Woody, 59, is a fixture at the Portman Ritz-Carlton Hotel lounge, but his real claim to fame is a motorbike with sidecar on display in the lobby. The Chang Jiang is a Chinese knockoff of the classic 1930s BMW R-71. During World War II, the Germans gave the design to Russia, which passed it to China. Woody fell in love with it on a 1998 trip to Beijing. He bought one, and another. Soon, he had shops refurbishing them. Now he’s a top vendor of the bikes, which have a global cult following. In 2003 he sold two dozen for about $10,000 each. “It’s not really a dream job, more like a nightmare,” he quips. But Chinese red tape is worth fighting for a “work of art” that some fans buy just to “have them in their living room.” The Ritz-Carlton manager not only lets Woody display the bike in the lobby; he gives VIP tours on one with elephant-hide seats. If you know the right people in China, anything goes.
