awesome memorial day ride...

well this was an awesome weekend,,Sat, my Brother and I rode a AHRMA trials...Sun, i worked on one of my Vintage Huskys..
today..i loaded it on the trailer, added my son and dads bikes, and we went to Rampart Range, and took a nice ride..
some history...in my 20,s i used to ride a 79 Husky 250WR at Rampart, every weekend cept when i was at an Enduro..
so i unloaded the ol girl., and who walks up?? Bill Thomas..
Bill used to own a Husky Dealership 60,s to the late 80,s until Cagiva took over.
it was awesome seeing him again, we talked Huskys for a while, told him that the black bike i had with me, was sold by him, as well as the blue 82 i have at home.
so we jump on em, and take a ride...i took it easy,, didnt want to scratch my sweety.
we did a couple loops, then stoped at the Sprucewood for lunch, Geeorge was happy to see us..and commented about the old iron i was on...lots of lookers, picture takers ect.
so my dad heads back to the truck, my son and I head up bear mountain, and go for a photo op...
wow, it was pretty rough, i was so scared that id dump it and scratch or dent the sweet tank..
on the way back, we cross the road by the Sprucewood...
and something went through my mind..my son was teasing me..saying..gawd dad, i though that old Husky would be a little faster.. i kept telling him...hey. im just taking it easy..
so as we head back up trail #1, i remember how those Huskys run...so i open her up, and ride it like i stole it...flat out...
yea...that brought the memories back, you have to ride those old twin shockers, muscle em..not for the week...my son never saw me again, until i got back to the truck about 10 miles....
his reponce was , WOW!!,, you just flew, and i couldnt even catch you. {on his 04 KTM 450}
i told him..just think..i used to ride like that every weekend, and on the same type of bike...
made me feel 23 years old again...awesome day....

I don't know Bill ..BUT the Husky dealership..was that Rink a Dinks?

Rinkadinks sold Yamaha,s the owner is still around and sells fasteners, and flips older bikes.
the name of Bills dealership...Bill Thomas Husqvarna..now and then you spot one of his round red and white stickers on a bike.

VERY nice looking bike.

No ...when they were On Carr St. off Colfax ave, they had Huskys too..
I think CZ or Maico's also..
seems like there was a Bulltaco dealer in lakewood also..
Montessa was sold at ..argggg the suzuki/kawasaki shop on Federal near Mile High stadium about 20th & Federal.. (forget the name now....)
A friend of mine has a shop & he also remembers rink a dinks as selling Husky..

I still can't place the shop you are talking about, now the former owner of Littleton Honda where I bought a Greeves Griffon, I know where he is at!....LOL

Bill Thomas motorcycles was off Quebec and Colfax, Jersey street i think..the store is still there, and still the same color, they sell washers and driers now i think.
Lee was the owners name, of rinkadinks i just emailed him...he sold Hodaka, Triumph, Yamaha,s and Indians{the rockford made ones} no Huskys, though he had more then a few used ones FS in the day.
my dad picked up a Montesa 247 Cota from him, and a Triumph of some sort..remember the store well, the building is still there as well.
the Yamaha shop off 6th and Fed, was Yamaha of Denver, dont remember the shop on 20th and Fed,
i remember a Yamaha dealer at 73rd and Fed, never had many bikes, and the guy was a grouchy old fart with a rat dog on the counter.
for years Bill was really the only game in town for Husqvarna, Bill used to be a team Husky racer back in the day, i have an old Cycle world mag with him on a 69 Husky.
Littleton Honda didnt start with Husky until the mid 1980,s i picked up my first automatic from them, and then a couple more after they stopped ,
the old owner worked at Sun Honda for a while.
i remember a meet and great with Huskys enduro team at Littleton Honda, met Burlson, Hines and a few other Husky greats..it was the week before the Boothill enduro, that year they made it a Nat, event..
another Husky dealer was Golden Cycles off 18th and Wads, the owner of that shop still works for Sun Honda, i belive he is the parts manager,
the lead mech, that worked at Golden, owns Pro Motorsports. Flint is his name.
there was a Husky dealer in Longmont that closed in the 1980,s remember he had a new Desert master sitting with flat tires, wish i had that ol bike today,
wonder what happened to all the parts he had..
think for a while a Husky KTM dealer as in Laramie Wy,. heard he moved to Co a while back..
i know there was a few on the west slope, but dont know anyone from those stores.
a few KTM dealers played with Husky during the Cagiva times, but that was short lived, Bill at the dirtbroker on West Colfax was going to carry Husky for a while, and had a few left over 88 Huskys on the floor, that lasted a year, he told them to stick it..
Bill closed up, and restores classic 67 to 72 Chevy trucks now..
i still keep in touch with most the old Husky guys.. i see them now and then..

"Rev"....ok you stirred my memory.. I willl PM ya

there was a guy who rode for fey myers, he did some European motos..
he rode husky, & was at coal creek raceways alot..
also Bill "Kenegie"..(spelling?)..I knew him as the husky rep here..
He always had the latest & greatest ..& an auto was one of them ..back in the day

i played with the Auto Husky for a while, liked somethings,,and learned they were a fix it daily motorcycle..spent more time with a wrench in one hand and a can of trans fluid in the other..
by the time they finally figured out how to make it work, Cagiva owned them, and didnt want to mess with the Auto.
i never raced on a MX track until 1997 and that was a vintage race.
i did the enduro and trails game..lots of trail riding..
iv been in the Husky and old crusty motorcycle game for many years, you meet alot of people that way.
some good, some not good...

Ditto...."Rev"

iv been in the Husky and old crusty motorcycle game for many years, you meet alot of people that way.
some good, some not good...

most iv met are good, then,,the A-hole group, i think they have weekly meetings..
and brush up on the A-holeness that makes em special..
every group has em...MX, Trials, Enduro...ect..i brush em off, and look at the sorce..
have a couple that have came my way looking for a deal on parts, or a bike...
or, even better.
heres a good one... last month at a Trial, i see a nice 09 Beta 4stroke...i like the bike i have, but was drooling over this one...{like i need another bike}
owner gives me the sales pitch..tells me how cool it is ect..tells me its still new, not even broke in,,tells me the price...7 grand i think it was dayum...
so later that day,, he chews my ass for walking a section when a rider crossed the gates..
i would have stepped out of the way ...well before he got to were i was...
so...i said, well, if i were 15, and you were my dad, you could talk to me that way...
im not, and your not...so shut your old crusty hole lol...
later that day... he actually came up and asked if i was interested in the bike..
i said, yea, but ill look else were, i refuse to give my money to an A-hole, that doesnt really want it anyway.
usually i just blow those guys off, like a nat on a horses ass, but i refuse to let them abuse people...
really, have a coke and smile, get a message..smoke a joint...something...
lifes to short to be that crusty.

Good for you...tell that jerk to shut his piehole..
I too am fed up with people who pontificate and 'talk down' to me or anyone for that matter..
I'm not their child OR subject to their "Rule" like a king..
plus these boisterious ass's are all blowhards ...reminds me of a classis where an elderly gentleman was waiting for a cab, while another guy waits for his valet parked car & while talking very loud..says "yea I didn't know if I should drive the Bentley, or Maybech or Ferrari tonite so settled on the Ferrari"...
The elderly gentleman got into the cab and under his breath said 'what an idiot'...commenting on the guy waiting for the valet..

The elderly gentleman was Warrren Buffet

I may have done this twice.. sorry if that is the case.... This is Bill Kniegge here.... after getting this Forum post from a friend of mine in Denver that rode Husky bikes with me... some Trials too... I was the Rocky Mountain Mgr. for Husqvarna then moved to San Diego offices to run Marketing & sales... all still owned by Husqvarna Sweden. Great years they were.... great bikes too. the 250 WR with black tank in this thread is a beauty. Seeing that there is someone here that also rides Trials.... I was telling my friend that I bought the Husky Trials bike from '76 FIM Works rider at the factory and rode it in RMTA events in Colorado ...'77. Last year we were tryng to locate it for the Husqvana Museum in Sweden... it was really the only factory Trials bike that HVA ever made and contested... (horrible trialer by the way) compared to a Cota 348 or Sherpa T... but it was a Husky!
Bill Thomas was really the one responsible for me going to Husqvarna and staying in the motorsports industry ever since. OBTW.... if anyone out there knows where the Husky Trialer ended up... I would love to help it find it's way back to Huskvarna, Sweden. Gunnar Lindstrom made some reference to it in his book on History of Husqvarna released last year.. I have not sen Bill Thomas since he left CA after he helped start the MCM Motorcycle Co. with me in '95. Hope he is doing well.... Colorado was home to many serious enthusiasts... racers... etc... The RMTA was and still is a force in AMA/FIM Trials scene I am quite sure. Cheers and thaks to Greg D. for sending me the Cafe Husky info... Nice job on the Club...
Bill Kniegge
www.bluestradatours.com
www.wheeljockey.com
Charlotte, NC

Bill ....welcome.. I will PM you...