BIKERS--'PERFECT STRANGERS'



INDIAN SYMBOL FOR 'FRIENDSHIP'




ARMOND AND DIANE WITH THEIR 2005 ROAD KING-THIS BEAUTIFUL BEAST HAS CARRIED THEM FROM COAST TO COAST--ARMON HAS RIDDEN FOR 50 YEARS





BACK IN 1971 I HAD THE THRILL OF LETTING OUT THE CLUTCH ON A MOTORCYCLE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE..I DON’T REMEMBER WHAT MODEL (IT WAS A SMALL LITTLE BIKE) BUT THAT FEELING BIT ME HARD AND NEVER LET GO..THE WORLD WAS AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT PLACE BACK THEN..VERY FEW BIKES ON THE ROADS (BIKERS WERE CONSIDERED A LITTLE CRAZY- KINDA DIFFERENT)..THERE WERE NO CELL PHONES, CONSEQUENTLY, IF YOU HAD THE MISFORTUNE OF BREAKING DOWN YOU COULD ONLY HOPE THAT THERE WAS A PAY PHONE WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE (REMEMBER PAY PHONES?) AND THAT YOU HAD THE CORRECT CHANGE IN YOUR POCKET..IF YOU HAPPENED TO BE STRANDED WITH YOUR CAR CHANCES WERE GOOD THAT A FELLOW MOTORIST WOULD STOP TO OFFER ASSISTANCE OF SOME SORT..HOWEVER-IF YOU WERE A BIKER YOU WERE TRULY STRANDED (A LITTLE CRAZY-KINDA DIFFERENT)..

I WAS ENJOYING MY THIRD BIKE (HARLEY DAVIDSON SPORTSTER) MY FRIEND HAD HIS HONDA, NICE BIKE BUT I DON’T REMEMBER THE MODEL..WE HAD BEEN PILING ON THE MILES WHEN LATE IN THE AFTERNOON WE CAME ACROSS A BIKER PUSHING HIS CYCLE ALONGSIDE THE ROAD..AS WE PULLED UP WE NOTICED HIS CLUB PATCH (WON’T MENTION THE NAME WITHOUT PERMISSION)..TO SAY HE WAS HAPPY WE STOPPED WOULD BE A SERIOUS UNDERSTATEMENT..WE DISCUSSED THE SITUATION, I WOULD STAY WITH THE BIKES AND HE WOULD RIDE WITH MY FRIEND TO A PAY PHONE AND CALL THE CLUB HOUSE FOR HELP..WITHIN THE HOUR HIS BIKE WAS LOADED ONTO A PICK-UP TRUCK AND MY FRIEND AND I WERE ESCORTED TO THE CLUB HOUSE BY FOUR OF HIS ‘BROTHERS’..



MARGARET  FROM LITCHFIELD-BEAUTIFUL WOMAN-BEAUTIFUL BIKE



OUR ARRIVAL WAS GREETED WITH NOTHING BUT FRIENDSHIP..THE CLUB MEMBERS WHO DID NOT YET KNOW WHAT HAD HAPPENED TURNED CURIOUS STARES AT US, BUT ONCE THE SITUATION HAD BEEN EXPLAINED, ALL WAS WELL—WE WERE ‘RIGHTEOUS’..THE REST OF THE EVENING WAS A UNEXPECTED TREAT FOR US..A PARTY WAS GOING ON AND WE WERE WELCOME TO STAY..THE NEXT MORNING WE LEFT (NEVER RETURNED)..IT WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT I BECAME AWARE OF AN INDEFINABLE LINK THAT WAS LIVING IN MY SOUL AND THE SOULS OF OTHERS WHO THRIVE ON TWO WHEELS..ALL OF US WERE BROTHERS AND SISTERS TO SOME DEGREE-ALL OF US LOVED THE WIND AND FREEDOM OF TWO WHEELS—ALL OF US LOVED IRON HORSES..

I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT THOSE INDIVIDUALS WHO BOUGHT A SCOOTER TO RIDE BACK AND FORTH TO WORK,, NOR AM I TALKING ABOUT THE TYPE WHO BOUGHT A MOTORCYCLE TO FILL SOME KIND OF SUSPECTED VOID IN HIS OR HER PERSONALITY..THOSE INDIVIDUALS LEAVE THE MOTORCYCLE FRATERNITY QUICKLY—A HEART POUNDING CLOSE CALL—MAYBE EVEN A TUMBLE—OR MAYBE THE PASSION OF RIDING IN THE WIND NEVER REALLY IGNITES IN THEIR HEARTS—IT’S NOT FOR EVERYONE AND THAT’S OK..



(SOME BIKERS FROM MANCHESTER & E. HARTFORD)



ALWAYS A WELCOME SIGHT TO A BIKER



I’M TALKING ABOUT THE ONES WHO HAVE RIDDEN FOR YEARS AND YEARS—TAKEN OUR SPILLS—MAYBE BROKEN A BONE OR TWO—CHANCES ARE WE EVEN LEFT MOTORCYCLES BEHIND AT ONE POINT OR OTHER AND THEN FOUND THAT WE HAD LEFT NOT ONLY A MOTORCYCLE BEHIND, BUT A IMPORTANT PART OF OUR PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING WAS NOW LACKING..A UNSUSPECTED AND UNSPOKEN LOYALTY HAD BEEN BROKEN—A FEELING THAT BORDERED ON GUILT EVERY TIME A MOTORCYCLE RUMBLED BY--A MELANCHOLY MOOD EVERY TIME THE SOUND OF A DISTANT MOTORCYCLE REACHED INTO YOUR EARDRUM AND VIBRATED THOSE TINY BONES THAT EVOKED NOT ONLY SOUND, BUT MEMORIES AND VISIONS..A MODERN DAY CALL OF THE WILD..  “COME BACK, RIDE THE WIND AGAIN—THINGS CHANGE—THAT’S AS IT SHOULD BE—BUT SOME THINGS REMAIN THE SAME—COME BACK, RIDE THE WIND AGAIN..”    



CHRIS AND BILL TAKE A BREATHER IN NEW HARTFORD



IF YOU SPEND ANY TIME AT ALL ON THE ROAD YOU’VE SEEN BIKERS TOSS A FRIENDLY WAVE AS THEY PASS EACH OTHER..IT’S AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF SORTS,, IT’S A TYPE OF SALUTE TO ONE ANOTHER,, THEY KNOW THE INHERENT RISKS,, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY THEY SHARE THE EXHILARATION AND THE SENSATION OF A FREEDOM THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO ATTAIN WITH ANY OTHER MODE OF TRANSPORTATION..THEY SHARE A AWESOME FEELING THAT IS REALLY BEYOND THE POWERS OF DESCRIPTION..

I REALLY HAD NO IDEA AT ALL WHAT I WAS GOING TO FEATURE AS A POST THIS WEEK..SO I FELT ADVENTUROUS AND DECIDED TO SPEND SOME TIME JUST MEETING STRANGERS AND POSTING THEIR PHOTOS, AND IF THEY FELT LIKE TALKING, A SHORT PIECE ABOUT THEMSELVES..OF ALL THE PEOPLE I MET ONLY TWO DECLINED..ONE WAS A MEMBER OF A WELL KNOWN CLUB WHO SHUNNED PUBLICITY, ANOTHER WANTED TO BE PAID (?) ‘I WOULD LIKE THAT TOO,’ I TOLD HIM..ACTUALLY I REFUSED TO PUT ANY FURTHER EFFORT INTO TALKING TO A THIRD--ONE VERY  ATTRACTIVE WOMAN, WHEN SHE TOLD ME I WAS VERY LUCKY JUST TO BE TALKING TO HER (GOT TO BE KIDDING ME)---BYE-BYE..

(TIM TERWILLIGER HAS HAD THIS MONSTER UP TO 160MPH!!--EX-MARINE-NUFF SAID)

ALTHOUGH I LIKE PEOPLE, I AM, BY NATURE, A SOLITARY MAN..BUT I KNOW THAT IF I SHOULD EVER BE STRANDED BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND OUT OF REACH OF ANY CELL PHONE SERVICE THE NEXT BIKER THAT COMES BY WILL STOP AND OFFER WHATEVER HELP HE OR SHE CAN—AND THE OPPOSITE HOLDS TRUE AS WELL..IT IS THAT UNSPOKEN BOND,, THAT SENSE OF LOYALTY TO ONE ANOTHER THAT MANIFESTS ITSELF AND MAKES IT NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR A BIKER TO IGNOR A BIKER IN DISTRESS..



SAM AND EILEEN FROM BEACON FALLS-ENJOYING THE BACK ROADS



UNFORTUNATELY, IN TODAY’S WORLD THERE ARE NOT MANY WHO CAN COUNT ON SUCH BROTHERHOOD WITH 'PERFECT STRANGERS'..

FOOTNOTE::ABOUT FOUR YEARS AGO A HIT AND RUN DRIVER TOOK ME DOWN…MY BIKE AND I EXECUTED A COMPLICATED SERIES OF TUMBLES AND FLIPS BEFORE COMING TO REST..WITHIN SECONDS I WAS SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE EAGER TO HELP—ONE COUPLE EVEN TRIED TO CATCH THE RED PICK UP TRUCK THAT HAD CAUSED THE ACCIDENT BY RUNNING A STOP SIGN..MY BIKE—MINOR DAMAGE—ME A BROKEN WRIST…SMALL MIRACLE—THANK YOU JESUS..



(BILL NOWAKOWSKI (LEFT) 97 HERITAGE--DOOR GUNNER ON A HUEY FROM 1967-68 IN VIETNAM AND FELLOW BIKER JOE GOMES WITH HIS 06 HERITAGE--INFANTRY MAN-USMC-VIETNAM-1968-69)



THANKS TO ALL PEOPLE WHO HAVE SEEN A BIKER DOWN AND STOPPED TO HELP..

TILL NEXT WEEK-TAKE CARE OF YOURSELVES AND ONE ANOTHER--JIM

 

(as always-click photos for greater detail)