Jody Perewitz

Jody's first record setting bike

History

Fresh out the womb, Jody was destined to do big things in the motorcycle world because of her family business, Perewitz Cycle Fabrication. When you have an older brother, like Jody, you want to do everything he does. So, she began rippin’ around on a Honda 50 as a toddler, which led to shredding on larger dirt bikes and 4-wheelers. She decided to step up her game with her first hand-me-down V-Twin, a Buell Cyclone. After a couple years of riding her brother’s bike, she decided to get her own Buell Cyclone. The hunger for more horsepower and cooler bikes ate away at her so she ditched that bike and acquired a couple more bikes. One of them being a 1963 Panhead, that her famous father, Dave Perewitz, built for her, which she still has to this day.

Jody's second record setting bike

Racing

The King of Flames, Dave Perewitz, traveled the world because of motorcycles but he had never gone to the Bonneville Salt Flats. Jody, wanting to get her father the ultimate Christmas gift, decided to get him a trip to the Salt Flats. Talking to Jody, she bubbled “My father said, ‘we can’t go to Bonneville and not race’ and I said to him ‘well I’ll ride it!’” With the help of her father, Dan Thayer, and a group of bad ass people behind them, Jody raced between 2011 and 2018 and her need for speed landed her 16 Land Speed records.

Her first record-breaking bike was a 100” V-Twin with a supercharger, streamlined body, and a BAKER 5-speed. “My favorite bike would have to be my first race bike, that we built because that’s where it all began. Prior to that motorcycle, I had never ridden anything with a turbo or supercharger. I had never ridden anything with a lot of horsepower, so it was a whole new ball game for me.” Some of you may be wondering, “why choose a BAKER 5-speed to race?!”  The simple answer is that the 1:1 top gear has close to zero parasitic losses, which is what you need to break records. As with all racing, you break shit. But Jody was proud to say that the BAKER 5-speed was one of the only things she didn’t break.

The itch for racing continued after conquering the Salt Flats, so she challenged herself with a different kind of race, the Cannonball Run. You have to be insane to race from Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine on a motorcycle built before 1933. But Jody completed that endurance race with no problems; preparation, preparation, preparation. She was so wild about the race that she completed it two years in a row; the first run on a 1926 HD and the second run on a 1921 HD. Her love for older motorcycles now coursed through her veins and she decided to complete the Cross Country Chase on a 1936 HD. It ran from the Upper Peninsula in Michigan to Key West, Florida. Most recently, she has been racing at the Sons of Speed races, which takes place on a banked circle track, with five different pre-1955 American V-Twin bikes. 

The Cannonball Run on her 1926 HD

Sons of Speed Races

What’s next?

Jody just finished up a collab with Harley-Davidson for the new 2022 Nightster premiere video. This year, Jody plans on participating in the Cross Country Chase on a 1912 single cylinder and will also be racing the Sons of Speed races. She’s always on the move and if you want to keep up with her, check out her Instagram here.

Jody winning the Sons of Speed race in 2018

Read about the DD5 that helped Jody set her records!

Check out these great interviews with Jody: