So the first bike acrobatic show was at a new service place a teacher I liked in High School worked as a side job. This dude was cool. I grew up when there were still MEN teaching and mentoring. This dude taught shop 2, electronics 2, auto shop, photography and yearbook. I remember him cutting us loose in photography on lab day as he tried to figure out a fuel injection system for his KZ900, the instructions to which were in japanese.

I can still see him at his desk fiddling with wires and a black box.

Dude had a KZ1000 he rode every day.

In the show, they rode Triumphs, of all things. First time I’d seen one.

Dude told me he had enough parts to build a Kawasaki triple for me for around $400. That was a princely sum that back in the day I didn’t have.

I remember doing yearbook shit on a weekend with one of my friends when we were arguing what was the best first bike to get.

He said a small CC bike. I said, get what you want and learn to ride it.

Our teacher, taking a break from hotrodding his Dodge pickup, told us a 1000CC – a litre bike. Why?

Because you’d have some respect for how fast and how heavy a bike is.

Those were the days.

Dude’s long gone now.

Our kids don’t know what they missed.

Error happened.