The Official "Nicest Thing that Anyone Has Ever Done For You" Thread

[Ianofsmeg16]

Beirut closed the "anti-Jamster Crusade' Thread, that was leading me on a path i did not want to follow!

[KukriKhan]

1970. 19 years old, and Draft notice signed by R.M.Nixon in-hand, I decided to visit an old girlfriend in Rochester NY. Gassed up the 305 SuperHawk


and headed South, then East from Detroit, taking me through Ontario, Canada. By the time I got to Delhi town, the bike was burning up hot, so I pulled over, smoked a couple of cigarettes 'til it cooled down. Mounted up, tried the starter: no dice. Checked the fuel and power, all OK. Began using the kick-starter... nothing. Half and hour or so of kicking and cussing goes by, when up pulls a Canuck on a Triumph Bonneville.

"Trouble?"
"Won't start."

He checks the fuel and spark, tries to kick it over, but gets nowhere, too. We decide to try the "2nd-gear-run-and-jump" trick - on the 3rd try, the engine finally lights up... but I can only go about 20 m.p.h. Something's very wrong, and I'm in a foreign country.

Catching up to me, he hollars: "Follow me!", and we limp into Simcoe, to a beat-up looking garage, with car and bike parts strewn all about, and a couple guys working on a BSA.

"Hey, lookie what I found on the highway" my savior says, grinning.
"Busted rice-burner, eh?" one of the guys asks. "Figures. Best call Fletcher."

"I've only got about 40 bucks...", I start to say.
"Phffft... ", is the response.

A couple hours go by, the guys offer me a couple Molsons, and we chit-chat about bikes, girls, music, the usual. Fletcher shows up - on his own 305 Superhawk. "Twanger" (the road-helper)tells him my trouble. Fletcher nods to me, pulls a stethescope out of his jacket(!) - and says: "Crank 'er". When we finally get it started, he listens to the engine thru the 'scope for a full 2 minutes; all eyes are on him as he moves the device from crankcase to fins and back.

"Yer screwed", is his verdict, straightening up "Cam, I think... dinked bearings."

So they guys talk among themselves for a bit, then Twanger (aka Wayne) says: "You're welcome to stay here as long as you like."

So I did. 13 months, in fact, picking up whatever cash-only odd jobs I could find, or they found for me. I worked tobacco fields, loaded and unloaded cucumber trucks, played "go-fer" on construction sites. The best gig was when Robert found work for 4 of us, cutting survey lines outside Sudbury.

Back in Simcoe, one day I said to Twanger "Well, I guess I'd best go face it."

"Yeah, eh."

We got on our bikes (mine finally sporting a new cam), and rode to Detroit. He hung at my Mom's house will I sorted stuff out with the Army. Then he left.

Those guys didn't owe me a thing, and had no reason to help me out during a rough patch - but they did.

That's my 'nicest thing' story.

[Ianofsmeg16]

Kukri, that is one nice story, I love the guys and i dont even know em! :D