Dad was a master mechanic, welder, fabricator, amateur engineer. He could come up with some of the most off the wall solutions that amazed everyone and taught me how to come at problems from all angles. Because of that, he gave me a head start on being a master mechanic in my own field of power sports.
He was a voracious reader of history, nature, and technology.
He was in the National Guard in High School and did training at Camp Roberts. After High School, did basic training at Ford Ord. Took tank mechanic training at Aberdeen Proving Grounds and worked as a tank mechanic at Camp Roberts. Was on maneuvers at Camp Pendleton when his company was sent to L.A. for the Watts Riots. He was so upset about what happened there, that he quit the Guard when he got home.
He told me many stories about his dune buggy days, but the one I remember the best was him coming across a bunch of guys in white smocks gathered around what he said looked like a lawn chair with wheels on it. He asked what they were doing and they told him that the thing they were testing was a prototype of a car that would soon end up on the moon. He started walking around it to check it out only to turn around to see all the white smocks walking around his dune buggy checking it out too. He told them, "It works really good in the dunes, but that 327 won't run very well on the moon."
We had several family vacations in a bus that he bought from Atascadero School District. It didn't have an engine when he got it so he put a 396 Chevy in it with a 4 speed truck transmission. As soon as it was road worthy, we took a 2 day trip. He had put it together so quickly that he hadn't figured out how to shift it with the engine in the back yet, so my brother and I fought during the whole trip to be the "shifter". Dad would push in the clutch and yell "shift!" We had to be real careful going down into the 1st because it didn't have synchros.
In 1992 he had a bit of a mid-life crisis and decided he wanted a "hot rod". He ended up buying a 1991 Harley Softail Custom. I would sometimes go on rides with him on that bike. He soon got tired of that. One day he came home from work and took me into town to look at a Honda 1974 CB550. It didn't run right and needed some work. I soon learned how to fix it. I was hooked and turned it into a 30 year career. We would go on rides all over California together and I quickly learned to pack for everything. He would say, "Let's go to Morro Bay", only to end the day in the Sierras with snow on the roadside.
1945 - 2022 (77 years)