Folks I went to a local nursing home last month to meet a guy that was the first HOG member in North Carolina at the Statesville, NC chapter at Tilley HD. His name is Tommie Holmes and he was in an accident fives years ago this October that broke him up real bad and left him blind. I have to say it was a real joy meeting him and hearing his riding stories. He owned ten new Ultras in a row and bought one almost every year. On his wall is a picture of every single one that was taken in exactly the same spot in the same position with Pilot Mountain in the back ground. One was blue, one was white and all the others were red or a shade of red which is his favorite color. He rode all 48 states, Mexico, Canada and did Alaska twice. One trip he did to Alaska was a solo run and he went to Sturgis 19 times according to his wife.

Well while there an old guy comes in and introduces himself as one of Tommie's old riding buddies and visits with all of us. His name is Dave Willett and he was very friendly and told a couple of stories and shortly after I left to return home. Well this last Friday I was at the local dealership and I saw David. I spoke to him and he remembered me and I told him my brother and I were riding up to the mountains to do a pre-ride for the chapter and asked if he would like to ride with us. He was hesitant because he lived almost 60 miles away and was planning to head back home but he asked where we were going exactly. The minute I said Shatley Springs he said yes he would like to ride with us.

Well I had heard of this fellow many years back but did not put two and two together. As the old saying goes "never judge a book by the cover".

David is a legion in these parts and is very well known by the good folks up in Milwaukee. Where I heard of him was in a newspaper article about 10 years ago now where Harley Davidson requested his touring bike back with 417,888 miles on it to go into a museum and they gave him a brand new bike FREE!

We must have spent two hours at lunch with this fellow and rode just over 200 miles and had an experience that is simply hard to explain. This guy is incredable and has logged over 800K miles. The bike he is riding now that Harley gave him has 275K miles and he also owns a 650 scooter that currently has 125K miles on it. With just these three motorcycles he is at 817,888 miles and has never had an accident and has never had a moving violation.

He has riden all 48 states, every providence of Canada and rode a lot of Mexico but has never been to Alaska. Actually the trip above where Tommie Holmes went to Alask by himself Dave was planned to go and his wife got sick and he had to cancel. He said that he always carried a tent and camped everywhere he went. The guy is a living, breathing, walking human road atlas. I don't think there is a single road in North Carolina he has not rode a bike on.

It has really touched me to meet these two gentlemen and I hope you appreciate this story. I know that I will look at fellow riders now and wonder just what their story is and where they have been.

I really look forward to riding with David again soon and going back to visit Tommie and hear more of his amazing adventures.

I've attached a few pictures for you to enjoy. In the one at Stations Inn I'm in the middle, my brother is on the right and Dave Willett is on the left.

 

Oh yeah I forgot that his first Harley was named "Old Charlie" and the one he is on is "Old Charlie II". It is on the back of the tour back so if you see him on the road say hello. He is a GREAT guy.

 

Good stuff!

 

That is too cool! Thanks for sharing.

 

There's a lot of history in the ole fella's. Good stuff.

What kind of accident was Tommie involved in?

 

A drunk driver hit him head on while riding on the Blue Ridge Parkway on a Sunday morning.

He was hurt real bad but was awake and remembers them loading him in the helicopter. During the flight to Baptist Hospital in Winston Salem, NC he lost his vision. He cannot walk or use his right arm and cannot see. But he has got a pretty sharp mind and most all of his memory has returned.

He loves to talk motorcycles and keeps up with the new models and can tell some real stories. One was a tale about his buddy having a flat tire on his second trip to Alaska and a bear coming out of the woods and looking at them as a snack.

 

Nice post. Thanks for sharing.

 

You know I have no desire whatsoever to meet any movie stars or TV people and wouldn't walk around the block to get an autograph. I'd ride a lot of miles though to meet up with people like these two guys.

I knew a couple of old time cowboys here who had rodeoed all across the country including Madison Square Garden. One of em was so busted up he could hardly walk but he would still climb on a horse and do a little calf roping. Always regret that I never got them and a couple of their old cronies together with a couple bottles of Jim Beam, some ice and a tape recorder. Might be a good idea to get these two old bikers together to record their riding stories before they ride off into the sunset. Might make a pretty good book.

 

That's a damn shame. Good on you for the visits. Him being able to talk and relive motorcycling as was/is his passion really makes his day.

 

Outstanding.