| Author | Message | ||
     Fb1 |
Butch, please e-mail me with your mailing address. fastferris ... at ... gmail ... dot ... com Thanks! | ||
| Fb1 |
^ Got it, thank you!  | ||
| Dutch_x1 |
thanks check paypal | ||
| Fb1 |
^ Roy, got the funds, thanks! | ||
| Court |
#10 and #16 are VERY RARE and mark pivotal moments in Buell history. Man . . just looking at these brings back memories. | ||
| Fb1 |
^ Remember the day we first met, at the inaugural Blue Groove in '96, when Erik presented you with the Curious George shirt?  (And remember that crazy-assed ride when Reg took us all the back way into Santa Cruz on that "goat trail"?!?) How 'bout that time during one of the American Sportbike Festivals in SoCal that we ran into each other out in the middle of the Mojave - I think we were both kinda lost! Fun times. I remember the day you pulled into a lunch stop down there with a case of road rash on your Aerostich so fresh the fabric was still smoking! I still have an NOS Blue Groove/Northwest shirt in my collection. Darn shame you couldn't ride with us that day, and still can't believe you entrusted me with Bryce's well being. He was an excellent passenger; I probably should have awarded him a trophy at the awards dinner that night, something along the lines of "I survived a day on the back of Ferris' S2!" or something like that. Great memories all. | ||
| Court |
Gads . . . . all those days bring back spectacular memories. Blue Groove was the day that Howie, my twin brother, and I switched helmets and Erik about came unglued when he saw "me" ride a 6 block mondo wheelie. The day you and I spent . . .just the two of us . . . in the middle of the Mojave was awesome. Two is about the right number for a "group ride". We were both at our peak about then and we did some very technical, very thrilling . . and, well . . a few very stupid things We had a blast and there we no witnesses. We were, after all, on a closed course . . . right? The road rash was interesting. It was the day I was arrested in the morning and tried to send a demo fleet M2 off a sheer cliff in the Angeles Crest Forest. I was also in trouble with HD for showing up on the cover of Battle2Win mounted on a Ducati. The babysitting . . . .ranks right up there with, perhaps, the most foolhardy of things I ever did as a parent. (For the record, the MOST also involves a motorcycle and a knocked out cold Bryce). Sending Bryce to spend the day with you and Erik . . . well, he still has the amazing . . . no, for you civilians . . I mean REALLY amazing . . memories. Fun times all . . . . . See if you'd recognize him today?  | ||
| Fb1 |
Blue Groove was the day that Howie, my twin brother, and I switched helmets and Erik about came unglued when he saw "me" ride a 6 block mondo wheelie. Do you remember that that happened at that pay-for-parking lot we all "broke into"? While me 'n Erik were trying to pay the bill to get out of there, the gal (who spoke little English as I recall), wouldn't let us leave because we couldn't produce the little ticket stubs you get coming in. "Ma'am, we're happy to pay, how much do we owe you?" "Ticket, please!" In the meantime, you and Brother Howie were doing the ol' switcharoo on us! I remember thinking, geez, where'd Court learn to ride on one wheel like that without crashing!! ) We were both at our peak about then... I still am...no, really....... See if you'd recognize him today? Fabulous! Well done!! Remember my son Wade and daughter Brynn? They were just wee little pups when you and I first met. Wade spent six years in the Army as an MP (South Korea), served a stint in Afghanistan in a civilian capacity, parlayed some of his veterans benefits into several degrees, and is now a Special Agent for the FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration), graduating first in his class at the academy. And, this past Wednesday, Brynn made me a grandfather for the third time. She and Young Master Cameron are doing great, and I'm about the proudest Grampa in the world. You and I are both very blessed in so many different ways. | ||
| Fb1 |
Check this out; do you recognize the bike and the rider?      | ||
| Court |
Hahahaha . . . I still have a bunch of those helmets. Arai used to send me a couple a year and I still have a couple that never got worn. Funny story . . . that one, in the photo, was always one of my favorites . . . it just felt "right". Last year I send it to Arai Racing to be rebuilt . . which they do, but normally on 1-3 year old helmets. The guy called me. . . . "Dude, this helmet is like 17 years old." I told him I was making a table lamp of it. I didn't have the heart to risk it and broke down and bought the first helmet I'd paid for since 1988. You've kept up and have the perfect riding environment. I haven't and am keen of sense enough to know that my skills aren't what they once were. I've just acquired a "farm" and am now sitting in an area where, similar to you, I can be on GREAT roads within 30 seconds of leaving the driveway . . . no more 60-90 minutes through Gotham traffic to get out. I'll start riding more but I need to re-acquire some of the long unused skills. The one I am most interested in is prudence and caution. I enjoy riding too much to engage in elevated risks that I could handle at 35 years old. It's all good . . . and I now have room to display about 100 Buell posters and start lining the 2nd floor the new barn with 100's of Buell t-shirts and I've started arranging (22 cases to go) Buell memorabilia on the mantle, shelves and in the library bookcases. Easy to see . . . as I gaze at the guitars and motorcycles decorating the living room . . . why I am single. :-) | ||
| Fb1 |
You've kept up... I've ridden as much as life and circumstances would allow over the years. I've never lost an ounce of passion for the ride, to be sure. Being well into my AARP years I don't have the "rides like Nicky Hayden" racer reflexes that I used to think I had back in the day, but I still remember the shift pattern...most of the time... ...and have the perfect riding environment. Yep, typically pretty sweet here on the Blue Ridge, although winter is fast approaching and I just Sta-Bil'd the Heritage over the weekend. Hope to get it out again here and there before spring, but up here in the mountains you can never be sure. Congrats on your new farm! | ||
| Fb1 |
Remember the day we first met, at the inaugural Blue Groove in '96, when Erik presented you with the Curious George shirt?  | ||
| Fb1 |
One of my most favorite-ever photos of Erik, taken at Blue Groove in '96...  ...and my most favorite pic of Erik and me (autographed by The Man, no less!), taken by Jack VanVoast at the awards dinner at Blue Groove/Northwest in Portland in '97:  (^ This was the day Bryce rode shotgun with me on the BLURR. Do you remember that giant rock I accidentally "kicked" as we were all coming down off Mount St. Helens? I ended up with a couple broken toes from that little adventure, and in the pic above I'm still in a staggering amount of pain. Coming off the volcano I pulled us all into that little gas station there in Cougar, and as we were rolling to a stop I was instructing Bryce, through gritted teeth, that I couldn't put my left foot down when we stopped and that he needed to help hold the bike up and deploy the kickstand. Bryce did great. Worst of all, my foot was so effed up from this the next day I couldn't compete in BattleTrax - grumble, grumble! | ||
| Fb1 |
Blue Groove was the day that Howie, my twin brother, and I switched helmets and Erik about came unglued when he saw "me" ride a 6 block mondo wheelie. There's your twin brother Howie in the pages of Battle 2win, airborne (as usual!), with me looking on (thinking to myself, "WTF, again?!?"), photo by Reg from the first Blue Groove:  "Cautious rider" ..... | ||
| Fb1 |
It was you who introduced me to Jeremy Ricker (thank you!), and we rode down from Washington and Oregon, respectively, to the first Blue Groove. This is the day before the gig, posing our S2's just so in Santa Cruz:  | ||
| Fb1 |
Seemed like an appropriate place to grab a cuppa:  | ||
| Fb1 |
And, this past Wednesday, Brynn made me a grandfather for the third time. Man, they sure grow up fast...   | ||
| Fb1 |
Danny Goldsmith, me and Dave Haagensen in Tijuana:  They almost didn't let us back into the US... | ||
| Brentx1 |
Awesome pics FB1. Looks like you had a great time.  | ||
| Fb1 |
Thanks, brother. Yep, it's been an amazing ride. | ||
| Charlies_s1 |
I'll take shirt #7 paypal on the way. | ||
| Fb1 |
^ Cool, thanks! I rec'd the funds - I'll get your shirt pointed your direction ASAP! | ||
| Charlies_s1 |
Thought I was just getting a shirt, Thanks for sharing the stories you guys have. My brother introduced me to Buells and Bonneville about the same time 11 years ago. Have never turned back as these bikes are like no other in the world, Had a chance to talk to Erik a few weeks ago at the Redlands Ca. Yamaha dealership that is going to be selling his bikes, Also saw him at the Long Beach Ca. Motorcycle show. The guy is awesome. Once again thanks for the stories, Keep them coming. Chuck. | ||
| Fb1 |
Thanks Chuck! I've been lucky enough to ride with Erik on several occasions over the years. I agree with your assessment: He's an awesome individual - passionate, honest, and really, really down to earth and easy to talk to. It's Court that has all the stories, but I'll spin a quick one here: It's June of '96 and we're all in SoCal for the first Blue Groove ride that Reg Kittrelle put on. I've just met all these guys for the first time, and am kinda starstruck by it all. So there's a pack of us on the PCH, in a buttload of traffic, waiting for the light to turn green, Court in the front of the line on the left, and Erik in front of the line on the right. I'm right behind them in line (trying to keep up so I don't get lost!) Just - and I mean just - before the light turns green Court suddenly reaches over and yanks the keys outta Erik's bike, gives 'em a big toss over his shoulder, dumps the clutch and burns rubber making his escape! Erik, of course, is now sitting there, in traffic, on a bike that's absolutely dead in the water. Turns out these guys had played this game before. Erik never lost his perma-grin, simply walked over and picked his keys up off the pavement, fired up his bike and was back underway (and I'm quite sure was already planning his revenge). At this point I'd only known these guys for a couple of hours, and I remember thinking to myself, "Well now, THIS is gonna be FUN!" | ||
| Charlies_s1 |
Another one for my memory thanks, Court sounds like he's a fun guy to ride with for sure!!!! My brother (Timbo Horton) has some great stories also, he started riding Buells in the late 90's, I kinda feel as if I have missed the best years of the tubers. I have also read quite a few stories from Court and they also make me wish I had been there in those years. I also have a couple old Norton's and attend rally's that group puts on, a little older crowd but they are such a great group too. But I do have the Buell's maybe not all the memories but damn it's a fun bike to ride, also fun to see people look at it and kinda tilt their head. I remember a young service guy at a shop near me say "that bike is all motor" Thanks again, Chuck.  | ||
| Fb1 |
You're Timbo's brother? Dang! We know Timbo (although haven't seen him in a zillion years), and have ridden with him several times before. Please tell him Ferris and Denise said howdy!! | ||
| Ebutch |
Ferris Great pictures !  | ||
| Fb1 |
^ Gracias amigo! | ||
| Fb1 |
Ebutch and Dhdjr (Don), according to USPS tracking your shirts were all delivered today. | ||
| Fb1 |
Yummy!  |
