My Dad. He's the one that got me into bikes. I remember him buying a 305 Scrambler that the PO had disassembled. He bought it for basic transportation, so my Mother could use the car while he was at work. It came home in several mason jars and shoe boxes. I was about 6-7y/o at the time. I handed him tools while he (with no manual) reassembled it bit by bit. It was the first bike I'd ever been close to. I remember it being sooooo freakin
loud, with open highpipes. My Mother made him put baffles in it after breaking one of the windows on the front of the house while reving it up one day. He rode it for a couple of years before parking it in the backyard. I never knew why, but I suspect that something broke and it was too expensive for us to fix. I have fond memories of sitting on it, broken in the backyard, making vroom vroom noises and dreaming of riding on my own. I don't know how long it sat back there before a man showed up, looked it over, shook my Dads hand, and stuffed it in a van. I never saw it again.
He didn't buy another bike until I was 13-14y/o. A CB400A. Again for basic transportation. He went just about everywhere on it, and I would ride along as often as I could. I have a distinct memory of looking around his arm (Dad was a big man, 6'2"-250lbs, so looking "over his shoulder" wasn't really possible) while out riding one day, and catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror... grinning from ear to ear. I used to spend hours cleaning/waxing/polishing that bike for him... yea, "for Him". He taught me and my brother how to ride on that bike, and eventually traded it to him for a POS Fiat. Because my brother wanted the bike, and my Dad was tired of riding to work in the rain. I had worked all summer to by my first bike, a CM400T, and got to ride some with my Dad before the trade. Afterwards my brother and I rode everywhere.
Dad had plans of eventually buying a Goldwing, as a third vehicle this time, and using it on sunny days. Up until then he had always used the bike/s for cheap transport. He was never one to just "go ride". Not that I knew of anyway. But the Goldwing was going to be different... just for "Fun".
It wasn't too long after that he was involved in a collision with a train while driving his work truck. Long story short, it was the trains fault and he was beat up pretty good. He recovered very well, but one of the injuries he sustained was a broken neck. And after spending almost 6 months in a Halo, he lost alot of the range of motion in his neck. Due to this, he felt that he couldn't adequately "look over his shoulders" to ride a bike safely, so he never rode again.
When I started riding, I used the bike for basic transport as well. Basically because that's all I knew. I loved riding anywhere and everywhere, but it took a few years for me to discover the fun of "riding with no destination". Riding just to ride. I tried talking my Dad into taking my bikes for a spin, hoping he'd get the bug again. But he'd always decline. I never got the chance to ride with him again. Dad passed away from Cancer just over eight years ago.
So, If I could ride with anyone... my first choice would be my Dad.
In fact, my first three choices would be my Dad. With maybe Leno coming in fourth
