Memories from Family
Hi Keith, Here are a few funny stories for you – some aren’t motorcycle related, but will give you an idea of the character that brought us up:
I remember there being some interaction with Steve McQueen, but I can’t honestly remember what it was. It was a long time ago.
There were other encounters for sure. He sold a bike to Michael Mann of Miami Vice and Last of the Mohicans fame. Pete was convinced that Michael bought the bike because it was the “cool thing to do in Hollywood” at the time. I was the one who delivered the bike to his office in Hollywood but had to jump through a few hoops to do so. Waiting in his office for what seemed like forever, I had the opportunity to meet Daniel Day Lewis who had more time for a couple of kids from Canada than Michael Mann did. I always liked him for that. We got sent to a moto shop in west Hollywood somewhere and met some other characters who took the bike off our hands and gave the OK to the “big director” that the bike indeed was what my dad says it was. For the life of me I can’t remember the make of the bike! We had a trip to Mexico on our minds.
Things about Pete Gagan growing up as his son:
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Things were always being repaired. I can count on one hand the number of “new” things he bought. He made the washer/dryer last for 35 years. Same with the dishwasher.
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He bought us a CD player, speakers, amp and turntable for Christmas once. It was very exciting. However, he also bought us a BETAMAX “because the picture quality is much better than VHS”. This may have been true, but the fact you could only get one third of the movies that had been released really limited the amount of “high quality picture” we could watch.
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Never put a new stereo in an old car because “it’s not original”
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He let me turn his reel to reel / 8 track stereo cabinet into a guitar amp that I subsequently blew the speakers on.
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I rolled his Ford Ranger pickup truck that didn’t have collision insurance, and he was only happy that I wasn’t hurt.
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78’s and Cylinders were considered Hi Fidelity sound, and we played some of these in his palliative care room.
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He could play “Lady of Spain” on the violin, but not much else.
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The rumble seat in the 1928 Ford Model A was the best place to ride in the whole world as a kid.
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There were many late nights around the Player Piano that I can remember when I was young.
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He bought a computer when they were in their infancy. The Commodore 64 was the personal computer of choice at the time, but no, he ended up getting us a Radio Shack TRS-80 (probably knew a guy there) that had none of the same games our friends had nor the programming capacity that would go on to start the companies such as Microsoft and Apple.
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Old motorcycles and cars, while very cool and hip, weren’t always reliable. It is this PTSD that has his firstborn son buying new bikes and cars to this day. But also appreciating and admiring those wonderful pieces of iron from the past.
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His tools and garage were organized in a way that no one else could find anything. Counter space was always at a premium. Machined bits of metal lived between the cabinet and the wall for decades. The Castrol R was always in reach, and the smell was something we grew up with.
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The milling machine “isn’t a drill press” until he wasn’t home, but if you left any wood shavings below it, you’d hear about it.
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My Jay Leno Story – We were sitting around dinner one night many years ago when the phone rang. I answered it to a gentleman asking to speak with Pete Gagan. I asked who was calling so I could tell my dad. Jay Leno, the guy said. Ha, ok “Jay”, just a sec. So my dad got on the phone with this guy who was enquiring about the history of a Brough Superior SS100 (Maybe it was a Vincent Black Shadow?) that he was looking at purchasing. One that my dad used to own. They spoke at length about the history of the bike, and parted ways. When I asked him who it was, my dad said “oh a guy from southern California looking at buying a bike I used to own.” Jay Leno? The guy that is taking over for Johnny Carson? “I guess so” said my dad, never one to ogle over star power.
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My Bud Ekins Story: My dad took me to the Irish National Motorcycle Rally which is an amazing vintage event that was held in Cork and traveled around southern island. I hope it still exists. He set me up on a 1939 Rudge that belonged to his crusty, giant hearted friend Wally. Dad knew I liked to go fast and on day one introduced me to his two friends Tom and Bud. I followed them around southern Ireland at high speeds, wearing out the bottom of poor Wally’s footpegs and the toes of riding boots he lent me, drank beer (Murphys of course, as they were the title sponsor), and listened to their stories of riding and traveling with great awe and wonder. I didn’t have much to offer being in my early 20’s, but it was always nice to see my dad roll in some time later where he would join us and offer his own stories. It wasn’t until years later that I realized who my riding friend Bud Ekins was. The stuntman that jumped the mocked up “German” Triumph 650cc over the fence in the movie “The Great Escape” who was big in real life, too. The fact those guys took me under their wing for the rally said a lot about my dad. Perhaps Dad vouched for my riding skills, but truthfully, we know those guys took care of me because I was Pete’s kid.
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There is a great letter written by Englishman and motorcycle enthusiast Wally McCormack (since deceased), the fella that lent me the Rudge. It is written to my father in anticipation of his
parade lap around the Isle of Man TT course during race week there one year. It is a great account of each crux and turn written for my dad, titled “T.T. Historic Lap for the Devout Coward (
Pete Gagan Collections - Adrenaline is Brown_1) (
Pete Gagan Collections - Adrenaline is Brown_2 ) Enjoy !!
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Pete was kind and caring, and enjoyed a bit of mischief. We will miss him!
Edit/use/discard at your discretion, and don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story. My dad wouldn’t. Ha! -
Geoff Gagan
When Jay Leno visited us in White Rock, he let Jay ride his Brough. Jay’s handlers were very nervous when he took off on the bike. He managed just fine. We went to see him at the Orpheum in downtown Vancouver that night. Joined Jay in the green room later. Jay came back another time when we were in WR. I was off with the girls somewhere when Jay showed up. They enjoyed coffee around the kitchen table. I don’t know if either one of you were there. Pete was so casual about celebrities so much so that everyone just felt comfortable , no airs.
We were on our way home from Mexico one year with the Kinghorns and staying with friends outside of LA. We had no idea that they were huge fans of Jay. So Pete called Jay to tell him we were in town so he invited the four of us to be his guests at the show that night. We received VIP treatment inviting us back to a private showing of a movie pizza and popcorn included. As we were leaving the theatre parking lot, we were not sure which way to turn. Jay was behind us in one of his old classic cars, top down. He yelled at us to follow him and led us out. We exchanged a flurry of waves. Just a regular guy.
One year , maybe 1993, we were on a m/c rally in Ireland. It was the first time I had met Bud Ekins. I had no idea who Bud was or that he was a famous guy for all his Hollywood stunt career. Pete just greeted him with the same casual aplomb as he did any other M/ C rider. A few years later, Bud joined us on a rally in France where I got to visit with him again. He and Pete had a great camaraderie. A few years later Bud and Pete met up later on that same Irish rally. Both declined the dinner one night when Bud suggested they just go and have a quiet evening with a bottle of scotch and a hamburger. Both Bud and Pete were senior judges at a AMCA meet. The two of them were puzzling over awarding one of top awards when Bud claimed one guy was “an a-hole”. Bud said….i never liked that guy! Guess who didn’t get the award! -
Mary Jane Gagan
Hi Keith, I just found a nice little treasure trove on Pete’s iPad- he compiled photos of almost every bike he ever owned and documented it by year- from the 1876 Michaud all the way up to the 1987 Ducati F1. I’ll send across a link to the photos to you once the dust settles here on all the Christmas activity. 97 in total!
There were a couple that he missed- Geoff and I have fond memories of the 1955 (?) NSU Quickly that got most of its mileage on an impromptu figure 8 track we wore into the grass in our back yard growing up in White Rock but there remains no photo evidence of that machine.
Looking thru the pictures there are many bikes that I remember well and some that are fleeting memories, as dad was always trading and making deals. One bike I remember was the Honda NS400R. I had just moved to Santa Cruz, CA in the early aughts and dad had lined up a buyer for the bike in one of his many deals. As the bike was imported from Japan and there were some issues with it not being street legal in the US so importation was going to be a problem. I forget the exact details but dad used my home base as an opportunity to trailer it down from Canada and leave it in my garage while paperwork (or lack thereof?) got sorted out. Needless to say he encouraged me to throw a leg over it and it was a pretty fun bike to commute on from Santa Cruz over highway 152 into Morgan Hill with all the twists and hairpin turns on the way into my job at Fox Racing. It may come as no surprise that I was able to shave a few minutes off my commute time on my daily driver (a 1992 FLHS).
The Honda drew quite a crowd when I pulled into the parking lot with all the gear heads at Fox, and I remember my friend Lee telling me he could hear the sounds of the two stroke coming from about a mile away. Not sure where that bike ended up, but like all of the bikes that came in and out of Pete’s garage, it has a story to tell.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and the AMCA.
Kind Regards,
Chris Gagan