A few days ago I parked my car in the parking lot of an Albertson's grocery store. As I walked towards the store, I saw an old guy standing next to a Yamaha Road Star, securing his helmet.

Several minutes later, I ended up standing behind him in the check out line. I asked him if that was his Road Star out front.

"Yeah, that's mine!" he talked out loud.

This guy was quite old, definitely in his 80s. It was hard to comprehend what he was saying, because his speech was slurred. But it was never hard to hear him. He wore a jacket with an Indian logo on it.

He went on to say that he bought his first motorcycle in 1934, it was an Indian Scout, and that he was riding with clubs long before the Boozefighters and the Hells Angels. He talked in a loud voice, almost like he was angry. Everyone could hear him.

He said that every year he goes to Sturgis and that everyone there knows him. "I always ride, I don't trailer." He said that several members of the Hells Angels, along with other clubs I had trouble hearing, comes out to celebrate his birthday. It sounded like he was one special guy.

He also said that he was featured in a documentary that will soon run on the Discovery Channel, (or was it The History Channel?). He told me to keep my eye on that station.

I asked him what happened to his Indian Scout. He said it got stolen, last year. He had been riding it all this time, up until last year.

Now I understood why he talked like he was angry.

This guy bought a 1934 Indian Scout when it was brand new, and rode it everywhere, and kept riding it, for 71 years. Then, it was taken away from him by people who saw its material worth and not its sentimental value. He had to have bought that thing when he was a teenager. I'm sure he had other bikes throughout the years, but to ride the same bike for that long is a testament to his skill as a rider and his love of motorcycles.

I suppose if there was anything that could make a guy like him cry, that would've been it.

Labels: Indian, Motorcycle Thefts