[Jeff Higgins]

Thanks guys. I think you would have all liked Ray, he was "one of us", in that consummate "gear head" kind of way. Different interests, but same motivations and curiosities. He did love my Porsches, by the way, and definitely related to them.

So, his daughter is going to take care of all of the legalities surrounding his estate and all of that. Ray was an avid shooter and reloader, so there was another connection we had made over the years. His little brother, and my best friend, will undoubtedly wind up with most of that stuff. Good thing he shares those interests as well.

Then there is Ray's bike. It's a '73 Shovel in a rigid frame of his own design and fabrication. It has all of Ray's signature touches - stroker flywheels that have been machined to a knife-edge and thereby lightened by half, the custom valves, some form of Sifton cam, twin plug ignition, Eliminator SU carb, and on and on. Absolutely one of the most bea-tchin' Shovels ever built. It's obviously going to wind up in John's hands.

The problem is, John skippers a fishing boat out of Dutch Harbor, and is gone much of the year. And he now lives clear across the state. And the bike has not been started in years - kind of hard to start a kick start only stroker Harley when it's getting difficult to walk... And it likely needs a good bit of attention before it can be started.

So, that might just fall to me. Funny how life works out sometimes. From being the "young punk" being cussed at under his breath (in a teasing kind of way) as the "master" fixes the bone head mistakes I used to make on my bike, to being the guy left to getting his bike up and running again. It would be an honor. I know John won't have the time, so we will talk about this when the time comes.