Of Heroes and Tech Daze

[rdfrantz]

I saw something at the Orange County Tech Daze last weekend. A time came when I got to stand back in the Garage and look out over the scene. Someone shut off a fan that had been cooling an RT during a throttle sync. As its whirring receded, its noise was replaced by the sounds of voices exchanging. There were laughs. I heard the clink of hard steel tools against parts, and as they fell to the concrete beneath this array of a dozen German Motorcycles.

 

Those sounds were like the tails of kites: Each one followed a larger, more important thing. In this case it was Action. Oh, no motion was like a Cowboys and Indians chase scene, or the tumbling grappling of a tag team wrestling match. More subtle, each one was none the less an Action, and seeking some specific goal. And, all together, and certainly un-choreographed, it none the less appeared to me like the sections of an orchestra bent in symphonic rendition.

 

And overall, hovering above it, or perhaps entire within it in this large space, I recognized a kind of thin, transparent "cloud"... as if a Force had descended upon this place and its people and now was pervading it all, controlling, creating.

 

No, it wasn't eerie. It was in fact rather gentle, at least in its passage and presence. But it was also, indeed, Powerful.

 

 

Websters looks on heroes as those admired for their achievements and qualities; those that show great courage. Well certainly, the liabilities toward physical jeopardy are small when concerning taking apart motorcycles in a garage or driveway, but peril comes in many forms. What about loss of investment, loss of mobility, loss of face, not to mention "just plain lost"?

 

Well, I certainly saw a raft of Heroes this past weekend.

 

Look at it. Here is a seven hundred pound, bright colored, plastic bound Easter Egg, filled with multi-thousands of dollars worth of parts that whiz and whir, reciprocate, rotate, slide back and forth and in and out, twist and turn, all to produce... Well, it's more than just Motion; It can be our Livelihood, our means of reaching what keeps body and soul together, and certainly it's a profound link to our Dreams. And, we're going to CUT IT OPEN AND THEN FIDDLE WITH ITS INNARDS????!!!!

 

I've never seen such a thorough wrapper of dreaded Mystery as the RT possesses. About fifteen hex-head screws per side twist out easily enough -- when you properly wield a specific tool that perhaps you've never seen before -- and let be yanked away (just so, please) great sheets of sculptured... What? Flimsy, bending, fragile coated space taker-uppers that now have to get put somewhere, that just minutes before were the svelte sleekness of aerodynamic wonder leading across endless horizons at rates of speed that left the proletariat gasping. And, now revealed is a vast array of shapes and colors found nowhere else in one's life.

 

Some begin to count them up... and figure that even if at only a dollar a piece they probably got a good bargain from that smiling face in a pristine showroom that nodded and shook hands in seeming assurance of years of recreational bliss. But GEEZ!!! What to DO with all this STUFF??!!

 

And, How??!!

 

Staring at this mechanical vastness, Tales linger in now boggled minds that lead to visions of all this coming to rest upon the ground in heaps of dusty decay if... "You don't do the Right Thing". God, MY motorcycle could ALSO end up like one of those rusty relics hanging in the front room of that delapidated old oil-soaked Marvin's Garage in East Westford?? Just if I don't "care for it" like some village full of Teutonic Gnomes have decreed? And, what if I inadvertently touch "The Magic Button" that holds all this together and it just falls to the floor like in that nightmare? COULD it?

 

Yes, and No.

 

"No" is more likely. But, "Yes" actually is a very real possibility. At least some extent of Disaster is lurking. It is entirely possible to disable, to incapacitate that mechanical beast. It can be rendered apart or ruptured, and then bleed and die right there in front of us. And, facing that, working in that World, that, my Gentle Readers, is a matter of Courage.

 

What would prevent that? Well, Mr. Webster's, "those admired for their achievements and qualities."

 

 

 

T.M. Roe spoke first: "It ain't Rocket Science, guys." We listened, and discovered he was right.

 

Right Tools, Right Actions, Right Attitude have prevailed for the two years since. Right Knowledge, hard gained by careful experiment is Big as well.

 

Some come and display Heroism by opening it up, diving in, taking it apart, replacing what's non-optimum, adjusting what's tight or slack, and putting it all back together -- Demons be *&^%. Some display Heroism by Leadership into Vales of Peril, by encouragement to take the known steps, in order and in care. Others display Heroism by standing hip-deep in that actual world where lack of precision means loss by careful word in direction toward the betterment, the fulfillment, of Friend and Machine alike, and both beloved.

 

Still others take what is the awesome courageous step to me of opening their heart, of Faith in hand, offering their home and goods in gentle urging to come forth and play out this Test, also mindful of its Ultimate Success: The BUILDING of Heroes.

 

 

 

Where I live, RTs run well. And, their Owners run better and better.

 

For I am truly blessed to live in a Land of Heroes.

 

[Voodoo]

[Marty Hill]

Dick,

 

Truer words have never been spoken. THANKS. So many of us have learned from others and then passed the knowledge on. What a great group.

[TonyM315]

Dick-

 

What a great write-up and a spectacular piece of writing.

 

Most of all, it was great... scratch that... it was an honor to finally be able to meet you at Orange County Tech Daze.

 

The list of ideas, advice, and instruction you have provided me and many other riders in this community is too long to verbalize. For that I am grateful and continue to 'pass it on' to others who's paths I cross.

 

Thank you for helping to make me a better rider. A more knowledgeable rider. A more confident rider. A safer rider. ...And a more mentally prepared rider.

 

Your encyclopedia of knowledge as it pertains to this wonderful sport and, more specifically, these wonderful motorcycles is valued and appreciated beyond description.

 

While I arrived late to Tech Daze and didn't perform any work on my bike, what I saw happening when I got there was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. I learned some great things. I met some great people. This is indeed a great group of people.

 

See you in Torrey if not sooner.

[KMG_365]

Great write-up as usual, Dick!

 

The hostess with the mostess, the heroine of the day!!

 

[Corkus]

That's poetry, a romanticized description fantastically written.

 

I loved it.

[leikam]

You are right, Dick. It does take courage to take your bike apart, adjust some things, replace others, and put it all back again. I'd just like to add that, as I told Cory while he replaced his throttle cable, it then takes Faith to ride the bike afterwards. You need to trust that you did everything Right... or at least Right Enough... and put your very life in that conviction.

[WURTY]

Hey General, That was pretty good !!

Wished I would have made that one to see old friends and OOGle Laney...

[rdfrantz]

Wurty, you were greatly missed. Do show up, guy... somewhere. You're too precious a jewel to hide from the new folks. And be certain to bring that Moto-Boy of yours to. In fact, drag Mom and baby Wendy out and get them some fresh air.

 

Soon, Buddy.