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A selection of Member-written letters saluting excellent service.Jim’s Motorcycle SalesJohnson City,TennesseeLast July, my wife and I were close to finishingour 3,000-mile trip from our home inGeorgia to upstate New York and back. Wewere on our way from Roanoke,Virginia, andheading to Hendersonville, North Carolina,when we encountered fairly heavy rain lateSunday morning just outside of Johnson City,Tennessee. But worse than that, we had apparentlypicked up something on the highway thatpunctured our back tire.Very quickly, we found ourselves in anuncertain—and very wet—set of circumstanceson the side of the highway in a placewe had never been before.While we were waiting on the side of thehighway for a tow, someone in a car pulledalongside our bike.The driver asked if we wereokay, and I explained the situation to him. Itold him that we anticipated that our bikewould be towed to Jim’s Motorcycle Sales,since it was listed in our Gold Wing RoadRiders Association’s Gold Book and was mentionedby one of the GWRRA Members inJohnson City who was also listed in the GoldBook.Amazingly, the driver informed me that he,in fact, worked at Jim’s.And since the shop wasclosed on Sundays, he agreed to talk to someonewho might be able to get our bike andtrailer inside for the night for security reasons.A few minutes later, I received a phone callfrom Kirk Hayes, an associate with Jim’s, whoasked about our tire. He informed me thatonce the tow truck arrived with our bike, hewould have some of the staff from Jim’s readyto change the tire. Now, clearly, that was unexpected.Within an hour or so of arriving at Jim’s,our tire was replaced. (Keep in mind this wason a day that the shop was closed!) And Kirkeven threw in two Jim’s Motorcyles Sales T-shirts for free! As Kirk explained it to my wife,he had been in similar circumstances while outriding and knew what it was like to need assistance.We ended up cancelling our accommodationsin Hendersonville, stayed in Johnson Citythat night, and enjoyed a breathtaking ridethrough the mountains between Johnson Cityand Hendersonville on Monday morning. Itwas great because not only did we have a newback tire but plenty of sunshine as well.My wife and I are extremely grateful forthe respect, courtesy, and care we receivedfrom the staff of Jim’s Motorcycle Sales duringa time when we had few resources at our disposal.Whilethese weren’t the easiest circumstancesby which to obtain a new T-shirt (or anew back tire, for that matter!) we do havesome happy memories of an event that did notstart out as an easy one.And by the way, in case you’re wondering,the Gold Book does work!Phil HowardGWRRA #268369Toccoa Falls, GeorgiaAll Sports, Inc.Regina, SaskatchewanIwould like to say thanks again to Darcy Shawand the guys at All Sports, Inc., in Regina,Saskatchewan for their efforts to get us backon the road quickly.My wife Joyce and I were returning hometo Michigan from what was supposed to be a19-day trip to Prince Rupert, British Columbia.Joyce rides a 2006 Suzuki Bergman Executive,and I ride a 1500 SE.As we were making our way throughdowntown Regina on the Trans CanadianHighway, Joyce hit a banana shaped piece ofsteel that we believe came from some sort offarm equipment. The item was propelled offher front tire and into her rear wheel, whichinstantly went flat.Joyce did an excellent job of keeping thebike upright and in a straight line while travelingat 65 mph. She got the bike over to theshoulder, where we discovered that the tirewas not only flat but that the rim was bent aswell.The next exit was in sight, so we hobbledour way up the ramp and into a churchparking lot.There we were, at 6 p.m., not only in astrange town but in an unfamiliar country.What does one do? Well, you break out theGold Book!After scanning the listings for Members inthe area, I settled on the name Al Schultzbecause he had the most letters next to hisname indicating what help he was able to offer.I figured if one of those codes meant he had atrailer, I had called the right guy.And, it woundup I did call the right guy for a lot of reasons!Within an hour after calling him, Al pulledinto the lot with a beautiful trailer that he hadhand-built and was perfect for the job. Luckily,the only Suzuki dealer in the entire area—perhapsthe entire country—was only a short distanceaway. And it happened that Al knew thesales manager at the dealer (All Sports) personally,gave him (Darcy), a call and left a messagefor him to call back.We then drove into town and Al took us toa hotel that was near the dealership. Afterchecking in, we had dinner and waited forDarcy’s return call. At around 9 p.m., Darcycalled.Al told him of our predicament and hadasked if he could open the shop so we couldstore the bike securely inside.Within minutes,we had the bike unloaded and at the dealerso it could be looked at first thing in themorning.As luck would have it, the wheel wasdestroyed and had to be replaced. Now sincea rear wheel for a 650 scooter is not a commonitem, the part had to be ordered from adealer in Toronto. It was shipped next dayovernight and was received at 10:30 the nextmorning. (We were quite fortunate, becausehad the wheel not made it on Friday morning,we would have been stranded until Mondaybecause there are no freight deliveries on theweekend.)Al checked on us often throughout the dayand made sure we were okay. He invited us tohis home and told us of a group ride we wereinvited to on Saturday if necessary. In fact, theowner at All Sport was going to offer a room inhis home for the weekend if we were stuck!I can’t say enough about the kindness andgenerosity everyone showed us in Regina.Weno longer feel stranded when we travel, andwe made new friends while we were there.I’m glad to have my name in the Gold Bookand hope that, someday, I can be as much helpto a stranded rider as GWRRA Member Al,along with Darcy and the other folks at AllSports, were to us.Bob & Joyce SchwinkGWRRA #129733Warren, Michigan●16 Wing World