Meet Biker Frankie

Frankie Kennedy, a native New Yorker, got into the motorcycle business at the age of 12. Unable to afford a Harley, he cobbled together his own using bicycle and lawnmower parts and the help of his backyard buddies.

To their amazement, the contraption worked. Quick orders from friends and schoolmates launched his first business. An equally abrupt kink in the supply chain of old lawnmowers ended the endeavor.

At 16, he hit the road after patching together an old 1959 Harley Davidson Sprint and road until age 21, when he hung up his saddlebags until after his wife gave birth to their fourth child.

Frankie moved to Florida in 1984 and opened up Kennedy’s Super Service, an automotive repair business in East Fort Myers, where he has been a fixture for more than 20 years.

He also joined American Bikers Aiming Towards Education (ABATE), where he found a goal in common with Associates & Bruce L. Scheiner, which has been promoting motorcycle safety and representing accident victims in Southwest Florida for more than 35 years.

ABATE and Associates & Bruce L. Scheiner have partnered to help numerous worthwhile causes. For 27 years, they have brought holiday cheer to the Gulf Coast Center, an assisted-living community for disabled adults.

Frankie also is the founder and chairman of Riders and Other Advocates for Road Safety (ROARS), which provides seminars on how to share the road with motorcyclists. The program is endorsed by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Anyone interested in conducting a seminar can call Frankie at (239) 849-9065. In the meantime, the partnership rides on.