Historical Event Photos

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    As one approaches Ray Price Harley-Davidson/Buell in Raleigh, you have this feeling that there is something special inside this three story orange and stucco building. Encountering the dealership from the south end of Raleigh with the silhouette of the city skyline behind it speaks of icon and magnificence. Upon entering the 56,000 square foot facility a friendly greeting and warm reception quickly reminds you of a warm church where people really do care and accept you for who you are. It's common place to find riders gathering near the coffee pot swapping stories and planning their next ride.

    The story of Ray Price began when he bought his first motorcycle in 1963. Ray grew up on a tobacco farm in Johnston County. After finishing high school and attending college he enlisted in the Air Force where he spent four years as a radar specialist involved with aircraft armament control. His interest in bikes started as he began to ride with his wife's two brothers. They were always trying to outdo each other in speed and performance. Ray decided that the safer approach was to take it off the streets and onto the drag strip. He began his motorcycle drag racing career in 1967 at the age of 30 years old with a 1966 Harley-Davidson Sportster that he worked on in his basement. He turned a lot of heads and received much criticism at his first professional race in Atco, NJ. He left his competition in the dust with his performance enhanced Harley that had less cubic inches but more power per cubic inch than his more seasoned adversaries. After the officials tore his engine down and checked it three times and found nothing that disqualified him, he had the respect of his peers and the racing community. This first race began a long and celebrated racing career that stretched beyond "Ray's 65th Birthday Tour" on his 900 horse power nitro-fueled Harley.

    It was from the encouragement of his father that Ray opened Precision Cycle in Raleigh in August of 1973. This began his dual career of racing and business ownership. Many sought Ray for his expertise in his high-performance engine work; they would drive more than 100 miles to have their bikes worked on. In 1982 Ray was offered the opportunity to own a Harley-Davidson franchise. With his wife Jean by his side, he pursued his business interest with the same guts and grit that he had applied to his love of racing. With the tug of two fulltime endeavors pulling at him Ray reluctantly put his racing career on hold to build his new business. In just 16 short years of racing, Ray had won 46 national events and set 51 national records. He was the National Points Champion in 1979-80.

    In 1992, Ray's dealership had 16 employees and his wife Jean was the secretary-treasurer. During the infancy of this new venture, Ray also served an eight year tenure as the president of the Carolina's Harley-Davidson Dealers Association. In a short ten years Ray Price Harley-Davidson became the largest Harley dealer in the southeast and today is one of the largest and most recognized Harley-Davidson Dealerships in the country. In 2000, Ray expanded his dealership into what is seen today. The entire city block near downtown Raleigh, NC includes not only his dealership, but also his penthouse residence and race shop. The inside of the dealership has a racing theme and includes a dragstrip with actual burnouts that Ray and ten of his racing buddies put down during construction and autographed them for that extra touch of nostalgia. Next to the dragstrip are bleachers for event onlookers and the sales areas are set up like vendor tents at a race track.

    In 1995 at the age of 57, and with reservations from his wife, Ray started back on his racing career. Although many things had changed in racing, his love for the race track had not. For example, in 1967, he was racing a bike that had 70 horsepower and now it was topping 650 horsepower. Ray didn't get back in the saddle to prove anything or to set more records; he got back into racing for the love and excitement of going over 200 MPH in just over six seconds. He had coached his riders for the past 10 years with intermittent success and part of him wondered if he was asking too much of them or if he really could handle the nitro-fueled Harley that demanded every bit of his reaction time and concentration. After just one successful pass after his extended sabbatical, Ray knew he was ready to forge ahead. He continued to win against opponents half his age and set many records including the IHRA nitro-fuel record of 6.36 seconds at 224.21 MPH. Ray Price's 65th Birthday Tour was a great year that left Ray with many wonderful memories and left others in disbelief as he smoked a lot of the competition. When asked about his 65th Birthday Tour Ray says, "Most people retire at the age of 65, but I would rather be racing. It sure beats having to cut the grass and grow roses."

    Ray's career as a rider ended in May of 2003 in Las Vegas. He had just set a new AHDRA record of 216 mph. The next day his bike had trouble stopping as he approached the end of the track after going 218 mph in 6.48 seconds. He dove off the bike into a safety net. The accident left him with nerve damage in his left arm that still requires many hours of physical therapy each week and keeps him from operating a motorcycle. The race team continues to compete successfully to this day with another rider, Tommy Grimes, along with Ray's dedicated involvement.

    Ray Price's career includes many achievements including holding a number of U.S. patents. One of his many patents is for the two-speed racing transmission. He is also one of the creators of the wheelie bar. Ray has been given the nickname of "Father of the Funny Bike" for his development of the nitro-fueled Harley that was designed to look like a street bike. Ray is a two time National Champion and has been inducted into 4 Halls of Fame including the National Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame, the Sturgis Motorcycle Hall of Fame, the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum, and the North Carolina Drag Racing Hall of Fame.

    Ray Price appreciates being known for all of his achievements on the track but he is most proud of being able to give back to the community off the track. He takes great interest in hosting charity events at his dealership that include the annual Toys for Tots toy run, the annual Ray Price Easter Basket Ride and the Making Magic organization that helps under-privileged children in the local area. There is hardly a week that goes by that Ray Price is not involved in a charity ride or some other type of function that helps those who are less fortunate. When asked about his thoughts of the local racing circuits Ray says, "We appreciate the grassroots level of IHRA and we're glad to be involved with them. We congratulate IHRA for their competitive level of racing. We're proud to be providing the Summit Super Series Box World Champion with a brand new 2007 Harley-Davidson® Softail® Custom®".

    Ray Price is a dedicated husband, an admired business owner and an honored leader with many accomplishments to his name.