How did I find my ride? The motorcycle I alternatively call “My Baby Dragon or Big White”.
Mid December – my buddy Fred says he has sold his home in White Rock and is moving to Creston. The fun part – we have two weeks to move everything! That is a three bedroom home, a shop, out buildings, tools and plenty of miscellaneous supplies. We start sorting, packing and labeling right away. Dec 27. We get the truck (26 ft uhaul) and Fred’s pick up and 22 foot trailer. It took us three days to load it and off we went in the afternoon into one of the best snowstorms Southern BC had seen in twenty years.
In good weather that is a 9.5 hour drive. This was a 13 hour drive. Final count of cars; in the ditch, being rescued or the marks in the snowbanks – 19! The best Christmas light display was in Grand Forks Town Park.
Arrival in Creston was 3 am. Two weary, bleary men were tuckered out. We donned our winter gear and set out to stretch and explore this little town. We did not find a manger but we did find the bike shop. Ahaa! There was my future ride sitting there waiting patiently for me. Santa Claus had outdone himself for me! After some lustful looks and pressing my nose to the glass off we went to rest.
The next day the storage facility had to be plowed out for us to get in. We hit it with a five man crew and unloaded all into four containers.
I went back to Koots Cycle three days later and met the proprietor Don. It was one of the best little shops I have ever been in. I quite like him – a man of honor and integrity. He gave me the owner’s name and number. I called him to find out he was in Saskatchewan until Jan 31. I bought it over the phone. When he returned we hashed out the details and it was mine. At the time I had no inkling of what my motorcycle would become. This would be the beginning of a quest that would lead me to a five-year world-wide bike trip! I kept it in Don’s shop and had him do some work on it. He restored it to original specs and I sold the after market pipes. He added the 3 headlights for night riding, a sissy bar to hold my trunk bag and put the stock pipes and air cleaner back on it.
I stayed in Creston for the month of January and saw a record snowfall. We did some renos on Fred’s house. The house turned out great.
It was a busy time. I got back to Creston in June and rode Big White to Nelson. I went dancing at Finley’s Friday night after work party to the great sounds of “Railtown.” Next day was a ride back home to White Rock. VB.