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Motorcycling is something that is in our blood, that is within our cromossomes and is transmitted from generation to generation. This is my personal view, and thus my personal story.
My grandfather's Harley Davidson :
The first time I've heard about motorcycles I was eight years old, and my father's father - Irom da Rocha Lima - a very patient and literate man, told me about a Harley Davidson he imported to Goias in 1928 (the state's first Harley Davidson). His intention was to substitute his horse normally ridden to his tannery, located about 6 miles from the center of the city of Goias. Goias was by then the capital city of the State of Goias. This bike came from the USA along with some industrial equipment he imported to his tannery.
My uncle Leonel, his eldest, that was eighty years old in 1999 when I first published my story at the Internet told me he had a vivid memory about the facts involving this motorcycle. He used to ride the bike as a pillion passenger, with his father, enduring mud and bogs at the rain season, and loose gravel and sand banks at the dry season.
My grandfather used to tell me many stories about his adventures with this bike, including here some trips he did to hunt at the Serra Dourada - a range of sierra in the vicinity of that city. In those days hunting was a common thing, as a leisure activity and as a way of getting food as well.
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My grandfather kept this bike during two or three years, and as it was easier by then to ride his horse to his tannery instead of using the motorcycle, he sold it to a mechanic called Felipe Alexandre; Felipe was his friend - a very talented mechanic of Italian descent, that used to work as a leather artisan producing saddles as well as being a mechanic. By 1931 Felipe went to Sao Paulo - SP in this bike, and brought some leather caps to my father that was 7 years old at that occasion.
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Stories from my other grandfather:
The vision of motorcycling transmitted to me by my other grandfather, my mother's father, Lourival Franco de Carvalho was from a very different perspective. In his youth, spent in the city of Varginha - MG, he had a friend called Argentino Mendes; Argentino, the son of a vey rich family, had an Indian - American motorcycle as it was the Harley Davidson.
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At the weekends, very well dressed as the social conventions demanded by then, my grandfather and his friend were always together. One afternoon Argentino invited my grandfather to ride the motorcycle with him, simply to ''show up'' to their girlfriends. Argentino revved the bike at the main avenue, and my grandfather showing more caution than the common sense would dictate decided to jump from the moving bike. He jumped as if he was in a horse back, and as a result of this decision he became very afraid of motorcycles in general from then on. With him I've learned to be prudent and cautious when riding a motorcycle, and to treat a bike with due respect.
Historic perspective: my grandfather Irom da Rocha Lima was a Land Engineer, belonging to the first class of graduates in such course in Brazil at the Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, then called National College of Agronomics; he was a pioneer in Goiania - GO, first Principal of the Lyceu College in Goiania - GO, and State Education Secretary, during the Jose Feliciano Ferreira governship. His father Miguel da Rocha Lima was State Governor in Goias from 1905 to 1909 (at that time they were called State President), he occupied the same position temporarily from 1922 to 1924 and 1924/1925 again. He was a Senator for two terms.
My grandfather Lourival Franco de Carvalho attend only primary school, and despite of that provided a very good education to his four children, including my mother. He worked his whole life as a Commercial Representative, at the south of the State of Minas Gerais (Varginha and Lavras) and later in Belo Horizonte - MG. According to him he made money literally holding a briefcase in his hands, according to me in a brilliant and effective way. He never had a car or a motorcycle.
To them I owe my theoretical introdution to the motorcycle world, but was my mother that allowed me to go from the theory to the real thing.
The production of those pages is part of a very personal project, yet it is professional as well. Personal because it represents the opportunity I had to publish at the Internet my memories of 30 Years of Motorcycling (completed in May/1999). Professional due to the fact that I involved my pupils attending my Computing courses to teenagers in such project.
Those pupils are: Renato Marra Moreira (11 years old), Marcela Badim Rocha Lima (my daughter, 11 years old), Raphael Alves Mendes (12 years old), Leonardo Alves Lopes (13 years old) and Sebastião C. G. Borges (17 years old). They have been involved and participating in all stages of this project, and thus we have published our story at the Internet in May/1999.
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My dear reader, for a productive navigation along this site do pay attention please to the following:
all the ages and dates referred to are mentioned accordingly to the facts here described, and in accordance with the dates the pages were incorporated to the site; that was first published in May/1999. From then we have been constantly adding new pages and updating the original ones.
the links at the upper side of each page take us only to the first page of the seventies, eighties and nineties respectively;
for a better navigation and in order to follow properly our story, please click at the links at the bottom (right side) of each page;
each photo has a text with additional information; to access them place the cursor over the photo;
the section Dreaming (upper right side of each page) has data regarding our Honda C-100 Dream, information about CUB bikes (Honda) and interesting links about those bikes;
the section A CBX 250 Twister, is about the Honda CBX 250 Twister - also known as Honda CBF 250; this motorcyle is Made in Brazil since 2001, and exported to many countries;
the section 35 is about our jubilee of 35 Years of Motorcycling that happened in May/2005;
the section Hunter 90 is related to the Sundown Hunter 90, that I have recently purchased (beginning of April/2007); this bike is Made in Brazil, by a company with 100% of Brazilian capital, utilizing Chinese technology;
the section Sundown STX Motard is about our new bike, purchased on the 2nd of May, 2008;
don´t miss our impression on the
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© 1999 - 2008 Ricardo C. da Rocha Lima
All rights reserved
Last update:
29/07/08 18:19
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