January 2021

by Gary Klinker

It seems a bit strange to write 2021, but we can hope that it will be better than 2020. We will need to work hard to re-energize ABATE and rebuild after this past year. It is up to all of us. The bright spot from last year is the number of new riders trained, as I reported last month. We have scheduled our classes for the year and the schedule will be published soon. For now, we don’t see any changes from last year as far as policy or procedure is concerned. We are also working with two prospective Rider Coaches who are interested in joining the program.

Since it’s this time of year it is hard to come up with much news or information for an article, I thought I might write a more personal piece. I recently sold my 1999 R1100RT. It was my first BMW after twenty-five years of Harleys. I know I have always said that if it has tires and a license plate it is transportation meant to be ridden – anywhere and in any weather. The concept of butt jewelry has always turned me off.

This bike was just what my idea of a good bike should be. It had 165,000 miles on the speedometer the day I sold it. The side bags and top box were covered in stickers from long distance rallies and rides that it made. It had a custom-built seat for long miles and aftermarket suspension that made it handle like a dream. High performance and great brakes added to the safety and fun. As newer bikes came along it got ridden less each year and a good friend said he would like to have it. It was kind of a compulsive decision on my part, but too late to change my mind.

The main point of this is that though it was a motor vehicle, the hard part was all the memories that went with it. In April of 2000 it won the Touring Class trophy at the Region 7D Bike Show and Swap Meet. In the next few years, I rode a lot of miles with Buck Kittrredge for ABATE events, or just for fun, as we had done for many years before this bike. After we lost Buck, I started riding long distance events with Curt Gran, the guy who built the first website ABATE ever had. We competed in Minnesota 1000, Harvest Rallies, and Bonzai Rallies. We rode many thousands of miles together and won many plaques and trophies over the years. We also rode the Colorado 100,000 Foot Ride many times, along with our friend, John Lawrence. I really miss those rides with Buck and Curt. Shawn and I took many rides around the country for vacations in the 21 years we owned the RT. I can’t count the number of classes it carried me to at Fort McCoy.

The bike also carried me through a lot of training over the years. Together we took part in a lot of DOT instructor update training, BRC, BRC2, Advanced Rider Course and the Ultimate Bike Bonding Course. As I have always told students, every day is practice when you get on a bike. I got a lot of practice on the RT. It also made me a much better rider over the years. The moral of the story is that our memories and relationships are what really matter. It is not the nuts and bolts and the “stuff” that we have. The memories are what I will always have, and I know the bike went to a very good home so I’m good with it.

Think Spring and get ready to ride.

Gary