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Tragedy, Family and a GS

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    Tragedy, Family and a GS

    I was going to put this in the RIP forum, but this is more of a happy memory for me, so I thought I would share it with you all. You see, I have lost a great friend and mentor.

    My wife and I... well, as we wander through our memories, I thought I should share this one with all of you in the GSR community. Like any good story, this one was about motorcycles and a girl.

    When I was in my second year of university I got my first motorcycle, a serious fixer-upper (81 GS400L), and in the spring I met a very pretty girl. We got along great, and by the summer it was time for me to meet her mom and dad. Being a bit of an idiot I decided to ride my motorcycle the 300km from my student house to her parents place, where she was living for the summer. I had been licensed for less than a month, and the bike looked rough with its tremclad paint job, dripping oil pan and smoking... hmm come to thing of it, just about everything but the turn signals either smoked or dripped. My friends were making bets on how hard her dad was going to hit me, or if I would just get thrown out of the house.

    Forever etched into my memory is the face her mom made as I pulled up the driveway. I think at first she was hoping I was just turning around, but then girl friend bouncing came out of the house to meet me. To say the least I think her mother a little surprised and alarmed at the teenage boy standing in her front hall, reaking of oil and gas, covered in highway dirt and dressed in an armoured snow suit.. and holding her daughter...

    Then she took me to meet her dad, an industrial man from the west midlands of England... He was a lot bigger than me, with a beard that could only just hide the massive scar running from his right cheek to nearly his throat... he didn't stand up.
    He turned off the tv and told me to sit down... said "you must be Kevin"... I didn't think it was going very well... then he caught wind of me...

    he asked "Is that you that smells of oil" .... my reply, the most unitelegent, empty headed sound I have every made .."yeeeahhh..."

    He asked "you ride a motorcycle?"... I replied a littler sharper this time.."yeah"..

    Then he got up and looked outside at the still smoking, dripping motorcycle in his driveway, and everything changed. He glanced back at me and rather happily stated "I 'ad one-u-em." He and I became great friends. As his wife put it, we 'got on like a house on fire'. As luck would have it he used to rebuild bikes as well.

    Her mother took significantly longer to win over, particularly after I got a second helmet.

    5 years later, I married that pretty girl at a small, mid August wedding just this past summer. A few weeks later my now father-in-law and I started work on restoring a small vintage scooter for my wife (with the approval of my mother-in-law). My life, our lives, were perfect. I had everything I could have wanted.

    Just before Christmas my father-in-law suffered a sudden heart attack and passed away before either my wife or I could reach the hospital. My wife and I, we miss him terribly, and as we wander through our memories, I thought I should share this one.

    #2
    Rod, an excellent story/memory to have shared with us.
    2@ \'78 GS1000

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      #3
      Thanks for sharing your heat felt memories of your family. We should all be so lucky to have had such a realitionship with our inlaws.

      cg
      sigpic
      83 GS1100g
      2006 Triumph Sprint ST 1050

      Ohhhh!........Torque sweet Temptress.........always whispering.... a murmuring Siren

      Comment


        #4
        Thanks so much for sharing this!

        2 wheeled conveyances seem to anchor feelings that would normally not be felt!!

        Comment


          #5
          Touching story.
          When he smelled the oil on you, he probably thought you drove up on a Harley.
          sigpic
          Steve
          "The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page." :cool:
          _________________
          '79 GS1000EN
          '82 GS1100EZ

          Comment


            #6
            Great story and I'm sorry to hear this. My condolences.
            Cowboy Up or Quit. - Run Free Lou and Rest in Peace

            1981 GS550T - My First
            1981 GS550L - My Eldest Daughter's - Now Sold
            2007 GSF1250SA Bandit - My touring bike

            Sit tall in the saddle Hold your head up high
            Keep your eyes fixed where the trail meets the sky and live like you ain't afraid to die
            and don't be scared, just enjoy your ride - Chris Ledoux, "The Ride"

            Comment


              #7
              Thank you for this...my day was filled with lots of opinions from others...and some of it not too positive.

              Your story put me at ease with what's going on in my life. There was a little part in there that made me chuckle...it had to do with the second helmet.

              To read about the happiness/sorrow of others puts things into perspective.

              Cheers,
              Ed
              GS750TZ V&H/4-1, Progressive Shocks, Rebuilt MC/braided line, Tarozzi Stabilizer[Seq#2312]
              GS750TZ Parts Bike [Seq#6036]
              GSX-R750Y (Sold)

              my opinion shouldn't be taken as gospel or in any way that would lead you to believe otherwise (30Sep2021)

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                #8
                Sorry for the loss of your father in law. Great memory and great writing style. Thanks for sharing.

                Comment


                  #9
                  What an awesome memory. That is what family should be about. Love, live and have good memories.
                  David
                  1998 Suzuki Bandit
                  1978 GS750 gone but not forgotten
                  1978 GS1000 - gone
                  1981 GS850 - gone

                  Comment


                    #10
                    That was a nice share 'Bentrod'. A truly missed sole in your lives I'm sure his is.
                    Rob
                    1983 1100ES, 98' ST1100, 02' DR-Z400E and a few other 'bits and pieces'
                    Are you on the GSR Google Earth Map yet? http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...d.php?t=170533

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                      #11
                      Good tale. Makes me feel good.
                      sigpic[Tom]

                      “The greatest service this country could render the rest of the world would be to put its own house in order and to make of American civilization an example of decency, humanity, and societal success from which others could derive whatever they might find useful to their own purposes.” George Kennan

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Great story, Brother. He's forever in your memory.
                        80 gs1100 16-v ported & polished, 1 mm oversize intake valves, 1150 carbs w/Dynojet stage 3, plus Bandit/gsxr upgrades

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Thanks for sharing....

                          Comment


                            #14
                            fond memories

                            im sorry for your loss, a great story, and it just makes you realise how our lives are affected by a loved one passing, we all have to make every day count, and make the most of life.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Enjoyed reading your story. I liked the way you told it.

                              Sorry for you and your wifes loss.

                              Write another story when wife starts to ride the bike.

                              .
                              http://webpages.charter.net/ddvrnr/GS850_1100_Emblems.jpg
                              Had 850G for 14 years. Now have GK since 2005.
                              GK at IndyMotoGP Suzuki Display... ... GK on GSResources Page ... ... Euro Trash Ego Machine .. ..3 mo'cykls.... update 2 mocykl


                              https://imgur.com/YTMtgq4

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