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Rider Down

TTull

Big Wheel
I am a new member of COG, my wife and I joined when we inherited a 1994 Concourse from my father-in-law (Tom Mettler aka Mettler1). Tom had been a member of this group since 1993 and has been on many rides with several of you I am certain.  Tom enjoyed being a part of this group very much and loved his "Connie"..  He and I had been on several rides together through the years, him on his and me on my Triumph.  Our rides were mostly limited to long weekends and not too far from home; but in his day Tom logged a lot of miles.  Living in Grand Rapids Michigan, he had tent camped off the back of it to Oregon and back, made it out to California once, and made several trips to the Appalachian Mountains and the Blue Ridge Parkway.  In fact the '94 was his second Concourse, his first he wrecked on a ride through the Blue Ridge, I think it may have even been a COG event.  The only piece of that first motorcycle that survived was the left side saddle bag, which now hangs on the wall in my garage. 

Last fall we were up to Michigan for a visit with my in-laws; we were all sitting in the living room exchanging small talk when Tom got up and wandered out of the room.  A few minutes later I heard his motorcycle start in the garage.  I excused myself to see what he was up to and found him standing in the garage with the bike on its stand, purring along.  When I asked what he was doing he said, "Oh just listening to it run".  He then told me that in the spring he had come out to the garage to go for a ride, but when he started the bike and lifted it off its kickstand it felt heavy.  That was a lot to admit for a man that for the majority of his life stood over six foot; weighing in over 200 lbs..  He was a blue collar man with a strong work ethic who had never much worried about how heavy things were..  And now, due mostly to the cancer that had been eating at him, he was simply too weak to ride...  He muttered, "I ought to just sell it I guess"..  "I'll never ride again".  I think we both knew that was probably true.  I puzzled over how to respond for a minute, and finally said, "Tom I hope you feel stronger soon and ride this damn thing another 10 years, but when the time comes to give the bike up, please let me know"... 

Several months later we got a call at the house that Tom was ready to let the bike go, he said he would love to keep it in the family and wondered if I would like to have it.  We had it shipped down to our house in Atlanta where it has a place of honor in our garage, parked right next to my Triumph..  In spite of the 115,000 miles Tom had logged on the bike, it looks to be in like new condition.  I'll ride it here and there and some day each of my sons will inherit these two bikes that Tom and I had ridden together; hopefully they will share the same sense of fun and adventure that Tom and I did.

Last week we received a call that Tom was not doing well and that he had been admitted to the ICU.  We headed back to Michigan as fast as we could and were at his side as much as we could be.  When life called us back we returned to Atlanta only to get the final call three days later.  I am sorry to say the final call came in just this morning, Tom had finally lost his fight with cancer and had passed in early morning hours. 

He was a fantastic friend, and loving father and terrific grandfather, he will be horribly missed.  For those of you who knew Tom please keep his family in mind as they endure the transition of learning to live without him.  For those of you who spent time riding with Tom please reach out to me (cell - 269-998-5512), my wife and I would love nothing more than to fire up the old "Connie" and spend some time riding with the people he shared time with... 

Also for those interested in arrangements:

                                      Visitation: 10/21/19 @ 2:00-4:00 pm / 6:00-8:00 pm
                                                      Heritage Life Story Funeral Home
                                                      2120 Lake Michigan Drive, NW
                                                      Grand Rapids, MI 49504

                                        Funeral: 10/22/19 @ 11:00 am
                                                      Holy Spirit Church
                                                      2230 Lake Michigan Drive NW
                                                      Grand Rapids, MI 49504

       

Thank you for your time and I hope to meet you all soon on a ride some place,
Tim 
 

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dad is not a "rider down".. he is a rider on High..
Godspeed to him, I and my wife are crying now, knowing what was never known.
he was a fine man, and knowing him, hurts with this news;
stand strong young man, and take the legacy he started and instilled upon you..
our prayers, and hopes go to you all.

I will remember the last posting your dad made. I hope my grandson can do the same.

http://forum.cog-online.org/concours-c10-zg1000-general-chat-and-tech/re-what-did-you-do-to-your-c-10-today/msg677805/#msg677805


godspeed my fellow friend.. godspeed.
 
post-61835-0-69356700-1369680336_thumb.jpg
 
  I knew Tom from a mixture of many internet, business and face to face interactions. He was a great guy, an asset to COG and the motorcycling community. He was always very helpful with information for the new guys here. Tom will be missed, but he's riding with some pretty awesome COGGERs who preceded him to the best riding for eternity. Godspeed Tom.
Steve
 
Nothing I can say could add to the eloquently written words of MOB and SISF. Know that you won't be the only ones that miss Tom and accept our heartfelt condolences. Godspeed Tom. See you on the other side. :'(
 
Tim, I'm very sorry for your loss. I didn't know Tom, but am familiar with him somewhat through COG. It's hard to lose a loved one. Come out and ride with us. I'm in Gainesville and Atlanta's not far.

Ron
 
I am so sorry to hear this Tim.  Tom was at a MI COG meet at a Lansing rib joint last year I believe, and had driven the car due to a recent surgery, but I did not know the severity of his condition.

Tom was part of numerous Michigan COG events, including one at my house some years ago at a Tech Day.

He also attended COG Nationals - the last I recall seeing him at was Johnson City, TN where he and his wife rode out and back tandem.

He was always upbeat, usually smiling and with a story to tell.

He often responded to forum posts with tips he had learned and used to maintain his bike.  And yes, it was his baby and it did look brand new even with over 100,000 miles. 

Its a very nice thing for you to have to remember him by.


For those of you who spent time riding with Tom please reach out to me (cell - 269-998-5512), my wife and I would love nothing more than to fire up the old "Connie" and spend some time riding with the people he shared time with...

We'ld love to have you both come on out to the MI COG events.


 
Tim,

  Sorry to hear of his passing. Met Tom at a couple of COG & m/c functions throughout the state. He will be missed.

He's on his 2nd journey in life, riding those ribbons of asphalt in Heaven.

Godspeed Tom.....
 
Very hard to take, Tom attended some of my ride to eat events
and race track events, just to watch. Last time we got together
was at Jingerman track to watch go-karts. We both agreed we
wanted to give it a try. Our only reservation was there too low to
the ground, we would need help getting up.
He is a good man, good COG member and will be missed. We will
leave a seat at the table for him at the next ride to eat.
Gods speed Tom.
 
Setting here in shock. I tried to write something eloquent to say, but feel that others have already put my thoughts into words.

We'll miss you Tom. :'(
        Someday, we'll see you on the other side for a Heavenly COG Rally.  :08:

Ride safe, Ted
 
MAN OF BLUES said:
dad is not a "rider down".. he is a rider on High..
Godspeed to him, I and my wife are crying now, knowing what was never known.
he was a fine man, and knowing him, hurts with this news;
stand strong young man, and take the legacy he started and instilled upon you..
our prayers, and hopes go to you all.

I will remember the last posting your dad made. I hope my grandson can do the same.

http://forum.cog-online.org/concours-c10-zg1000-general-chat-and-tech/re-what-did-you-do-to-your-c-10-today/msg677805/#msg677805


godspeed my fellow friend.. godspeed.



oooof....  Thank you for your response and for sharing the link; I had no idea he had posted that...  Tough to read but means a great deal to me... 
Thanks again, Tim
 
Thank you all very much for your responses, posts, and photos..  They mean a great deal to all of us.  Tom very much enjoyed the sense of camaraderie, brotherhood, and adventure he felt through his membership with COG.

In light of the responses I thought that I would share one more thing about Tom.  This summer he had traveled to Atlanta to see visit us, which was after his motorcycle had been delivered and was neatly parked in my garage.  We spent some time looking over the old bike so Tom could explain all of the little tid-bits I needed to know.  Towards the end of their visit we also presented him with a Shadow Box, which contained photos of his rides along with COG memorabilia.  He loved it!!  A photo of the Shadow Box is attached; I tried up upload the a video of us presenting it to him, but it appears to be too large and I can't seem to figure out how to reduce it sufficiently enough.. 

As a side note; based on Tom's physical condition at the time we offered to fly him here to save him the drive..  First class tickets even to ensure he was comfortable.  Tom refused the flight and said he would rather drive.  From his house to ours is about an 11 hour drive.  On the way down they completed the drive comfortably over the course of 2 days.  However, he must have found some inspiration while visiting because he decided to drive straight through on the way back with stops for fuel only.  Very "Tom Like", straight through, stopping for fuel only and for no other reason than to race his GPS....  I'd like to think he won!!! 

Thank you again for all the posts and photo, they mean a great deal to us.

Can't wait to meet all of you in person on one of the COG rides... See you soon.

Tim
 

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Sad to hear this. I only met Tom once, at the rib joint event Stan referred to. Sat next to him, and he was a great guy.
My condolences to you and the rest of the family.
 
RIP Tom, not sure if we ever met (maybe at the 2001 Rally in Klamath Falls) but he will be missed on the forums.
Good to know his bike is staying in the family  :great:
 
I never met Tom, but he was always a positive influence on the forum.  He was always a gentleman and I'll miss seeing his contributions to the COG community.  RIP Tom. :'(
 
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