Newsletter: October, 2023: FALL RAMBLINGS.
In between tours we (I have helpers) work a full schedule in my basement. The home based workshop has 3 lifts, a very complete set of tools and some equipment including a tire machine, an electronic balancer, a 20 ton press, a bead blast cabinet, etc. Cycle Resurrections is the name of this division of RetroTours. We recondition our own fleet bikes and also do some work for a few select customers. While most dealerships cannot or will not work on bikes more than 20 years old, here, we try not to work on bikes
less than 20 years old. Currently on lifts are a 1997 V-Max, a 1954 Victoria Burgmeister V35, and a 1975 Norton Commando. There is also a Motobecane moped waiting for a deposit and a 2003 ZX750 waiting for parts. Quite an assortment, no?
About that Commando, it is one example of what I call “widow bikes”. Eric (RIP) was a regular customer over a period of 10 years or more. His Commando is a stunning electric start 850. Eric was a rider, a super nice guy and a real gentleman. He did favors for me and for many others. Two or three years ago he was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, and he succumbed very quickly. He tried to sell his Norton before he died, but just ran out of time. After 2 years his wife, also a special person, wanted to get the bike out of the garage for emotional and practical reasons. When she mentioned this to her three children they were absolutely against the idea and told their mom that they would never speak with her again if she sold the Norton! That’s when I was contacted.
I asked around for advice from friends and got one very good idea. I asked Eric’s wife to arrange a meeting with me, herself, and the three children.
is wifeHis
Incidentally, none of the children ride or have any interest in motorcycling, and they all three live in condos or apartments with no garage. I planned to explain to them that even if I prepared the bike for extended storage, it would need to be kept in a secure, climate controlled storage area to prevent deterioration. I planned to suggest that instead, we hire a professional photographer and bring the cleaned and polished bike to a beautiful spot where it could be photographed with them standing behind it, and that photo could be framed and hung in their apartments as a memorial to their dad. The bike could then be sold, and the substantial proceeds distributed to the children or to an appropriate charitable cause. That’s a very good plan, don’t you think? The kids surprised me though by renting a suitable secure, climate controlled storage area. I am ‘pickling’ the bike this week and have offered to deliver it to the storage facility.
Then just a week ago, I was asked to contact a woman who lost her husband a year ago. He had several bikes including a 1971 Triumph 650. I am picking this one up next week and hope to re-commission it for his wife who is an avid rider. A toaster tank R60 was taking up space in a nearby widow’s garage. I bought this one for RetroTours. You can ride it in 2024. A couple had a CB550K and a CB750, both from 1976. He developed brain cancer and survived but was no longer able to ride. The 750 was sold, the 550 is now in use by RetroTours. A CB400F in Boston was offered to me on the condition that I pick it up promptly and pay whatever I think it’s worth whenever I get around to it; how could anyone refuse a deal like that? Another winter project and a great candidate for the RetroTours fleet. Honestly, I don’t go looking for these bikes, they just seem to find me.
These situations illustrate the strong emotional attachment that riders and their families develop towards riding and towards old motorcycles. What is it that evokes such a strong connection? While I cannot speak for others, I do know how riding makes
me feel, and I suppose I can understand how children who grow up with a father or mother who rides can make the machine a symbol of their love. It all makes me think: what will happen to the 25 or 30 bikes in my garage when I am gone? Guess what? I really don’t care; I just want to keep riding them as long as I can, and I would be delighted if you would join me for a ride. These examples illustrate a point:
don’t wait until it’s too late!
he last few rides have been tough: all the planning and preparation, splintering my comfortable routine for 3 or 4 days, then having to catch up to emails when I return. Leading up to the ride I really feel the weight of it all. After the ride, well, let’s just say that pressure washing and polishing 6 or 7 dirty old bikes is not my favorite part of RetroTours.
BUT…while we are out there riding on those lightly trafficked back country roads, feeling the cool, early morning air or even the rain in my face, gazing at the mountains and the valleys, following the twisting rivers, seeing small town America, taking in the smell of the environs, meeting and engaging with locals, hanging out with a half dozen fellow riders, that is when I know that it is totally worth all the effort. It is why I am here; it is where I am meant to be.
What about you?
JOIN A RETROTOUR.
MEET NEW FRIENDS. ENJOY REAL ADVENTURE.
RIDE A PIECE OF THE PAST
ON THE PATH LESS TAKEN
!
DON’T WAIT UNTIL ITS TOO LATE!
RETRO-ADVENTURE-TOURS.
Sometimes we find ourselves in the middle of nowhere.
Sometimes, in the middle of nowhere, we find ourselves.
