Following are a few essays that I have written in the last year or so for the VME newsletter. I'm putting them here for me, and maybe you.

Rudy

This is Rudy, she’s a 1978 Harley Davidson XLCH. This year will mark our 30th anniversary together.   As a quick look will tell, even though she is in a “show” she is not a show bike. And, I am not a bike builder, just a guy that likes bikes. She is nonetheless a very special bike to me and we have had many adventures together.

When I bought her she was pretty much stock, except for a repaint, with low miles. I quickly shed the stock seat, handlebars, gauges, and various other parts to make her fit my idea of a cool looking little cruiser. I went out on the town with my good friend Wayne and his ‘77 Triumph putting slowly through the streets in what he called “silhouetting”...the idea being if we went too fast people couldn’t see how good we looked.  Rudy helped me attract my wife 28 years ago. 

We have traveled most of the highways in the Cascades and Coast Range around Portland, and she has never stranded me yet. I found her at Jeff’s American Classics in Dundee, Oregon. When I rode her home it was a beautiful sunny June day, but it rained almost every other day that month. I rode her every day nonetheless because I was so in love. 

In 2008 I watched Rudy get run over by a guy in a Ford F350 while she was parked. That was a bad day, but I put her back together with his insurance money. One of my brothers and I got tickets for parking on the sidewalk, but I went to court and the judge said I was a good citizen so he dropped the charges. Perhaps he was a motorcycle enthusiast.

30 years equals a lot of memories. Her name comes from her exhaust note, which can be quite rude, causing car alarms to go off, and people to roll up their windows when we pass by. This bike truly fits the original idea behind The One Show as she was modified by me for me and is my One bike even though I have collected a few others to share the garage with her. In the time we have been together we both have gone grey and show our mileage, but she still feels great every time I fire her up and go out for a ride.

Thanks for reading this and remember, ride ‘em don't hide ‘em!

Wayne’s Problem

     I had a long time friend named Wayne. You who know me might be tired of hearing about him, but too bad because here I go again. Wayne and I had a special friendship that mostly consisted of giving each other a hard time whenever we hung out. People would ask him what his problem was and he would point at me and say “Doug”, thus now I’m Wayne’s Problem.

     Wayne got sick and passed away in April of 2016 from cancer. Cancer sucks. When his last wishes were made public I found out that he had left me a collection of old motorcycles that he had stashed in his garage. None of them had run in a long time, and the whole time I knew Wayne I just wanted to fix those bikes. Well now it was time to put up or shut up. I brought them home to my house one at a time. The bikes are a ‘77 Triumph T140V, ‘74 Triumph T140, ‘73 Triumph X75, and a ‘69 BSA A65T. 

     The first one I got started on was the ‘77, as it had run most recently, in ‘92. It had been in an accident and as the ‘74 was too far gone to repair, I took the needed front end parts off of it to fix the ‘77. I got this bike running and next started in on the X75. 

     This bike had last run in ‘82 and she needed a lot of work to wake her up. I didn’t over do anything and kept her as original as possible. I brought this bike to the last Isle of Vashon and took home some trophies. Definitely a weekend to remember.

     In March of ‘20 I got started on the last of Wayne’s bikes, the ‘69 BSA. This bike had last been on the road in ‘80. It needed the most out of the three I kept. Wayne told me years ago that it was just a blown head gasket, but almost 40 years of sitting hadn't helped much. It was missing parts and had a partial seizure of the motor. It got bored out and got new pistons and valves. I had to add a kickstand and lugs on the fork lowers to mount a fender. It had no speedo so I got one from a local restorer. All new hoses and gaskets, a new Amal carb, footpeg rubbers, grab rail...you get the point.

     At the end of June I was getting close and as this was the last of Wayne’s bikes to get running I decided to make an event out of it. I set the date of July 24th and invited some of Wayne’s friends and family to be here when I first started it up. I also had lunch ready in case I was not able to kick it over. I spent lots of time on last minute things and knew I had spark, compression, and fuel to the carb, but I did not try to start the bike until we had all gathered together. This was very hard to do... I really wanted to start it.

     On the 24th at high noon, I brought the bike out of my garage and started kicking it over. One of my friends, in true Wayne fashion, asked if I was sure the choke was set right. I told him it was and moved on. The bike coughed a few times, and I had to tickle it a little, but on the 12th kick it came to life! About kick six I realized that the choke was in the wrong position when I started so I guess I am Wayne’s Problem.

     I have put a little over 100 miles on the bike in the last couple of weeks, just figuring it out and making sure it’s all good. It sure is a fun bike with gobs of torque, and really looks the part of a vintage British bike. Now my garage is a living tribute to my friendship with Wayne and as they are British bikes, I always have something to fix, to remind me of him.

     As always, Ride em, don’t hide em!

Hurricane Season in California

      This story begins over 30 years ago when I laid eyes on a Triumph X-75 Hurricane for the first time. It was in a friend's garage sitting where he parked it some time in the early 80’s after breaking the kick start crank. Even covered in dust and surrounded by gardening tools I could see it was something special. My friend, Wayne, told me a little about the bike. The thing I remember most was that even though it was a British bike, it was designed by an American named Craig Vetter. His name was familiar to me because of the Vetter/Windjammer fairing company that had their products on almost every other bike in the 70’s.

     Fast forward to 2016, Wayne had cancer and even though he was a real fighter, it took him from us. Wayne left me all his beautiful bikes. I started the process of bringing his bikes from his house to mine in order to do what I always threatened him I would: fix them.  This has been a remarkable way to talk about my friend and share some real cool bikes in the motorcycle community.

     Once I got Wayne’s Hurricane running I started taking her out a lot. She almost always gets attention, either from people that know what she is and can’t believe they are seeing one, or those that don’t know what she is but can tell it is something unusual. It is fun to educate people about this rare beast and the man that had the original vision. I wanted to contact Mr. Vetter and tell him the story of my bike, and the friendship with Wayne, but never got around to sending a note to him. It was on my to do list though. 

     This year I was showing a bike at The One Show here in Portland and met a group of misfits from the Santa Cruz area and when we got to talking about the cache of bikes I had. They told me that they were friends of Mr. Vetter and that I should look him up if I’m ever in the area. I thanked them, but didn’t see that happening anytime soon. I contacted them to see if I sent my owners manual to them so they could get an autograph for me. Again they said I should come down and get it myself. I still couldn't see this happening, but my wife could. I’m telling you I got the best one.

     Next thing I know I have a flight, hotel, and rental car booked for a mid week trip to San Jose Cali. I had been in contact with Craig’s son Morgan via email and had found a restaurant near his house where we could meet. I got there early with my owners manual and the seat pan from my Hurricane to get signed by the man himself. As we sat having a meal, and talking about his career in the motorcycle industry, I had to stop and remind myself that I was checking off a huge bucket list item for my life!  

Craig is an amazing man with so many stories and history to share. He was very generous with his time, but two hours into our visit it was time to go as the restaurant was getting busy and they needed our table. 

At this point Morgan suggested that we continue this visit at the Vetter Ranch! Again I was stopped short, by this amazing opportunity.  I drove Craig, my new best friend, to his house in order to keep visiting. I met his wife Carol and their dog Frank, sat on his patio and shared more stories. Craig then signed my seat and manual, and then he gave me some other posters that he and Carol both signed for me. At this point Craig was tired and needed to rest, so Morgan took me over to Craig's shop for a tour. I left there walking on air and even as I write this story I can’t express just how amazing this visit was for me.

     Craigs real passion is in fuel efficiency and streamline design. He had an accident on his bike in the summer of 2016 when he hit a deer and he can’t drive or ride anymore, but boy can he talk. He freely gives his knowledge to all that are interested.

     I am so grateful to my wife for her nudge to follow my bliss on this trip, and encourage all to do the same if you get even half a chance. Wayne’s gift has continued to give me joy and I will forever be boring people with stories like this. I plan on going back to visit Craig and his family again sometime in the near future, now that we are friends. 

Remember ride em’, don't hide em’!