Staying Alive.

Disclaimer:  The following post will have very little content related to the subject of this blog, my 1967 BMW 2000 Tilux.  Instead, this post will document the ups and a couple of severe downs that were my family’s 2013. 

 

Well….

 

 

You may have noticed I haven’t posted an entry for over a year.

To be perfectly honest, 2013 didn’t start off too bad.  It was a pretty mild winter here in Northeast Ohio.  I was extremely busy between my commercial electrician job, as well as working on BMWs part time at Lerich Motorsport. Mae and I, along with her sister and boyfriend, even took a roadtrip in February to Nashville, TN to see one of our favorite bands, Shovels and Rope play, and spent some  quality time with our nieces and nephew.

If you remember, at the end of 2012, I had pulled the M10 from the Tilux after a seized pressure relief valve on the oil pump had forced approximately 3 quarts of oil through the O-Ring on the oil filter.  I had the motor on a stand in the shop but was unsure of how far I wanted to go.  Rebuild vs Re-Seal.  As a result, I got lazy and unmotivated.  I also started having feelings for a younger, thinner vehicle.  A 1975 Honda CB500T.  

 

I had wanted a motorcycle for years and years but never had the cojones to pull the trigger on buying one.  Of course if I ever did, it would have to be something vintage and cafe racer-like.  I’ve never been into crotch rockets or big V twin cruisers.  In March, I found this little gem on Ebay in Pittsburgh, PA and against my better judgement, I bid on it at the last minute.  The bike was very original, with only a little more than 5000 miles on it, but of course had been parked for several years.  Before leaving for the two hour drive to pick the bike up, I got a call from the owner’s friend saying the rear tire was flat so I wouldn’t be able to test ride it.  Not exactly the most reassuring phone call, but being excited to have my first bike, I set off for Steeler country.  The CB started up with little effort and seemed to shift through the gears with no issues so I trailered it back to Akron, and delivered it immediately to Rubber City Vintage Cycle.  I wanted them to look it over and make sure it was safe and to replace those dry-rotted flat tires.  

RCVC primarily dismantles bikes to sell parts on their Ebay store, but I talked them into doing some work on the CB.  What I didn’t realize is that unlike most CBs from that early/mid 70’s era, the 500T from ’75 and ’76 is kind of a weird, bastard bike and a lot of the parts are NLA or very hard to find.  There are also some weird quirks including very complicated air circuitry which makes it difficult to tune the bike.  Since they had to go through the bike system by system, and we had to wait on parts, as well as fabricate parts, they had the bike for three months, already a good chunk into riding season.  In the meantime, I had completed the beginner’s riders course offered through a local dealership and got my full license as well as a head start on good riding habits.  Due to one of the rainiest years on record, I was also busy cutting grass non-stop in addition to my other jobs, leaving very little time or dry days to actually log some miles.  

Before I knew it, Memorial Day was approaching and so was our annual trip to “The Vintage” BMW show in Winston Salem, NC.  I wasn’t pressed to get the Tilux running prior to 2013’s show because for the first time, they were holding an Autocross Event and I wanted to see how my 1970 2002 would compete against some of the finest 2002’s in the country.  In case I broke something or blew up my 2002, we decided to trailer the car.  We would also have the luxury of air conditioning and a radio.  

 

As usual, the event was a wonderful time reconnecting with old friends.  The weather was hot.  The beer was cold.  And the conversation was pretty much all car-related. 

I got to see my first 507 in the flesh.

photo by Mae Barbieri

We stayed up too late every night talking cars.

The auto cross event was a blast. 

photo by Rodney Middendorf

and somehow this goofy kid from Akron, Ohio ended up placing first in the modified 2002 class. 

 

And that was probably the high point of 2013.  

Press play on the song while you read. 

 

This is the soundtrack to my last year. The lows anyway. 

“I’ve decided tonight I’m staying alive just kicking & screaming
Blood boiling & steaming
There are things far too dark to comprehend
Sleep on it one more night my sad old friend

The worst is over.”

– Tim Kasher/Cursive

 

 

We have cars.  We now have bikes.  We have dogs.  We are dog people.  Our dogs are our children.  Some people can understand that.  Some people can not.  It’s ok, it’s just the way it is.  Most of our dogs are rescue dogs with the exception of two doberman pincers that we bought from a breeder.  A brother and sister, 3 years apart from the same parents.  Johnny and Heidi.  

I don’t possess the skills as a writer to accurately describe the relationship between Mae and Johnny, other than to say she cared more about Johnny than most people care about their own children.  That’s the best I can do. We got Johnny when he was six weeks old, and he was her baby.  Plain and simple.  She would always say she loved all the dogs equally, but I knew better.  

Shortly after returning from The Vintage, Mae witnessed Johnny, who was about 7 1/2 years old at the time, lose his balance a couple of times, even falling down in the kitchen once.  

One morning we woke up and Johnny would not stand up.  He couldn’t hold his weight on his own legs.  He just kept falling. His legs would simply not work.  Without getting into too much detail, we started taking Johnny to our vet, neurologists, holistic doctors, and physical therapists.  An MRI revealed that he did not have what we suspected as Wobbler’s syndrome, common among Dobermans and Great Danes, causing his paralysis, but likely had a stroke.  His temperament was fine, and he seemed to be the same happy dog, but he just couldn’t walk.  For 8 weeks I would carry the 90 pound dobie outside 10 to 20 times a day and hold him up so he could try and go to the bathroom.  We tried water therapy, Chinese herbs, physical therapy, laser acupuncture, anything we could do.  Mae and I took turns sleeping on the couch so we could be close to him in case he started whining.  Often times he couldn’t hold his bladder.  We would carry him outside into the yard while we did yardwork, and he would just lay in the grass smiling with his tongue wagging all the while.  The night of August 2nd, Johnny  had a violent seizure. Sunday, August 3rd, they started happening with more frequently and we rushed him to Metropolitan Veterinary Hospital.  He had another seizure in the car on the way there.  Upon arriving to the hospital, we could tell that the seizures were affecting his comfort and mental state and we had to make a very hard, very sad decision that day.  It was hands down the hardest decision we ever had to make.  It’s still difficult to talk about.  

We miss you every day baby boy. 

 

I needed a distraction badly.  After a couple of weeks of unsuccessfully trying to keep the CB500T running correctly, as well as trying to find someone locally that knew the ins and outs of these old Hondas, I decided that I was giving myself too much of a handicap as a beginner rider by starting off on such a temperamental bike.  I wanted something newer, easier to ride, and preferably fuel injected.  I sold the Honda and began my search for something that would work for me.  Of course, it was always in the back of my mind that I needed a BMW to feed my obsession.  I ended up at our local Triumph/Ducati dealership where a buddy of mine, who incidentally I purchased my very first 2002 from, was the service manager.  I explained what I was looking for and he mentioned that he was selling a 2003 Ducati Monster 620 that he had purchased back from a customer.  I wasn’t really into the sport bike genre, but after sitting on the Monster, coupled with luxuries like a hydraulic clutch, low stance, low weight, and fuel injection, I decided it might be a good fit.  I ended up buying it, and for a few weeks, really enjoyed riding the Ducati.  I rode it to work as much as possible, and took some good trips on some of Ohio’s beautiful back roads. 

The first week of September, we had planned a much needed vacation back to New Orleans.  Mae and I love to visit the Crescent City and indulge in all the food, music, and architecture that it has to offer.  We visited many of our regular spots and got to go to some places that we’ve always wanted to.  We rented our own little house in the Marigny and despite the ridiculous heat and humidity, had a wonderful time.  

 

We returned to Akron on September 6th and thought we were ready to get back to business as usual.  

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

 

The morning of September 7th, the day after we got back from New Orleans, I woke up and attempted to get ready for work.  I noticed when I stood up, and especially after showering and trying to get dressed, I had incredible pain in my lower back, extending through my left buttock, left thigh, all the way down to my left knee.  I couldn’t even bend over to put socks on.  I tried to go to work, but had to leave immediately and return home.  Mae’s uncle is a Chiropractor and he had me come over to his house for an adjustment.  Thinking it was just a pinched nerve I proceeded to take it easy.  By the next morning I could not walk, I could barely stand, and the only comfort I had was laying flat on my back.  I had to take a week off of work, unable to move, unable to drive, unable to do anything.  All out of the blue.  I went to see the chiropractor at his office the first day I could, and had x-rays done.  I had a few subjugations in some of my lower lumbar discs, but nothing crazy.  Disc spacing was good, back contour was good, and nothing could explain the most incredible, excruciating, sharp pain and at the same time, numbness in my butt and leg, that I was feeling.  I eventually returned to work, but couldn’t drive the 3 miles there without making multiple stops to recline my seat and temporarily relieve the pain.  Once at work, I could only work for a few minutes before I had to lay flat on my back on the floor to again feel any sort of relief.  I saw my general doctor, I saw a couple of chiropractors, I had deep tissue massages, I read everything I could on back pain, piriformus syndrome, sciatic nerve pain, and I couldn’t get in to see a nerve specialist for months.  For another 8 weeks, I endured the most sever pain I have ever felt in my life, crippling sciatica.  Eventually, after seeing another chiropractor and taking more X-Rays, he discovered that the right side of my pelvis was significantly lower than my left side, causing my left hip piriformus muscle to be agitated which in turn was putting pressure on my sciatic nerve.  He gave me a 5mm tall rubber wedge to put into the heel of my right shoe, hoping to level off my pelvis, thus relieving the strain on the left side of my body.  

Earlier in the spring, we had bought an airfare/hotel package to go to Southern California to attend the SoCal Vintage BMW car show in Van Nuys, CA.  We were going to stay in Dana Point, and visit with some friends there who just happen to have one of the largest private collections of rare and incredible vintage BMWs in the country.   With everything going on with my back, we weren’t sure if we were going to be able to go or not.  It was at the last minute that we decided to go ahead and go.  I’m so glad we did. 

 

I don’t know if it was the California air, or the 5mm rubber wedge in my show, but by the end of the trip, I was almost completely pain free and back to normal.   

It probably didn’t hurt that I got to drive a bunch of the cars, including a beautiful 1967 Alpina 1600 all the way from San Clemente up to Van Nuys for the show.  

 

 

1967 Alpina 1600

 

 

 Dietel alpina 1982 e21 345I turbo widebody.  1 of 1 ever made.  

You can see more pics of the cars that Mae and I drove in the Stanceworks article “The Collector” 

or in this Petrolicious video “Alpinas” 

 

It was an unbelievable experience, and an honor to get to enjoy such a collection of beauties.  I hope we can return for the show this fall as well.  

The rest of the year was fairly uneventful.  My health continued to improve, although I did have to give up my mowing business.  I’ve learned a lot about muscle symmetry and am very grateful to be back to normal.  I still have some occasional  numbness in my left thigh, but it’s more than likely just nerve damage.   Nothing like the debilitating sharp pain that rendered me unable to stand or walk.  

By the end of 2013, I started feeling guilty for being such a BMW head and still not having a BMW motorcycle.  I had become obsessed with the line of BMW dual sports, and loved the idea of owning such a versatile bike.  Knowing that the end of the year, and especially winter, as the time to purchase a motorcycle, I began my search, looking first at the smaller BMW dual sport bikes, G650, F650, F700, and F800GS’s, knowing eventually that I would wish I had just pulled the trigger on the ultimate riding machine, the R1200GS.  I found a beautiful 2007, loaded with thousands of dollars of extras, as well as extremely low mileage at the same Triumph/Ducati dealership that I purchased the Ducati Monster at.  On December 31st, the last sales day of the year, I jumped on it. 

 

Basically, I couldn’t be happier that it’s a new year.  I finally got my BMW bike.  I’m looking forward to putting a ton of miles on the GS this year, and the Ducati now belongs to Mae.  I do have a lot of people asking me how the Tilux is coming along.  I haven’t forgotten about it.  I swear!  I love that car, but the fact is I don’t plan on getting rid of it, so I’ll just continue to work on it when I’m inspired, and enjoy the ride for now.  

 

The worst is over.