those legendary tracks, now long gone, launched more than a few careers during their heyday in the 1960s and 1970s.

These photos show Ray outside of Elgin sometime in the mid-1960s, pitting his Harley-Davidson XLCH against a stripped down Triumph Bonneville in a beer barrel race. Ray dumped the clutch a bit too fast, and the Harley dumped him. Ray’s enthusiasm for motorcycling ran deep: He enrolled son Scott in the AMA at the age of 1! Scott’s visible in the lower photo (circled) sitting on the cab of the pickup.