[Fot] CRC Posters

[Bill Babcock]

I have had numerous folks ask me about posters for the CRC. SOVREN  
prints an event poster for the CRC, and I just got 15 of them to post  
around Portland. I can't give any of these away, they are to promote  
the event, but I'll ask for the remainders if there are any extra  
after the event, and I'll see if our buddy Kas will autograph them.  
They are really a knockout, featuring Jeff Quick's TR4.

If you want a poster, send me an email and I'll try to set one aside  
for you. No promises, but I'll do my best. No charge directly, just  
donate twenty bucks or more to your favorite charity.  Consider it a  
"pay it forward" favor.

While I'm feeling all soap-boxy, let me tell you about something I did  
recently that was completely out of character.

My sister in law has a long-time boyfriend that drives me nuts. He's  
not the sharpest knife in the drawer and his  chatter is sometimes  
more than I can bear, but he's a good man from a bad background who  
has never had people do anything nice for him, and yet he's kind  
hearted. Much more kind hearted than I am. He's been looking for a  
motorcycle to replace his ratty Honda cruiser that kind of just quit  
running. I was going to fix his bike for him, but it was so nasty that  
I couldn't bring myself to do it. I had an old BMW R75/5 airhead  
basket case I bought with an idea of building my own GS. So I helped  
him restore it into a slightly tatty but very clean-running bike.

He tried my patience with great regularity, stripping threads out of  
aluminum with astonishing speed. One time he couldn't get the oil  
filter out so he pulled the sump which is held on my about 20 6mm  
screws. I had just put the engine back in after helicoiling half of  
them. He stripped out pretty much all the ones I didn't helicoil  
putting the sump cover back on. All because he didn't want to  
interrupt me to ask how to get the filter out (a wire hook and ten  
seconds of effort).

Somehow, every time I managed to hold my temper and told him not to  
beat himself up. I told him being a mechanic takes time and everyone  
makes these mistakes at first (though usually not with so little  
interval).

We finished the bike a few days ago. He drove it home, blew a fuse on  
the way and I had to go rescue him. Spent a few hours the next day  
fixing wiring faults. Off he went again, with the biggest grin you'll  
ever see.

The guy works ten hour days six days a week. I don't know when he's  
sleeping now, because he's on the bike all the time. We came home from  
a weekend in Hood River and found our yard weeded, lawn mowed, and my  
shop cleaned.

I've got to tell you, I got the better part of this deal. I'm not a  
particularly kind guy, and as far as patience goes, well, anyone who  
knows me is marveling at this story. But helping this guy have a bike  
that's really worth owning and showing him how to put it together with  
his own hands was incredibly satisfying. I know that no good deed goes  
unpunished. But they're still worth doing.