My Ride to my Brother's Funeral

by Steve Bamford Oct 7 2005

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When my Dad was young he rode motorbikes and he continued that off and on for many years as he grew older.  His first bike was a 1948 Ariel.  I've always had a motorbike since I was 16....and when I was about 10 my brother and I shared a 1971 Honda MiniTrail minibike for a summer.  It was 50cc's of total fun. 

My brother and I shared fond memories of that minibike and as we grew into adulthood we always rode motorbikes....as did our older brother.  In 1983, I bought a brand new 1983 Honda Interceptor 750......it was state of the art and always attracted attention when I parked it.

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Along the way in the following years, adult responsibilities such as home ownership and parenthood made me store away some of my toys.  During the final few weeks of my brother's life I dusted off the Interceptor and began rebuilding various systems (carbs, some hydraulics etc) to get it ready to ride to the hospital to show him and make him smile.  Sadly many more systems needed repairs than I expected and the work dragged on......with the moral support and technical assistance of Jim Barnett.  My brother passed away before I could get it roadworthy.  I rode the Interceptor to the local Honda motorbike dealership the other day and it still attracted attention.......but now it attracts attention because it is a classic.

Today is my brother's funeral and I will be riding my Interceptor to his service in his memory.

Steve

Photos and text © by Steve Bamford