Who is this Leslie person . . . ?

[KMG_365]

. . . and what the heck is she doing with a motorcycle Discussion Board dedicated to Sport Touring on BMW motorcycles??

 

Yes, what a long, strange--yet wonderful--trip it's been!

 

Warning! This is another of my long, rambling tales full of pictures, so consider yourselves warned upfront, but if you'd like to know how Leslie got to this point in her riding career, go grab a cold one and maybe a snack and read on!

 

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In January of 2000 I bought a Kawasaki KZ-1000-P cop bike from a buddy at work. I'd ridden almost daily since I was 15 and for many years a bike was my only transportation, but I had sold my last bike nine years ago. I had talked to Leslie about buying one as a "graduation present" from the Paramedic Academy and besides, I'd always wanted one!

 

Though Leslie and I've been married for 11 years (and I'm 41 today), I first met Leslie when I was only 19 (the biking years) and I had given her a ride on my bike a time or two back then--needless to say she was NOT too impressed with my riding skills or my . . . ummmm . . . "youthful exuberance"! (Gawd, I'm lucky I survived those years! ). So years later, when I had decided I really wanted to get a bike again I was thinking it was going to just be for commuting and I just assumed that Les would want no part of it.

 

 

 

Beaming, I brought my new pride and joy home, but Leslie took one concerned look at it and pouted: "But . . . but . . . where do I sit??"

 

Hmmmm, this was a dilemma I hadn't counted on.

 

So it was that in early spring of 2000 I first stumbled upon "Cary's R1100RT Source Pages" in my long search to find a suitable two-up mount. I spent months and months researching all the various bikes under consideration, but I kept coming back to Cary's web site and this bike that all these people kept waxing poetic about. I really loved the friendly welcoming atmosphere I found there, the generous sharing of knowledge, the intelligence of the contributors, the quirky off-beat humor, and above all: the respect everyone showed to everyone else.

 

We live about a mile from Brattin BMW here in SD, so Leslie and I and a German friend who was visiting us finally stopped in to see one in person. I immediately was impressed by the look and the "feel" of the RT, but Leslie really appreciates the classics and really wanted a "naked" bike. I test rode the RT and I have to admit that at first blush I was a bit daunted by the amount of bike for someone just getting back into riding after a lay off of almost ten years. But . . . there sat a shiny R1200C in Ivory with Navy pin striping and that was it. Leslie chomped down hard on the hook and wouldn't hear any more about the "Joghurtbecher" (yogurt cup) as my (former! ) buddy Manfred told us these fully faired, "Tupperware" covered bikes were called in Germany!

 

Man, I never heard the end of that: "Joghurtbecher!" became the one word retort to all my incredibly logical and well reasoned arguments as to why the RT would make a better two-up touring mount . . . but I acquiesced. She was obviously smitten, I had to admit it was a pretty classy looking bike and I was getting another bike in the stable, so I couldn't put up too much resistance.

 

 

We tried to turn that bike into a two-up touring machine to no avail--we loved it, but our rides were limited by gas range and comfort as our "day trips" were increasing in length and we were getting ever more hooked on "touring". Leslie was having fun riding pillion but suffering quietly through BMW's idea of their Cruiser's "comfort seat" and even the Öhlins shocks and a Corbin saddle couldn't smooth out the many bumps in the road nor support both of us for a long day.

 

She eventually thought she should take the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) course and get her M/C license--just in case. She reasoned that if she had her own M/C endorsement, that if I happened to turn my ankle or break my wrist while hiking the back country on one of our local rides, she wouldn't have to stand there helpless while some careless tow truck driver unceremoniously loaded our pretty bike onto a truck.

 

Leslie had actually ridden an old Honda Trail 90 in Anza Borrego for a short time during her years as a California State Park Ranger and occasionally borrowed her then boyfriend's bike to commute to SDSU back in the late 60's. She also came from hearty riding stock as the following photo shows:

 

 

Pictured are her grandfather O.C. "Fletch" Fletcher, her mother Ruth Helen Becker (nee Fletcher) and her grandmother Medora Fletcher riding their ca. 1915 Indian around the back country roads of San Diego County.

 

So in June of 2001, at the tender age of 52, Leslie took the MSF class and took to riding like a fish to water. She excelled at the course and soon took over the old Kawasaki KZ-1000-P cop bike as her own. While I was at work she would tool around the neighborhood getting the feel of the big bike and when I'd get home we would practice parking lot drills and fundamental riding skills. One of her favorite stories is of practicing how to pick up her 750 pound bike by herself. The KZ-P had crash bars all around, and had been a trainer for Escondido PD at one point, so it was used to being on its side. Although it was a very big bike for her, she felt comfortable learning on it as it was pretty indestructible (I know, I tried--but that's a different story! ). We took it out into the street in front of the house and she practiced the "Skert" method for picking up a large motorcycle (without killing your back). She'd toss it over onto its side with a loud "crash!" . . . and then pick it up again. Then she'd toss it over on the other side--"crash!" . . . and pick it up, setting it gently on its side stand. After a few of these repetitions, a gardener, who had been working in the front yard of a neighboring house, finally dropped his tools and started clapping and whistling!

 

She was just getting the hang of riding the cop bike, and I was commuting on the nice new Cruiser when the tragic events of September 11th, 2001 changed our world. With the increased security at the military bases in Coronado (where I work), traffic on the freeways and especially the Coronado Bay Bridge was a parking lot and I was taking advantage of one of those many wonderful aspects of living in California (besides being able to ride year round): lane splitting!

 

Obviously, it is much easier to lane split across a narrow, crowded 220 foot tall bridge during rush hour on a cop bike than on a boxer with chrome valve covers, so I talk Leslie into letting me take "her" bike to work. So now Leslie finds herself "stuck" at home with the fancy, chrome covered Cruiser sitting all pretty in the garage while "her" beater bike is parked on the apparatus floor next to the fire trucks for 24 hours at a time. What to do? Well, she eventually got over her fear of dropping the Cruiser and started taking it out on trips around the neighborhood. She fell in love with the bike all over again, was convinced that the Cruiser was now "her" bike and discovered that she was now truly a "rider"!

 

"And you get to keep that old cop bike you've always wanted!"

 

"Yeah! But . . . . Hey, wait just a minute here! How is this fair??"

 

It is now October of 2001 and my department finally starts the new Paramedic program at work, which means a whole lot of new useful tools in my toolbox, I finally get to use my recently acquired medic skills to better serve the citizens of Coronado, as well as a nice raise.

 

"Hey Honey?? Say, now that you're riding that beautiful Cruiser, and I'm making enough extra to afford bike payments, what about me selling this old cop bike and buying that RT that I've-- I mean, WE'VE been looking at for over a year?" Well, she generously agreed and I set about hunting for the perfect bike for our two-up trips that I could also commute on.

 

The "new and improved" R1150RT had just been released six months before and I had been devouring all the info on Cary's site about the differences in the "new" RT. The hard-core sport riders railed against the servo-assisted linked ABS brakes, the home wrenchers complained that they couldn't work on the bike themselves, the ones who had recently forked out good money for a new R1100RT derided the look of the redesigned front fairing, etc., etc.--you've probably read similar stuff here when the R1200RT first came out!

 

I poured over all the stories and comparisons on Cary's site and finally decided I wanted the new R1150RT. I figured I'd earned it as the Paramedic Academy was 50+ hours/week of hell for a year--in addition to my normal 56 hours/week job as a firefighter. Besides, the only other brand new bike I'd ever owned was a Kawasaki KZ-440 I bought in 1983.

 

One day, as Leslie and I were going on one of our 150-200 mile days two-up on the Cruiser, I noticed a pain near my collar bone as Leslie grabbed my shoulder to climb on the back. Soon, I began to notice some more soft lumps in my neck, shoulders and jaw that would swell up and get tender, then get smaller and become non-tender. I just figured I had an infection, that my lymph nodes were swelling in response and that it would pass. But as the swelling continued to spread to other contiguous nodes, I started having some more tests done just to be sure. Otherwise, I was feeling fine: I had just lost the 30 pounds I'd gained from the stress of Medic school, I was playing racquetteball three times a week and had loads of energy to ride 8-10 hours.

 

At this time Leslie and I were taking at least weekly "sinky-sonks" (what my grandmother used to call leisurely Sunday trips in the car when she was young) around the county on our bike. Won't it be great to each have our own bike and ride together on these trips!

 

After all the months of research, and justifying (I AM the king, believe me! ) and waiting to be sure I was making the right decision, by the end of 2001 I had decided to go ahead and buy my new R1150RT. But the very week I was going to go down to Brattin with my checkbook in hand, I got the notice from the doctor that they needed to do an "open biopsy" on one of the lumps in my neck and on January 3rd, 2002 I started chemotherapy for Hodgkin's Lymphoma (cancer of the lymphatic system).

 

I love my job as a Firefighter--especially more so now as a Paramedic Firefighter as I was able to do SO much more to help my "customers" during their difficult times--but now I was off work, basically on "house arrest". I was worried if I would survive, worried if I would ever get to go back to work, worried about Leslie. Every two weeks, I'd be pumped full of "almost enough" poison to kill me . . . just enough so that the cancer cells would be the first to die and I would (hopefully) eventually recover. Leslie was an incredible pillar of strength and support through all of this--without her steadfast love and tender caring I really don't know how I would've made it through those dark months. She was able to look beyond the constant nausea and increasing weakness, the loss all my body hair and the regular vomiting, the gradual fading of my youthful strength and keep focused on the enduring supernatural strength of our relationship, the lengths to which we had gone to finally be together and the knowledge that our love was bigger than all that fate could throw at us. She literally saved my life in keeping me going through those long days of depression and sorrow. She even bought me a nice leather La-Z-Boy recliner and we spent many, many hours just hanging-out in the living room talking, watching comedies and playing cards with some friends.

 

The other thing that buoyed up my spirits was . . . "the love" I found freely shared here in this place. During all that time researching and avidly reading Cary's site I got totally hooked on the atmosphere I previously described, and now, considering myself a future RT owner with all this time on my hands, I just couldn't put it down. After David had graciously taken the reins from Cary, the place just continued to grow and improve, but the original intention that this was a safe place to share your love for the sport of motorcycling and for your neighbor stayed clear. During the long months of my convalescence I would routinely find myself laughing out loud one minute and crying the next.

 

It was during this time that Leslie would frequently ask me: "What the heck are you laughing about now? Is it that BMW motorcycle site again?" I remember reading about a whole range of things from how all the sheep in that field wanted Wurty, to how "Chris NYC" got his nickname "Tender Vittles", to Kris' poignant posting on the death of his SO and the warm loving flow of support from the members here--it was so much like a family, yet somehow less disfunctional!

 

But like any family, it had its jesters: Wurty and Gleno and many others I can no longer name kept me in stitches and I would regularly laugh until I cried! Seeing the beautiful pictures and reading the engaging Ride Tales of the ride to the Redmond Rally, Shortcut's Christmas Party, the party at the "Tool Shed" and the "Mother of all Tech Daze" at Glenoz "Garage Mahal" in Nevada really convinced me that if I got through this and got an RT--I couldn't miss another event with these people.

 

In March of 2002 I eventually got up the courage to register a user name ("JKinners") and I posted a tentative "Hello" to the group--my first use of the computer for a "discussion". I posted how I didn't have my RT yet, but that I'd been lurking here for almost two years and could I join anyway as I planned on buying one as soon as I got back to work? I was warmly welcomed and made to feel part of the group--even though I didn't have an RT. Soon I was posting all sorts of newbie drivel and learning a lot of painful lessons about the nuances of Internet communication--while all the time David, the Moderator Team and the other members here were more than patient with me while I cut my BBS--oops, I mean--Discussion Board teeth.

 

I posted that I would love to go to the first-ever UnRally in Gunnison, Colorado to meet them all in person, but our Cruiser wouldn't make it that far two up with camping gear. Besides, I would just be finishing up my last chemo and likely not be feeling well enough yet to ride and I asked about renting an RT in Colorado. I remember Fernando, Polo, Doug Quinnell and others chiming in, making me feel welcome and granting me "special dispensation" for trailering--I was hooked!

 

Now I just had to try to convince Leslie that it would be a fun trip! She was a little leery of going to "an RT rally" in Colorado with a bunch of people neither of us had ever met--we didn't even have an RT yet. Her valid concerns stemmed largely from only hearing bits and pieces about these people I knew only from the Internet--but it obviously meant a lot to me and so she agreed to go.

 

Neither of us had ever been to any sort of motorcycle event, let alone a rally (or an UnRally! ), or even ridden anywhere outside of San Diego county. But I finished my 12th and final round of chemo in late June of 2002 and we bought a trailer for the Cruiser, endured a bunch of ribbing on the board (most of it good natured! ) and set off for Gunnison, Colorado via the Top of the Rockies Rally in Paonia, CO.

 

We had a great time! And while we were a bit shy, we tried to meet as many people from the board as possible. Our first meeting of anyone from here was a group at the TOR in Paonia that we recognized from the BMWRT.com T-Shirts some of them sported. They were a great, friendly group and many have since become very good friends. (I've got a picture somewhere, but I can't find it right now. )

 

The rally was really hot, but a total blast and Leslie and I started relaxing a bit. We went on to Gunnison for the Un-I, and went for dinner at the Cattleman's in downtown Gunnison. We noticed Cary, David, Fernando, RickZ, and a few others come in and sit down for dinner at a table near by. It is painfully embarassing to recall, but I went over to their table, stumbled through a "You don't know me, but thanks for everything" speech and tried to give them a short explanation of what the board had meant to me during a very difficult time in my life. I could barely get through it as the experience was all still very fresh, and as the reality of my recent ordeal started to hit me I started choking up and crawled back to my table. Despite the awkward scene, everyone was still very gracious and kind.

 

The first UnRally was unforgettable and while I was still feeling pretty weak and my endurance lagged, Leslie stepped up and rode ME around some of the incredible roads on the back of her Cruiser. Although she'd been riding for only a year, and had never taken a passenger before, she rode me up and over 10,000+ foot passes, over the Grand Mesa, down through Creede and back, while I sat back and pointed out various flora and fauna and the beauty of the landscape! "Hey, did you see that Marmot?" "What Marmot? Can't you see I'm driving here! Aaaaahhh--stop wiggling around back there!" Yes, I admit, I was (am still? ) a lousy pillion, but all you guys who give your SO's grief about it--just you try it once and you'll be a lot more understanding!

 

Leslie did an amazing job--like she does with everything she takes on! But what else were we to do? I mean heck, we didn't trailer a BMW all this way just to sit around a campground and sulk!

 

On the advice of someone at Gunnison (Wurty?) who had been to a recent Torrey ride, we stopped by Torrey on the way home, stayed at the Chuckwagon and ate at the Diablo Cafe. We were well and truly hooked now and vowed to make the next Torrey ride with the group.

 

I finally got cleared to go back to work on September 5th of 2002 and that same day I was down at the dealer negotiating to bring "Maynard the Krebs Cycle" home! I was in the weakest of bargaining positions, as I'd been in there every week or so for the previous six months and they knew full well how much I wanted that bike. But I felt like I had cheated death and it was all gravy now. We had recently watched "October Sky" where the "Rocket Boy" Homer Hickam's teacher dies of Hodgkin's Disease in the 1960's as there was no treatment then. So, since I figured I should be dead by about now, we vowed to make the best of it and "Carpe Diem" while the cancer was beaten back hopefully for good!

 

We rode our two bikes to the BBQ meat-fest in LA for Gleno's birthday two days later, and Leslie and I got our first taste of "Sport Touring" with members of this board. "Oh, so THAT's what the 'Sport' part of Sport Touring is like!! WooooHooooooo!!!!!!!!" And of course I got a severe case of "gadget envy" which I'm still dealing with.

 

The next week as I was picking Maynard up from his 600 mile service on September 11th, 2002 and riding the inaugural 343 Remembrance Ride solo, Leslie registered her own User Name on the DB and her long slow slide into becoming a BMWSportTouring.com "junkie" took a severe turn. It sort of just "happened" . . . we went to every gathering we could and just fell in love with "the people" here. We rode two-up on "Maynard" to our first Torrey gathering a few weeks later (Leslie on the stock pillion . . . and she's still speaking to me, hah! ) and it got worse:

 

 

When we got home, we went our first Tech Daze at Sean and Shelly Daly's place in Temecula and experienced the non-riding aspect of "sharing the love" and it got even worse! I think it was about now that Leslie began to warm up to all that Tupperware! "You know, it's not a bad looking bike in Silver, really . . . ."

 

We rode our bikes to ShortCut's Christmas Party in 2002, we rode to Gleno's and Vegas for the Art of the Motorcycle exhibit for New Year's, and we rode two-up to our first Death Valley Daze in January of 2003. On a whim, we decided to do our first Iron Butt Saddle Sore 1000 two-up on the way home from Death Valley--via New Mexico! We left at zero-dark-thirty and arrived home around midnight after 1070 miles of a leisurely ride through some more beautiful country. The fun SaddleSore-1000 coming off of the high of the DeathValleyDaze Ride was a great time, but I guess we got bitten by the Long Distance riding bug. I think it was about now that Leslie realized she might be on the wrong bike for the kind of riding she was starting to enjoy. Besides, all of our friends live so far and a lot of the good riding is a day's ride (1000 miles! ) away!

 

In March of 2003 I went down to the beach to help witness for some INSANE people who were riding 50CC's (Coast-to-Coast in 50 hours) and 100CCC's (Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast in 100 hours! ). Remember these crazy guys?

 

 

 

In telling Leslie about it, she commented that there was NO WAY SHE WOULD EVER EVEN CONSIDER doing anything so insane. Remember that last comment . . . .

 

By the Spring of 2003 (and another "In Search Of . . . 'The Best Chinese Food in Mexico' Ride"! ), as much as Leslie loved riding her beautiful Cruiser, after chasing a bunch of RT's around the mountains and down to the deserts, she finally got fed up with arriving for lunch exhausted and beaten up by the wind while the rest of us were all happily chatting away about the great ride and ready for the 200 miles back home! She also wanted to have her own bike at some of the longer rides her Cruiser was not suited for, and besides her birthday was coming up in April . . . and wouldn't that make a neat birthday present?

 

She posted something to that effect on the board and soon Marty Hill contacted her. He had just bought a new RT and was selling his "old" one: a silver early 2002 R1150RT for a reasonable price and despite the fact that he lived in Georgia and we lived in San Diego, a plan was soon hatched! Since she had never ridden anything other than her Cruiser and the old cop bike (and she didn't want to try my new baby with the floorboards! ), we decided on a test ride at a dealer. So with less than two years total riding experience and only 30 minutes of RT riding time under her belt, I was soon taking her down to the airport to fly to Georgia to pick up her new RT and ride it home!

 

You can read her Ride Tales of the experience here: Part I, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five.

 

That's right--her first real ride on an RT was a 645 mile day and she had 3000 miles to get home--simply amazing! But now she had her own RT to ride to gatherings like Torrey-V (May 2003) and the infection just got worse and worse. It was the people, I tell you--"the love" was contagious!

 

 

And of course riding awesome roads through incredible scenery like this in total Sport Touring comfort didn't hurt any either!

 

 

 

 

She learned very quickly how to master riding the big bike and got more and more comfortable in the twisties. The origin of Leslie's Nickname was from attending a day ride in the local mountains with some friends here from the board. Gleno, after riding behind her for for part of the day appreciatively dubbed her "Mama Hoon"!

 

Being a two-RT family now and noticing the rate at which the miles were piling on, we realized that the only way to be able to afford to "feed our habit" was to learn how to do our own servicing. We learned so much from the fine folks here and attending all the Tech Daze that we could, but again Leslie was not content to let me have all the fun. She wanted to learn better how to become one with "Arianrhod" and quickly learned to do her own basic 6K and 12K services. After watching me figure out "Maynard's" EVO brake bleed following the guidance of the intrepid wrenchers here on the board, Leslie thought: "I could do that, too!" So, with only some verbal prompting while I took the pictures . . . the Bleedin' 1150's Brakes can't stop Mama Hoon! Wrenching Tale and the rest of the Tech Walk-through's came to be.

 

 

The second UnRally was slated for Eureka Springs, Arkansas in October of 2003 and we had already made plans to attend wherever it was to be held and again we had an AWESOME time! We had offered to take over T-Shirt sales and distribution earlier, so when David approached us about possibly UnOrganizing the NEXT UnRally-III, we were honored and gladly accepted.

 

But first, remember how I mentioned that Leslie told me there was ABSOLUTELY no way she'd ever think about riding Coast-to-Coast . . . at ALL?? . . . EVER?? . . . let alone doing it in under 50 hours? Well, here's Leslie gathering some sand and water from in front of the Hotel del Coronado on Good Friday 2004:

 

 

 

. . . and here she is with a freshly collected sample of Jacksonville Beach's sand and water on Easter Sunday--a mere 50 hours later--note the water on the wrong side of the shot! The woman never ceases to surprise and amaze me!

 

 

 

We were seriously infected with "the love" now, and we worked hard on trying to top the previous two UnRallies we'd been to--which were VERY tough acts to follow! We finally came up with Cody, Wyoming in July of 2004 for the UnRally-III that allowed folks to go to the TOR Rally Paonia, CO, the UnRally in Cody, WY, and then the BMWMOA International Rally in Spokane, WA all within 11 days! Humbly speaking, it was an unmitigated success and we had the time of our lives UnOrganizing the UnEvent and spreading "the love" to even more folks! It was again a week of awesome people and riding through awesome scenery!

 

 

 

Later in 2004 David contacted us about becoming Moderators on the board. We gladly accepted his generous offer and we've been having even more fun ever since! Our appreciation for this place, which David and the incredible team of moderators have brought to this state of perfection, has grown exponentially! BTW, we haven't missed an UnRally yet and we don't intend to!

 

Leslie intends to keep this place just as it has always been: as a warm, welcoming, joyful place which affirms every rider's inherent worth. A place of kind compassion and acceptance in which riders and would-be riders share knowledge of the sport and of these bikes. One which fosters kinship in a friendly atmosphere of support and of joy in each others' lives. A place of humor and enrichment and the rest of the spectrum of what it means to be human.

 

We have great faith in the bright future of this place and look forward to sharing it with you . . . and seeing you all down the road!

 

[russell_bynum]

Bravo!!!!!

[dhb]

Great story Jamie. It was nice to meet you and Leslie in Cambria last weekend. I'm very glad that you 2 are willing to take on the DB job, but please don't let it bite into riding time too much.

Take Care, and best of luck,

Dave

[Uggles]

Bleedin' 'eck. I thought I'd already read "War & Peace" but this takes the cake!

 

Well Done.

Cheers

[KMG_365]

I'm very glad that you 2 are willing to take on the DB job . . .

Thanks, Dave, but I'm not the Proprietor (Proprietress? Proprietrix? ).

 

Leslie is the one who stepped up to the challenge. And you should be grateful . . . for believe me, I still have a long way to go in my personal evolution to tackle a job like this. I'm still just a member of a fantastic Moderator Team and as Leslie now likes to remind me: "She IS the boss of me!"

 

I have been given a minor field promotion to Royal Consort, but the title is largely ceremonial!

[stanf]

whoa...that kept me up past my bedtime!

 

seriously, a pleasure to read as you guys are a pleasure to know.

 

great pics of you and Les...thanks for the "whole" story, I've just heard bits and pieces before

[wsearl]

What an excellent post and wonderful tribute to Leslie.

I am proud to be a member of this group.

[SEATTLE_RIDER]

Thank you for putting it all in perspective for me. I started lurking in mid-2002, just when your health challanges were the greatest. I knew I had stumbled onto something really good on this board. And like you two, through this board I've met folks who have become great friends and long-distance riding companions.

Again, thank you to both of you..............

[Francois_Dumas]

Dang! I should've been doing my morning e-mails... instead I read Leslie's 'life story'

 

But it was worth it.. excellent story and nice to know a little bit more.... one of the (few) disadvantages of the Internet is the large amount of 'guessing' as to how some of the people you 'know' really are.

 

Thanks for that Jamie.... AND Leslie !

[Marty Hill]

Jamie,

 

Great story. Glad I got to sit with you at Gleno's meat fest when your bike was brand new. The trip from my house to your house with Les was wonderful. I'll never forget her words after the first (645 mile) day. "This isn't very hard, I'm not impressed by you guys anymore". Talk about feeling deflated.

 

Have fun and continue to enjoy.

[BFish]

nice tale jamie...great way to start another long day. thanks for the effort of putting that together and sharing it.

[soboy]

"Leslie intends to keep this place just as it has always been: as a warm, welcoming, joyful place which affirms every rider's inherent worth. A place of kind compassion and acceptance in which riders and would-be riders share knowledge of the sport and of these bikes. One which fosters kinship in a friendly atmosphere of support and of joy in each others' lives. A place of humor and enrichment and the rest of the spectrum of what it means to be human."

 

 

Bravo! A marvelous post, perhaps the single best post I have read in the years I have been here. The above quote is a classic and should become the "mission statement" for this board. We've never met, but now I feel like I truly know you. If you ever decide to change careers, you have a bright future in writing. Well done!

[Kathy R]

There are few things more wonderful that seeing the love people have for one another and knowing you are witnessing a mutually uplifting relationship. It's no wonder you love Leslie and she you. You two make me feel good about anything.

 

My guess is in the next life she doesn't get to come back again because she's reached perfection.

[Timmer]

Nice write up Jamie. You and Leslie are amazing.

 

So...now that SWMBO is in charge, do we change the name from "Mr Rogers Neighborhood" to "Mama Hoon's House" ????

[ChrisNYC]

Your post captures well your story, and the story of the website ... cool

 

------------------

Chris (aka Tender Vittles )

Little '77 KZ400 in the Big Apple

Black '99 RT for Everywhere Else, such as ...

[Whip]

Well done...I think it was too short...I didn't want the storey to stop....but I guess it really hasn't.....Louise will love reading it....

 

Whip

[Blue Beemer Dude]

Well done! Thanks for sharing with all of us.

 

I already felt like I knew you two, not just from your postings but from reading (and following) your bleed procedures, which have saved me much time and money.

 

This is a great board. I've been on many enthusiast boards, mostly cage related, and they always seem to get nasty and sometimes mean-spirited. This board, with the exception of the occasional H-D bashing (of which I am occasionally guilty) always seems to rise above such petty bickering, and it's been a pleasure to be a part of the community. My thanks to David and all the moderators for all of their restraint and hard work, and my best wishes to Leslie in taking over.

 

Michael

[Firefight911]

Awesome post!

 

There is a passion burning inside and it is now out in the open! And this firefighter/paramedic has NO intention of opening a nozzle on it!

 

BRAVO! I hope I cross handlebars with you soon! It will be a great addition to those called "friend."

 

Thanks! I bow before the Royal Consort. Is that anything like a Unic?

[Gleno]

 

 

Dood.....that was the most awesome thing I've ever read. Saved and saved.

 

Sooo glad I was able to be along for a portion of that journey. Here's to many, many more years of the same.

 

LET'S MOTO

[SageRider]

Jamie,

Thanks for sharing with us. What a great story!

So glad I have had the opportunity to ride with both you and Leslie.

[Ron_B]

What a beautiful way to start a day! Thanks for sharing such a wonderful Ride Tale/Life Tale/Love Tale!

 

Leslie's 33,542 smiles

 

The smiling couple we all met at Gunnison:

 

[BrianT]

Wow, great write up. Thanks for sharing. I remember the first time we met at the top of the rockies rally before the first UN. You saw a group of us with our BMWRT.COM Tshirts and approached us while we were getting earplugs from Al Shiby. You introduced yourselves and explained the situation with trailering the the cruiser and the reason why. I remember thinking to myself how cool that was that you made the trip in spite of the chemo.

[RatSnake]

Jamie,

 

Nice story and thanks for sharing with us.

[tallman]

Jamie,

Nice.

Beth and I enjoyed meeting both of you at El Paseo.

I went through a similar experience with this board whilst undergoing treatments. I know what you mean about the impact it can have on one's life.

 

Thanks to you and Leslie for stepping up.

Looking forward to the next time down the road.

[Tasker]

As Paul Harvey would say, "And now, the rrresssssst of the story!"

 

Nicely done!

[Couchrocket]

Wonderful.... just wonderful. Thanks!

[Mike O]

Jamie,

 

You're both very lucky to have each other. I knew when I met you that there was great mutual respect and love there.

 

What a great story..!!

 

Regards,

 

Mike O

[BigArn]

Bravo, great story, great life you two share. I really enjoy this site, visit it 5 days a week and have learned SOOOO much here.

[pedro cerveza]

Enjoyed the story,

Thanx

[AdventurePoser]

Great post, Jamie. I am privileged to know the both of you.

 

Steve in So Cal

[russell_bynum]

LET'S MOTO

 

Yeah baby!!!!

[BereIsland]

I shall print this out for some good reading whilst I'm away next week, thanks

 

 

Steve Carter

[Ken H.]

What a fun story! What a fun couple! For those of you who have never had a chance to meet, ride with, laugh, even occasionally commiserate, with Jamie & Leslie, I have only two words - Be There!

 

Wherever the next "there" turns out to be!

[1MPH]

Thank you Jamie, now when the movie comes out I can say I read the book.

 

Jack

[Rob L]

Nice to hear the whole story! I'm glad that the board will continue as is with Leslie at the helm. I remember the support offered by you guys when I had back surgery last year. I thought...now why would someone DO that! Thanks and hope to see you guys down the road somewhere. Maybe I'll drop in at another UN event!

Rob

[SeanC]

A most excellent post, Jamie. So how are you adjusting to life as Proprietor Consort?

[Joel]

Your Magnum Opus not only reinforces my admiration of you and Leslie, but you've enriched my vocabulary. As a resident of the Muddy Side, "joghurtbecher" is just too good to pass up. I can't even think of it with a straight face, let alone say it. Fantastisch, und sehr lustig!

 

You might not have heard the last of that.

[USAF1]

Best story ever!! Awesome! Am sending this to my SO.....

And just think......Marty Hill was in on this!!

 

Pat

[MikesToy]

I knew you two were special people...now I know why Thanks for the great post.

Mike

[hANNAbONE]

wOWzIE, jAMIE...what a read..!!

 

Thanks for sharing it all - and you two ...gads...I remember when you folks pulled into Paonia, CO - before the UN-1 -- talked with you cats for a while and got the low down on all of it -- what a hoot to meet cha both.!

 

And it continues to this day --

 

Blessings coming your way --

 

You both are showing us the way..!!

[RickP]

Well I was going to ride to the BRP on Sat., but now I might have ride to San Diego to present the Oscar. But no way am I making the 300-mile round trip to get ocean water first! Great story, Jamie.

[RichEdwards]

Jamie,

What a nice spousal tribute. It was a treat meeting you two at El Paseo. I was so impressed that you would make that long trip to meet us East Coasters and ride the wonderful (and cold) GA/NC/TN mountain roads.

[roadscholar]

Thank you Jamie, thank you. I was thinking like if Leslie is the new commander-in-chief, would that make you the 1st man? Hey, you are the man. Joghurtbecher boots on it. Look forward to meeting you both someday.

Bill F.

[SpaceKing]

Jamie, thanks for filling out the history on one of my favourite people on this site; I really appreciate Momma Hoon's wisdom and heart. I also see by the responses how loved and respected you both are. Perhaps I will get a chance to meet you both one day.

Thanks again

beno

[lexxol]

WOW!!! Was that heart felt or what. Very nice. You guys are a great team.

[Ken H.]

life as Proprietor Consort

Shouldn't his new title be, "Mr. Mama Hoon"?

[onedae]

Beautiful writeup Jamie. You guys are a great couple and even though we all know who's the boss, I'm sure you will be playing a significant role behind the scenes. I loved reading how the "BMWST hook" got deeper and deeper into your skin - its happened to a lot of us. And thats a good thing.

[graydude]

Umm, do you have an audio version of the story? I'd like to hear it on my way to Torrey. May have to go around SLC to hear it all but it's worth it! Honsetly, good story!

[Bill_Walker]

The smiling couple we all met at Gunnison:

 

 

Hmm, they've both let their hair grow out since then!

 

 

I'm honored to live in the same city as these two!

[BULLman]

Thanks for sharing. As Paul Harvey would say...

 

 

...Now I know the rest of the story

 

I was very happy to meet the two of you at EL Paseo last April [won't be going this year ], and was even happier that you guys wanted to meet me too

 

I've enjoyed both of your postings and a scolding or two from Leslie [if you don't get a post deleted once in a while, you're not trying ]

 

Good luck with the future...

 

 

 

....no pressure