Matt Cuddy
Matthew Steven Cuddy was born in Los Angeles, California in September of 1958. Fascinated by machinery, at the tender age of ten, Matt built his first motorized vehicle from an upside-down tricycle, and a 2 horsepower cast-iron Briggs & Stratton lawnmower motor.
That was Matt's first exposure to something called "road rash", and it must have affected his thinking somewhat, judging by what came later in life.
In the 6th grade, Matt purchased his first car for $20.00, a 1951 Pontiac Silver Chief (with a straight-8 flathead motor). Matt terrorized the suburb of Silverlake, California for a few months, before the car got towed away for lack of registration. By the age of sixteen, Matt had built up a menagerie of cast-off automobiles, and motorcycles that would forever doom him to an existence of grubby fingernails, oil stained driveways and the company of grubby beer-drinking motorcyclist as friends.
After experiencing the LAPD's successful "beat and release" program one too many times, at 17 years of age Matt joined the US Navy, and became a Parachute Rigger in Fighter Squadron 33, off the U.S.S. Independence berthed in Norfolk Virginia. After leaving the Navy in 1980, Matt went on to work in the Customs Brokerage industry, where he still makes his living in software development and support. Matt started riding dirt bikes in 1968, and by 1975 had earned plate number 1156C in the DRA, District 37. Matt continued his motorcycle riding/racing endeavors until late 2006, when he was struck by an SUV on his street bike, and paralyzed from the waist down.
Matt has ridden, worked on, and modified about everything on two wheels, from Go Devil mini-bikes to pre-unit Triumphs. He has a great deal of knowledge on vintage, classic and modern motorcycles, even those miserable new four stroke MX bikes, that blow up like trick cigars.
Matt resides in beautiful downtown Burbank, California, where he lives with his lovely wife Amparo. His garage and noggin are both still filled with motorcycles, and trivia that would put a lesser dirt bike nut to shame. So listen up and listen good!
