East meets West
Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 8:41 pm
Thought I'd share this with you guys....
A little over a week ago I had the distinct pleasure of meeting with Mr. Yoshiaki Aoyama, president of the RZV500R Owners Club in Japan, at my house!
As the story goes, we had been in contact via email over the past couple of months in my attempt to get pics and details of their 30th anniversary event they held at Yamaha headquarters. I had noticed the 30th anniversary T-shirt they had produced and that a couple of their members were wearing, and I asked Yoshi-san if they had any left. Well, turns out they only made a very small number and they had none left. At least that's what he told me...
Next thing I know he's emailing me that he will be in Los Angeles the week of Nov. 17th with a friend, as both of them are professional photographers and would be covering the L.A. International Auto Show for a Japanese enthusiast magazine. And, he had something special for me and would be happy to make the 3-hour drive to meet me at my house to deliver it in person... a 30th Anniversary T-shirt he saved for me
Of course I said "come on down!" and then had to scramble to try and put on my best dog-and-pony show, as none of my bikes were completely put together.
Anyway, all turned out OK, they were a couple of great guys with loads of enthusiasm about these bikes and were full of questions about our club, its membership and our shared passion for these now-classic V-4 2-strokes.
And... I got my T-shirt
A little over a week ago I had the distinct pleasure of meeting with Mr. Yoshiaki Aoyama, president of the RZV500R Owners Club in Japan, at my house!
As the story goes, we had been in contact via email over the past couple of months in my attempt to get pics and details of their 30th anniversary event they held at Yamaha headquarters. I had noticed the 30th anniversary T-shirt they had produced and that a couple of their members were wearing, and I asked Yoshi-san if they had any left. Well, turns out they only made a very small number and they had none left. At least that's what he told me...
Next thing I know he's emailing me that he will be in Los Angeles the week of Nov. 17th with a friend, as both of them are professional photographers and would be covering the L.A. International Auto Show for a Japanese enthusiast magazine. And, he had something special for me and would be happy to make the 3-hour drive to meet me at my house to deliver it in person... a 30th Anniversary T-shirt he saved for me
Of course I said "come on down!" and then had to scramble to try and put on my best dog-and-pony show, as none of my bikes were completely put together.
Anyway, all turned out OK, they were a couple of great guys with loads of enthusiasm about these bikes and were full of questions about our club, its membership and our shared passion for these now-classic V-4 2-strokes.
And... I got my T-shirt