Talked with an Old Man Today

[donaldcc]

  Nice to be off for the holiday.  Did some routine work on Valk today and then went up into mtns to make sure it was running OK.  I head up into mtns  from my house (200' elevation in desert to a lookout point about 10 miles up and 2500').  Road heads on up to about 7000' but I just want to make sure bike is still running.

   I stop at lookout point and hang out for a while before I go back.  



  Some nice turns coming up to lookout point. (may have posted before)

 

  I walk around parking lot and when I come back to bike there are 5-6 people hanging around looking at it (always makes me feel good  ). There is an older guy at least in his mid 80's or more just standing there.  Another one was a guy stopped with 4 sport bikes and he is on a big Ducati.  He says "I know that engine, I have a Rune."  He told me he bought about 2 years ago because he got a great deal.  I asked how he liked it and he said he has only put 100 mi on it in 2 years ( who the he!! does that?).

   The old guy does not say a word and continues to just stand there staring at bike.  i talk with another guy who recognizes the 6 cylinders and asks a lot of questions and he seems to know his way around an engine so nice conversation.  Still no word from the old guy who is just standing there for quite a while now  ???.  I'm getting ready to leave, putting on gear including ear plugs and modular full face helmet (loud 6into6 Cobras).  

    The "old" guy finally says "that's a pretty big bike, must be tough to pick it up if you drop it.  I used to have a 1923 Harley and dropped it a few times, but it was not too bad to pick it up."  Well, he must have been there about 15 minutes before he said a word and I took off helmet and earplug so i could hear him.  He told me about a lot of the motorcycles he had ridden.  Said he really liked an old BMW he had.  We talked for a while and then a younger man (just a little older than me) came over and said "we have to go now dad".  The son told me "he doesn't talk that much, but he used to have a motorcycle."  Dad walked off with son but stopped, turned around and told me to "be careful."

  It made my day.  

    

[highcountry]

Great story!  Thanks for sharing it.

[HayHauler]

Yea, great story Donald!

Merry Christmas.

Hay 
Jimmyt

[BigMac (SoCal)]

The SoCal VRCC just went down that road in November. It's a great ride and a nice view. I think we had around 14 bikes with us. Maybe we'll see you on one of our rides.

Dave

[Fatboyman05]

Very nice story, Thanks.

[AussieValk]

yeah, that sure is a nice story.

awesome looking bit of road too. 

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Good read...Nice pic's 

[bigvalkriefan]

  I bet you the whole time he was standing there not talking he was reminiscing about all the rides he took as a younger man.
I love talking to the older generation.

[Hoser]

When I want to talk to an old man I just talk to the mirror!     Hoser

[Spirited-6]

  It made my day.   

I`m guessing that you made his day also. Think about his thoughts while he was standing there looking at a "MOTORCYCLE" 
Thanks for sharing.

[bigvalkriefan]

When I want to talk to an old man I just talk to the mirror!     Hoser

 

[DIGGER]

Similar experience about 3 yrs ago.    I've always had a passion for the INdian Motorcycles that are restored.   I have always just really loved the Indian in the 40's that had a 4 cylinder in line from front to back that looked like a car engine.   They only made them a few yrs so they are kind of rare.   At a Thanksgiving Dinner at my house 3 yrs ago a friend of mine came from Eagle Lake Texas and brought his dad 93 yrs old.   He saw my Valk sitting in the garage and stopped and looked at it asking questions about it.   I asked if he ever had a bike and like a lot of the old timers he had had a harley in the 40's and 50's and told of a couple trips he had taken and some of the problems he encountered on the the trips.  He knew what he was talking about.   I told him I'd be right back and I went into my antique room (all kinds of stuff in it) and brought back a framed large picture of the Indian with the 4 cylinder restored to new condition and showed it to the old man and asked if he remembered that bike.   He said "Yeah I remember that bike.....they weren't worth a sh___......the rear cyclinder would burn up all the time due to not enough air cooling to the rear of the engine....they only made it a few years because no body would buy them."  JJUST BUSTED MY BUBBLE.....hahahaha........I've always  loved to talk about the motorcycle times with OLD MEN......
They are full of usefull information.   Hope in my old age to be able to shed some light on motorcycles of the past with the younger generation too.

[Chrisj CMA]

It is amazing.  I bought a Valkyrie because I like them......even before I bought it I met a few people that DIDNT like them.......(wasnt a V-Twin) so I never expected that I was buying a "head turner"  I was trying to please me, no-one else.  But yes, almost everytime I go somewhere something like this here story happenes.  From intellegent converstions about how beautiful she is and how that motor is so great from dummies that stand there and tell their friends "that there is one of them Boss Hogs" LOL to "what kind of Harley is that"

Take care of them guys......when theyre gone it will be a long time before something else can fill her shoes!

[solo1]

Although I no longer have my Valkyrie, I still don't have to use those three words that most old geezers like me use............"Used to have"

I hope that I can ride the Vstrom long enough to when I won't care when I use those words.

Very nice story.

Wayne

[MP]

When I want to talk to an old man I just talk to the mirror!     Hoser

That is why I like riding with you so much, hoser.  You make me feel sooooo young!  LOL   

MP

[Hoser]

Your'e only as old as you feel, MP, that's why I can't figure out who that old fella in my mirror is!    hoser

[MP]

Your'e only as old as you feel, MP, that's why I can't figure out who that old fella in my mirror is!    hoser

+1!   You sure do not "act" old at all!  Ride on, buddy!

MP

[~ Timbrwolf]

. . . .......excellent story .. 

[Sodbuster]

I just love coming across people like that on my extended bike trips out west. Seems like I always come across someone with a "I used to have a ...." story and turns into a half hour conversation at a gas pump or in a restaurant. Usually involves a old Harley or Goldwing.

Thanks for sharing that story .... cool stuff  

Sodbuster

[GreenLantern57]

 

[czuch]

Great story. Ya gotta let the ol fellers talk. One day it might be you.
I had a neighbor when I was a kid and he was a Naval officer in WWII. 3 ships were sunk from under him at Okinawa. He didnt want to get on the destroyer that came to get his group of survivors. "Whats the use, I'll just end up here again". After the war he rode a pre war Harley across this great country so he could see what he fought for. HE had stories. I was a kid but I listened.
Its on my bucket list, but in a far more civilized manner.