heavy, man,...heavy.

[angus67]

so, my bud, I'll call him Craig, calls me today, hes the guy I bought my 80 from. He had originally bought two 1980's, so he sold me one with a hole in a piston, but I bought new sleeves, rings and what-nots, any ways, He's diabetic, and can never find the time to work on his bobber. either he is violently ill, or golfing.
His father recently passed away, and I think he is facing his own mortality.
Any ways, we start talking about the bike pictured above, I think its a 71, in excellent shape never down. Apparently, it was ran too hard, locked up, then let cool down, restarted, and rode home with upper engine noise.
He decided to replace the rings and hone the cylinders, and got it all back together, and couldn't start it. had spark at the time, but hasn't been attempted for a few years now.
Heres the heavy part, as we're talking, I start to get the feeling something is up. He says" Your the only guy I can talk to about stuff, so since you dig this bike soo much, if I should die, you should have it" Awkward. We met in welding course 5 years ago, he's like 10 years older than me. He has told me things that a true brother would only talk about, and I think its because he likes that I am frank, and to the point. I wouldn't flip BS at him.
after some silence, and a sniffle from the other end of the line, I says" dont say that, you got a daughter , and you have lots of time to work on your bikes, why would you say that?"
He says," Well, I know it sounds crappy, but if I die, you should have all three of my 650's(two 80's and a 71). after changing the subject, and himmin' and hawin' We decide it might be a good idea if we get his 71 down to my place this weekend, so I could take a look at it, he doesn't have access to the internet, has to go to the library, he cant tinker with any thing without feeling nauseas, doctors just keep pumping drugs into him.
But I'm worried for him, he's had a tough life, adopted as a preteen, so he remembers stuff.
I don't want to rush to his side, but, some times I cant get a hold of him for days at a time. it would suck to lose a good guy like him.
we are gonna spend some time on this bike together this weekend, and maybe change his attitude.
Not sure what else to do here, first time dealing with something like this. Makes me realize my age(38) and other friends and family members ages.
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[hooktool]

Friends are special-do what you think you should.

John

 

[inxs]

- simply be like a bro for him...not much else you can do really...a 71 not going, an 80 being bobbed, does the other 80 run ? does he have a bike to ride at all ?

 

[angus67]

he has 1 '80 running, but he has never had an andorsment.So, he doesnt go far in his neiborhood. he says he can just say hes fixing it, and on a test run. But i dont know.

 

[cooltouch]

Diabetes is no fun and can lead to other complications. Sounds like he's probably taking meds for these other complications too. Since you and he are close, you might want to give him some brotherly advice if he's still doing stuff that's not good for him? If say, he's overweight or smokes or drinks, etc.

I've been having to deal with the results of a somewhat elevated blood sugar condition and have to take a few different meds now to stay on top of it. But meds aren't enough. I also changed my diet -- very low in carbs -- which has helped me lose weight and has brought my blood sugar and triglyceride numbers down. I also feel a LOT better now than I used to. Positive reinforcement in my case makes me want to stay with it.

Feeling your own mortality is a real deal when you start getting older. I know. My dad was 7 years younger than me when he died. I find myself thinking about all the various projects I'm in the middle of right now -- most of them motorcyclical in nature -- and one of my main hopes is that I finish them all before I check out. Plus, I still want to be young enough to enjoy them when they're completed.

Getting together with your friend to work on that '71 may have a very real therapeutic effect on him. I'd encourage him to make it a regular thing -- something that he can look forward to and get his mind off his health issues. Something tells me you two won't get that bike totally dialed in over a single weekend anyway. It's a pretty looking bike and looks to be imminently restorable and would be an excellent project.

 

[angus67]

i dont know if I mentioned before, but he has also had his gall bladder removed, and loves nuts. gall bladders produce an enzyme to breakdown legumes. (or so I'm told). also eats alot of carbs. he's not a heavy guy. he's maybe 5'5. so, usually short people look fat even when there not, and he don't look fat to me. also enjoys the herb, so, he can sleep at night.
I knoew we wont get that bike started, or might not even touch it, just getting him in a different enviroment will help, and I can do all the tedious stuff to it during the week. The petcock prolly needs rebiuld, carbs need cleaned out, test coils, charge batery, change oil, what ever. just need to get him out here.
and, oh, you bet this bike would not be chopped. he's got two other 80's. one already hardtailed, and another running stocker he bought from some lady that sold it out from under her kid cuz he got bad grades. kid was dirt biking it any way. surprising still in decent shape.800$

 

[xjwmx]

My best friend in college gave me some valuable things out of the blue that he thought I would like and then committed suicide. In those days we didn't know giving away things like that was a big warning sign, but now it's seen as that. I always wished I knew then what I know now. Not to scare you or be dramatic, but just so you consider the possibility.

 

[nj1639]

He needs to get his endorsement!! (What's an endorsement?)

 

[angus67]

i already knew about the warning signs. He's a born again christian. but some of his 'old' habits are still around.
He called today, he canceled coming over. thru his back out playing golf. he does seem realy excited to work on the 71 with me.
I am giving him a internet capable computer. the one he has is still windows 95 lol