Brad Clayton Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 Saturday was a busy day by design. I had to work from 8 in the morning until 1 in the afternoon at the dealership. After work I needed to drive to Keene NH to pick up parts for my motorcycle. Keene is a quaint little college town and is located about 20 miles east of Brattleboro where I work. Next I had to drive all the way back through Brattleboro and continue on to Whitingham Vermont which is about 45 miles southwest and just above the Massachusetts border. I do an occasional side job for a dairy farmer there. This trip involved a no start on his 2006 Super-Duty equipped with a V-10 and I needed the numbers off a rear end tag of his 2000 Super-Duty so I could order parts to re clutch the rear end. After a long half day of changing oil and performing state inspections added to my list of also installing a 5.4 in a 2006 F-350, I had worked up a bit of an appetite. There is a Mobile gas station across from the dealer on the other side of a rotary (traffic circle, roundabout, or what have you). This Mobile has a chuck wagon deal in the parking lot that sells Thai food. Now I enjoy Chinese food (American-Chinese that is) and I enjoy Japanese food even better, but I absolutely crave Thai food. When a person lives in Vermont, Thai food is a little hard to come by. My favorite menu item is the Thai roll. A Thai roll is about half the size of a spring roll but they pack twice as much flavor. So I am gazing out across the dealership at the gas station and contemplating lunch when I notice two sport bikes in the parking lot under a shade tree. These two blokes must be taking a much needed break from a long ride. I love sport bikes but they are uncomfortable as hell. I head down to the bank and get cash; it seems most food trucks are still clinging to the old ways of doing business. The Mac truck drives right into the parking lot and takes my debit card, so what gives? When I make it back to the Mobil, the bikes are still there. I put my order in for 2 Thai rolls and 2 chicken thingys on a stick and head over to the bikes to give a little better look while my order is cooking. Well it seems the riders are taking an unexpected mandatory break. The bike I was really interested in was hung up in second gear and the trip was over for one of them. The bike was a KTM (Austrian) RC8-R. Now I didn’t even know KTM made a sport bike and this thing was bad ass. This bike was much nicer than my common gutter trash GSX-R although, uh…….mine runs flawlessly. I didn’t attempt to offer any mechanical assistance because I don’t even work on my own bike. So instead I offered logistical assistance and help with the unfamiliar area to them. The owner of the bike resided in Boston and driving home in second gear was not an option. By now its 2 o’clock on a Saturday and the town is closing up tighter than a drum. No rental car places are open including Budget, U-haul and the like. Added to this, no tow companies will come for the bike when they find out it’s a full fairing sport bike valued in the neighborhood of $25k. The owner is less than impressed and starting to come unraveled. I offer to put the bike in the shop next to my toolbox; I state it will be safe over the weekend until he can sort it out. After a few more last ditch efforts he takes me up on my offer. The bike gets stored safely and now we are off to the bus station to get him a ticket home. The only problem with that is the bus station closed up [literally] and is in limbo until July. Next we head over to the Amtrak station and find out they only make one run a day from Brattleboro and that is at noon. The guy is trying not to get his wife out of the house because they have a new born and he had to beg to go on the ride to begin with. I offer to give him a ride home. I mean why not? By now it is past 4 o’clock and all my plans have fallen by the wayside. I call my wife and see if she is up for a road trip, which she always is, and it’s settled. Dane [bike owner] is grateful but can’t accept. We argue back and forth like two guys trying to pass a 20 dollar bill back and forth for helping each other out and finally agree on meeting half way. We drove to Holyoke Mass and his wife met us at the Cracker Barrel restaurant. We exchanged info and parted ways and my wife and I had a nice meal and visited with family two blocks down the road. The trip was well worth it and we killed a couple of birds with one stone. Monday turned into Tuesday and Wednesday brought rain, a lot of rain on Thursday and Friday. Around lunch on Friday, there was a dry spell and Dane’s buddy picked the bike up. Man was I relieved to get that thing out of my hair. It was kind of like trying to keep a Lamborghini in a grocery store parking lot. Dane was extremely appreciative of my hospitality and I would have done it again the same way to help anyone out. Well I was sitting around the house today and Fedex dropped off a package addressed to me. I didn’t order anything at least that I knew of. I opened the package and it was a brand new tail bag for my sport bike. The item was a gift from none other than Dane, the fellow I helped out a week ago. As we were talking, I casually mentioned that I ride with a backpack to keep my gear in and hate it. I stated that I had my eye on a Kriega us 20 tail bag but didn’t have the funds at the moment to get it. I tell you this guy must have one hell of a memory because I would have never remembered a bit of info like that in idle chit chat! I was completely blown away and it beat Christmas, my birthday, and Fathers Day hands down as far as surprises go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 Nice story. I do believe kindness is rewarded in many ways and your lending a hand rewarded you in several ways it seems. Kudos to you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabfoes87 Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 Nice job Brad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 After what we've been through.... what can I say. It is people like you that make the world go 'round. When we were stranded in Westlock, there was one pretty young lady that kept appearing before us (I do think she was in love with our doggies)in ever so mny capcities. Bringing us water and pet food and invitations and official notices... I thanked her profusely at every turn and told her to be sure she wasn't neglecting her own family. But she was only one memorable soul out of so many selfless people. When a group people rally to the aid of another group of people.... that's one thing... exemplary and above and beyond, no doubt... But when one person responds to the needs of another... a one to one interaction.... this is the stuff that could make the world go around. There is no way in hell that I could ever pretend to repay the kindness and hospitality of the people of Westlock, Alberta. But what I can do is PASS IT ON!!!! Brad, you are one of the people that helps restore my faith in human nature.... I thank you for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshbuys Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 Well done Brad! Well done!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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