At 12, Bandit was playing grab-ass on the earthquake cracked concrete streets of Long Beach when a 21-year-old ruffian opened his adjacent wood slat garage doors and went inside. The neighborhood kids didn't recognize the thug and went to investigate. Inside the dark garage, lit only by beams of summer sunlight streaking through the splintered door, were two behemoth motorcycles: One striped all-black Vincent Black Shadow chop, and a pre-unit bobbed and detailed Triumph, painted metallic green with cream scallops and gold pinstriping. Bandit was blown away by the bikes and his brain took a mental photo of 'em on the spot. The owner pushed the Vincent into the street, and the stick-ball gang helped him push-start it. "When it caught," Bandit said, " it was as if Southern Pacific lost a locomotive and it just thundered through the neighborhood.