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A handle on it.
Early this morning I received a reply to an email I had sent out to Billy Lane, of of Chopper's Inc. Some of you may know him from the Discovery Channel show, Biker Build-off, and from some of the other motorcycle specials that have appeared on TV, but I've known Billy since '99 when I first contacted him while going through MMI in Phoenix. Haha, I almost moved to Florida to go work with him - who knows where I would be right now had I followed that life path! Anyway, I consider Billy to be one of the most talented, creative forces behind the custom movement here in the US, and he's regularly featured in various international magazines, like Vibes. In fact, and that's where I first learned of him. Others of you probably only know of him because of the horrible tragedy he was involved in last year when he was driving home drunk one night and he killed another biker. While I will never condone Driving Under the Influence, you have to think that life moves on, and I'm sure for him it's just been a nightmare. How do you live with yourself after going through something like that? How can you deal with the guilt, the despair, the sense of loss, and how do you go about putting everything back together when there are pieces missing you can never replace or rebuild?
I was up early this morning to get a head start on my day, but his email kind of shook me up a little and I find I'm having trouble concentrating right now so I thought I'd throw out a post and send some positive vibrations his way. I hope you guys can all take a moment to think about how lucky we all are, and to give a thought to all the bikers that have met with an untimely end and are no longer with us.
Billy made these one-off handlebars for me, long before his shop blew up and he became successful enough to start making parts in large numbers, and I promised him that I'd run them on one of my bikes. Life has a way of distracting you and running on, like the waters swirling along the edges of a stream, and it took me a couple years before I finally mounted them on something. But I did. I hope it doesn't take Billy a couple years to get back on the horse. Peace out y'all.
Comments
Dude, I'm sorry if he was a friend of yours, but there's not a single 'positive vibration' being sent his way from here. His negligence and stupidity KILLED A MAN. He should feel every ounce of that guilt, despair and loss all day every day for the rest of his life. He was driving on a suspended license because of prior drunk driving arrest. He lost all credibilty and respect in my eyes, especially because of his celebrity status. Some people actually look up to him and see him as a role model! I hope they throw the book at him.
-- See the email I sent you -- Liam
Posted by: kill_ziggy | February 8, 2007 06:10 PM
He is the one living with that dreadful feeling now, hopefully he can reconstruct his life and be a better man in the future. I'm sorry he killed a man. I'm sure he must be too, a zillion times more.
Jean adds,
i'm also extremely sorry for the dead rider and
his family and friends, but I don't believe in eternal punishment. He
must suffer hell right now, it must be a horrible feeling to feel
responsible for the death of a man.
let's hope he'll get better . life is for the living and we must
embrace it in respect for the people who aren't among us no more.
they would want that before all, I think.
Posted by: jean-marc | February 9, 2007 10:21 PM
Here's a response that I sent to kill_ziggy. I hope I everyone understands that I feel immense sorrow and regret for the family of the deceased, and I cannot emphasize that enough.
"You're absolutely right - I'm not condoning his actions in any way,
because I feel strongly myself about the issue of drinking and
driving. I personally believe his celebrity status contributed in
some way to his irresponsible behavior. But as he was a friend of
mine before all this stuff happenned, I feel it's better to try and be
somewhat understanding. If your father or brother was involved in a
similar incident, what then? Everyone makes mistakes, some far bigger
than others. This one was huge. I'm sure he does feel the full
weight of his guilt, at least I hope he does, and I also hope he can
learn something from all this.
Please don't miscomprehend or misconstrue my "positive vibration" as a
way to forgive or congratulate him on all of this. I assure you, it's
anything but. The positive vibrations are for everyone, Billy
included, because there's so much pain and suffering for everyone
involved. I'm sure they all can use it.
Best,
Liam"
Posted by: Liam | February 10, 2007 12:07 PM
That track is fantastic!!! Dl'ed and put into Pete's Essential Selection. I've picked up a couple albums and mixes that u might like. Check ur ftp. Good luck in Qatar. GO BSS (Black Sheep Squadron)!!! I'll have to come up w/ a logo for u to run on the bikes :D
Posted by: Pete | February 12, 2007 07:17 AM