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First of all just let me say how much I love Thailand!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok, here goes:
I grew up as a mechanic's son near the industrial area of Chicago, Illinois, USA. I started tearin' things apart at an
early age and making go-carts and motorcycles out of anything we had lying around, running or not. I bought my first
Harley, a 1951 panhead chopper "basket-case" for the princely sum of $800.00, with the complete disapproval of my hard-core,
ex-military father.
In fact he only let me buy it because he thought I would never get it running. When I say basket case, I mean about 10,000
bits and pieces that supposedly would resemble a motorcycle when cobbled together in some fashion. It literally came in
about 20 old milk baskets. I had worked for several years to collect that money as a paper boy and odd jobs here and there
and my Dad thought he would teach me a lesson on spending my money so foolishly.
I was just 15 years old at the time and I was going to purchase a new dirt bike but then my
older sister had this "biker" boyfriend who pulled up in our driveway one day on an old Harley shovelhead chopper and I fell
in love with the look and sound of that bike on the spot!
He told me if I could start it I could ride it. Kick start it that is, it had no electric starter and of course I weighed
all of 98 pounds soakin' wet, so he thought he'd have a laugh at my expense when it launched me over the handle bars. What
he didn't know was that I knew a thing or two about kick-starting motorcycles of all kinds, but had never tried a
Harley.
I kneeled on the huge King/Queen seat and put my right foot on the kicker pedal and in one stroke it roared to life and from that
day on I was hooked! He had instant respect for me and he actually did end up marrying my sister, but he never forgot how I
was able to start his big ole' chopper and he told everyone about that. It was all over from that point on as I went to the
local Harley Dealership to purchase a repair manual and start the re-building project of my first Harley! Hey, did I
mention how much I love Thailand?
I began my official Harley career at Suburban H-D in Palatine, Illinois in 1978. I
worked throughout the automotive and motorcycle industry since then and have had many very exciting jobs and even owned a few
unique businesses here and there. I always had a passion for Harleys and always will.
I was lucky to have such interesting jobs that took me all over the US, Canada and Mexico as well as throughout Europe and South
America. However, I never made it to the far east until I was almost 48 years old.
Then after visiting Thailand on a two week "life-saving" mission (my life that is) forced on me by my best friend and partner in
the Jet-Ski business, Jim Ferrin, I actually ended up staying for three months. He kept calling me and was wondering if I
was ever coming back!
Did I mention how much I love Thailand?
Anyway, here I am and here I'll stay until I die or they throw me out! I met Bert early on after I relocated from Chiang
Mai to Pattaya and we became fast friends and had an almost brother-like connection instantly.
I had never joined a motorcycle club before even though many had sought me out in the
States due to my skills and connections in the "motorcycle world". I remained neutral bcoz I worked on everyone's bikes and
thought that affiliation with one club or another would be detrimental to business. In Thailand it is a bit different than
in the States so after some long thought, persuasion by Bert, and meeting all the Nagas people and enjoying their small,
but good "family" group I joined them and have enjoyed all the camaraderie, friendship and support they have given me and each
other not to mention a few extremely drunken evenings here and there.
That's my story in a nutshell and I'm stickin' tuit. If you would like more details, stop by at one of our events and I
will gladly bend your ear and fill you in or just tell you my latest jokes.
Did I mention how much I love Thailand?
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