Stuart Kirk began riding at 19, but then abandoned motorcycling for 25 years. As he describes in his recent book, Revved! Obsessions of a Midlife Motorcyclist (available from Amazon and from OCD), he resumed riding with a passion, averaging 20,000 miles a year, from commuting in LA traffic to cross-country trips. He retired as a professor at UCLA eight years ago to have more time to ride and to contemplate what it means to be a dedicated motorcyclist who is now over 70. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with an ever-changing collection of motorcycles. He has donated copies of his book to OCD Custom Cycles & Auto Repair where they are available.
We will be including his recent articles in a series in each following newsletters. The first of his more recent articles “Going Over 70” is in the May 2018 edition of BMW ON magazine. This is the opening paragraph:
“It was a crisp Fall morning and I was excited to be riding my new BMW RT through Colorado’s glorious mountains on my way home to Santa Fe. North of Poncha Springs, my enthusiasm was dulled momentarily by lumbering trucks going 30mph carrying “wide loads” of heavy construction tractors, prefab houses shrink-wrapped in plastic, and one carrying a modest size barn. Snaking behind each of these cargo carriers were clusters of hapless car drivers completely bewildered about what to do, even though there were ample opportunities to pass legally.
I did what any sensible motorcyclist does–I passed the cars and trucks.”
