Mort

I was just thinking about buying a big bench grinder and it got me thinking back when I was working on a bike with Grandpa. He had an old Kawasaki 175 endouro that he bought a garage sale for $50 from a guy and we had it running in 30 minutes. I broke the shift lever on it and we found a replacement on one of the many junk bikes he had sitting around. The only we found had a square end and we needed it to be round on the end. He didn't have a grinder so we got the bright idea to have me hang out the door of his van while he drove 50 mph down the road holding my belt while I was grinding on the pavement. Looking back now it probably wasn't the best move, but it got the job done and nobody got hurt. I never understood when I was younger that a lot of the things he was telling me and teaching me would be lessons in life that I would never forget. I couldn't tell you much that I learned in school that I can relate to the real world situations of today, but every single day something happens when I can remember something that he told me to relate to it. I always said when I was younger that I wasn't going to be like him, but now I find myself becoming more and more like him and that is just fine with me. I wish I would have paid more attention when he was teaching me the ins and outs of motorcycles instead of just nodding my head waiting for him to fix it, but so thankful for what he did teach me. I can hear his voice all the time guiding me on what to do when I am building bikes and would give anything for one more day just to hear him tell that one of my bikes was a piece of junk and he couldn't understand why anyone would ride one like it. Gerald Edward Burns was a great mentor, teacher and an even better friend.