| A Tribute to Jim Myers... |
| Originally published in "Desmo Leanings" Fall 2004 issue |
| "I used to see myself as a BMW rider, which is
a point I got to after owning several Japanese
bikes. One day at our normal Sunday morning
breakfast meeting place, a 1980s Ducati 750
F1 sat in the parking lot. It looked so cool with
the perimeter frame encircling the gas tank,
and I remembered the 750 Ducatis of the early
70s and the one a friend let me ride. The Moto
Guzzi V50 my wife and I also owned had taught
me a little about what Italian “character” was
all about, and suddenly I knew I must own a
Ducati.
There was a small shop in our town, called
Myers Sports Car Service. At the time, they
were also a new Ducati motorcycle franchise,
and I went to check the new bikes out. In an
older, industrial part of town sat a small gray,
wooden house with shingle siding. The parking
area consisted of some potholes and uneven
gravel. I walked up on the porch, pushed open
the creaky old door, and was greeted by the
warm smile of the proprietor, Jim Myers. On
the floor sat the new 1992 851 four-valve Ducati
that had been so successful in racing. Also
sitting there were 900 Super Sports in both the
CR and SP versions. The Super Sport bikes
had an almost mythical appeal to me, so those
are what I focused on. Jim spent the better
part of the afternoon talking motorcycles, cars,
and other things with me. He explained the ins
and outs of the SP’s advantages over the CR,
with the carbon fiber parts, cast iron rotors,
aluminum swing arm, etc. I remember leaving
that shop thinking: I can’t go back there; I am
buying a new house, my ten year old and five
year old children need clothing, and I will not be
able to resist the bikes in combination with such
a warm hearted, nice guy like Jim laying on his
smooth southern “soft sell”. I broke my pact
with myself from time to time, walking in the
shop, mostly to talk bikes with Jim. I put my
BMWs up for sale. At some point I took all my
close friends into the shop just to meet Jim and
to help me drool on the Italian exotics.
Damn, that guy and that shop had character.
Jim and his shop had what was disappearing
in the motorcycle world and was being replaced
by motorcycle “superstores” with their trained
salesmen that used the same techniques of the
average car dealer. The passion was alive and
well at Myers Sports Car Service. Jim and his
small shop brought back so many memories of
my youth and some of the small dirt bike shops
I hung out at, and I realized that those were the
qualities that made motorcycling what it was
for me.
It was almost eight years later, when I
purchased my first Ducati, a 1999 750 Super
Sport, that I found how profoundly sincere Jim
really was. We talked for more than two hours
in his already closed for business shop. This
was more than just buying a bike.
Over the years, I watched the shop grow. New
employees came, with all of them adding to the
shop’s theme and being characters in their own
right. One time when Jim and his sister, Diane,
were away from the shop on a trip to Italy, I
watched them haul away truck loads of old car
parts and other of Jim’s treasures, all of it to
the dump. I could relate to this, as I too am a
pack rat.
On Monday, August 23rd, Jim was at the shop
but not feeling well, and he asked Sam to take
him to the hospital. Jim passed away from
heart complications at the age of 58. I, along
with many others, lost a friend that day, and
motorcycling lost one of its own."
|
| Rick Tannenbaum Asheville, NC |
|
|
Myers Motorcycles
1125 Sweeten Creek Road Asheville NC 28803
Phone: 828.274.4271
Fax: 828.274.1811
|
