Meet Tom Wacker!

A week ago, I reached out to see if any of you were interested in contributing to Bike-urious so we could increase the breadth and depth of featured bikes. I was ecstatic to see how many readers answered the call, and over the new few weeks you’ll be meeting some of them. First, let’s start with Tom Wacker, and I’ll leave the introduction to him!

File under: Who is this and what is he doing here?

My name is Tom Wacker. I’m going to be writing some of the ‘bike for sale’ pieces for Bike-urious and maybe a little more.

I got my first ride on a motorcycle in 1956 or ‘57. A friend of my father’s showed up in the yard on his Indian and there is no doubt I had eyes open wide. He asked me if I wanted a ride and well, yes I did.

I bought my first motorcycle in 1965 (I was 13 years old) a 1964 Yamaha YG1KT from a used car lot. I ended up putting 30,000 miles on that bike and learning at least the start of being able to do my own repairs. It ended up in pieces but the love affair was born.

Some time about 1974 I bought my first real dirt squirter (a TM400 Suzuki) and spent much of the next 30 years playing in the dirt. I rode a lot of yellow across those years, but mixed in some green and white and red.

I never completely left the road however and when I moved to Arizona in 2000 I fell in with a couple of riders. I had gotten completely tired of falling down (you don’t heal up as fast at 50) and was ready to embrace the ride.

Since then, I have a couple of hundred thousand miles in. I’ve never completely left the dirt either and today have 2 main rides. A 2008 Kawasaki Concours and a 2006 Suzuki V-Strom 1000. Both have their place in my life, and I ride whenever and wherever I can.

I’ll mostly feature ‘orphans’ and forgotten bikes. I am a ‘value conscious’ shopper and rider, and always looking for a really good bike at a really good price. I also love some of the exotics and have a curiosity about the electrics. Then there is my long term love affair with Ducati…

I hope we’ll get along, you and I. I love motorcycles and riding as much as anything I can think of. And I have learned the answer to the one great mystery in my life. I KNOW why my dog sticks his head out the window as we roll down the road.

Tom Wacker
Yuma, Arizona
December 26, 2015