The local wrench is more than just folklore. He is the center of the community for many. He has all the tools, and the knowledge of just what to do to solve any symptom your bike may be suffering. Usually this fella has a sidekick or two...guys who are almost as good mechanically, but lack the space or the good nature to openly dispense advice, time, tools use, and effort. These guys are amazing to watch when they are called into action. They can often strip a bike down to bare the problem, and have a repair under way before the novice could find the correct page in the service manual. It always seems they either have the required part on a shelf, in a pile or at a nearby associates place. Triage and surgery and recovery all in the same afternoon in most cases. And routine maintenance is a delight for them, as they sit back , and watch the uninitiated learn by doing under the tutelage of the masters. Watching the newbie sort through 4 wrenches before finding the right size, or making a general mess of themselves as the oil change goes badly, and fresh oil seems to always pour straight through an engine that has not had its drain plug replaced.
Certainly this interesting phenomenanon of motorcyclist behavior repeats itself every summer weekend in every town across America. Close your eyes, and open your heart and you will experience it as well. The camaraderie is a shared experience; as the insults and jabs are traded within the guidelines of unwritten and universally known rules through out the entire time spent either turning wrenches or playing know-it-all. Bonding over a common interest, and it is not necessarily motorcycles, but rather the call of humankind to be part of a group. To belong somewhere rather than nowhere. The need to gather, and share, and experience as one. It seems rather incongruous that people who guard their independence and singularity as vehemently as motorcycle enthusiasts, the very picture of a rugged individual, would be drawn to this congregation.
However it is this behavior, this act of joining and participation, that validates the soul. It gives shelter from the cold world where dangers lurk around every corner. It offers a larger sense of self, and truer definition of the oblique nature of being human in every person not with standing their daily actions.
The Garage Day is more than just a day or place to repair ones motorcycle. ....
It is also a place to find yourself by looking into others for your reflection.
