EffBee Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 (edited) So, does that mean I'm old and ride dirt bikes, or that I ride old dirt bikes? Both actually. And street, too. I'm a long-time motorcycle industry veteran, now retired, who owns a BMW RT, a 650 "Wee" Strom, and just sold his C&J-framed XR500 Baja fun bike. That baby has spent more nights under the metal canopy at Mike's Sky Ranch than I can recall. It's been in a relative's care for a while, and this past summer he made me an offer I couldn't refuse. So at least I'll be able to visit it once in a while. Now I've got my eye on a new Africa Twin. So much to like. Bike history? Everything from a dirt-ified Honda S90, which was my first non-minibike at age 9, to Hodakas of all kinds, all the way to various dual-sport bikes, including an old DR650, a KLR 650, a BMW GSPD (miss that one a lot...shouldn't have sold it), and a whole bunch of European and Japanese Enduro bikes. To answer my first question, I come from a time when a cheap wrist watch taped to the handlebars, a home-made roll chart, and 6th-grade math skills made you semi-competitive. A Yamaha DT-1 with knobbies installed and the lights removed was my first enduro bike. I've also been fortunate enough to race Baja once, ride a couple of ISDT qualifiers, compete in National-level trials events and basically have worn out a lot of knobs in (mostly fruitless) pursuit of trophies not worth the gas it took to earn them. But DAGNABBIT, I've had sooooooo much FUN!!! Industry history? An editor at Cycle World, 15 years at Honda's ad agency, Kawasaki's ad agency and my own ad agency, then a stint at MSF, managed at a couple of dealerships (BMW most recently), and had the good fortune to be asked to run sales and marketing for some good MC Industry aftermarket companies. I can't thank the team here enough for welcoming me and letting me poke around. Edited December 4, 2015 by EffBee 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Hall Posted December 4, 2015 Administrators My Rides (3) Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 Welcome, EffBee! They should call you ODB for old dirt biker! Is that all you've managed to accomplish? (Kidding) Very impressive! Thank you for joining XLADV. I look forward to learning more about your background, seeing you ride the new AT and seeing more of your new endeavor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Hall Posted December 4, 2015 Administrators My Rides (3) Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 I have these on my GSA panniers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EffBee Posted December 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 Thanks, Eric. I don't know that I've accomplished much (my resume used to say otherwise), but that I've just kind of found myself at retirement and looked back and said, "how the 'ell did I get HERE?" I'm enjoying "life" more. I have more control over my time (although I've noticed that the wife's claims on my time have dramatically increased). And it's finally given us the time to take our little side business, MotoReflective.com, and let it have its full legs to see how much it can grow. That's exciting. Overall, I'm satisfied and happy. No, I never got to own a house on Hawaii's North Shore and go surfing every day of my life. But I've had a good career. I've got kids and grandkids I love dearly, and motorcycles I enjoy as often as I can (sold my last Beemer with 134K on the clock). I've just had a lot of fun getting here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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