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
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