Carlo and Emma Lujan of Auburn, Calif., grew up dreaming of the life they ultimately created. Around the age of 10, Carlo bought his first mini bike, a basket case that he carried home. With a little help from his dad, he got it assembled with a Clinton motor, direct drive, and no brakes – he later added a rear brake. He later raced go-karts, and obtained a Honda 50 stripped down for racing. In 1966, Carlo started working at the Honda and Triumph shop in town after school.
Later in the early 70s, he was building motors for a couple of shops in the Bay Area, specializing in lower-end rebuilding.
Conversely, when Emma was 7, she moved to Pleasant Hill, Calif. Around the corner from her childhood home was, Bill Chaney’s Harley-Davidson which she would walk to with dreams of obtaining one.
Fast forward to 1980, and Emma and Carlo met at her sister and brother-in-law house. It was love at first sight! When Carlo and Emma got together in 1980, he kept talking about opening his own motorcycle shop. Carlo started looking for buildings to rent and stock piling motorcycle parts. Emma asked him one day, “Who’s going to help you in this shop?” He said, “You are! I am going to teach you everything you need to know about Harley’s!” In 1982, Carlo and Emma opened their first shop called “Carlo’s Custom Motorcycle Parts.”
Carlo was building motors, mostly strokers. Emma was 25 and worked behind the parts counter. Along with Carlo’s knowledge and instruction, Emma started taking parts and service manuals home to learn more about how Harley’s worked. Emma enjoyed talking to people. When a new face came in the door, she got to know them, and before long, Carlo and Emma were building them a bike.
Grateful for his work, Jim Berger gave Carlo a basket case drag bike and the racing bug bit. The break-in pass on the track was 9.80 seconds, and was featured in Easyriders Magazine.
Working together with Emma, Carlo became the national No. 1 pro dragster for the Drag Bike series in 1988. In 1989, Carlo and Emma became C&E Auburn Harley-Davidson. It took
much of their time and racing went on back burner. However, they did race in Sturgis in 1990 for the 50th Anniversary and won first. They won the Bar and Shield Award (the highest award given to a Harley dealer) four times. In 1998, Carlo and Emma sold the dealership and retired. Retirement lasted 11 years and they put 500,000 miles on their motorcycles.
In the 2008 recession, their old dealership closed, but Carlo and Emma got the building back. Carlo and Emma reopened as an independent shop. It took five weeks to reopen and five weeks later, a fire destroyed the business. While an initial setback, they found another building nearby.
In 2014, they became, and remain, C&E Auburn Indian and V-Twin.
Regarding their Hall of Fame induction, it’s a culmination of 40 years of hard work, missing family gatherings, graduations, and birthdays. Being a Harley-Davidson dealer, and an Indian dealer has been fantastic. They are thankful for all the people who came through their doors.