Some of you know the name, probably most don't. Bob Higdon is a recovering attorney. He practiced law in DC until, in his early 50s, he retired so he could devote his time to touring on a motorcycle. At one point he undertook a mission to ride to every courthouse in the US. He succeeded but I don't know how long it took him. He and Mike Kneebone who revived the Iron Butt Rally in 1986 became friends and Bob became the Iron Butt Association's general counsel and unofficial legal counsel. I met him Denver at an IBA National meeting. I saw a '10 silver NT parked a good distance away from all the other bikes at the meeting. After a couple of days without it moving, I wrote a note with my name, room number, and phone number on it and stuck it on the bike. That night at the banquet Lisa Landry who organizes programs, meetings, and rallies, was making a few announcements and then asked if Phil Tarman would stand up. I did and she pointed to Bob and said this man wants to talk with you. We met and talked a long time.
His NT was the first one I ever saw except for the 9 of us who had the largest gathering of NT to date in Michigan earlier that summer. I had bought mine in March and had about 12K miles on it. Bob had bought his in October of '09 in Brookhaven, MS, and had 38K miles on it by early September. He rode along with the Iron Butt Lite riders to Savannah, GA, after leaving Denver, then back to Brookhaven and bought another '10 ABS NT.
Bob had ridden over a million miles on a couple or four BMW K75 RTs, but as BMW began shrinking the number of dealers until one day when he was in northern MT, his driveshaft failed. The nearest dealership was over 400 miles away and when he go there, he learned that there were no driveshafts in the US and it would take 6-8 months to get one from Germany. It wasn't long until he'd found that Brookhaven Honda had one of the first NTs in the country. He bought it sight unseen. His verdict was that the NT was the K75 BMW should have built. I saw him again at the Big Sky Rally in Big Sky, MT. I was riding in the rally and Bob was there as one of the scorers. He was riding an '11 NT then but still had his 2nd '10. He kept one in Baltimore and the other in Daytona.
I hadn't seen him again until today. He's down to one NT, the '11 and it has a heavily duct-taped right big pannier lid. (He's looking for one, BTW. If you've got one I'll connect him with you.) He's not riding much anymore and came here on a Stingray. He's not terribly impressed with it, but it was either free or a long term loaner.
The time comes for all of us to stop riding. I hope I've got another 3-4 years. If I can make it out of the Provo Marriot Hotel and Convention Center in the morning, that put me a long way from stopping soon.
His NT was the first one I ever saw except for the 9 of us who had the largest gathering of NT to date in Michigan earlier that summer. I had bought mine in March and had about 12K miles on it. Bob had bought his in October of '09 in Brookhaven, MS, and had 38K miles on it by early September. He rode along with the Iron Butt Lite riders to Savannah, GA, after leaving Denver, then back to Brookhaven and bought another '10 ABS NT.
Bob had ridden over a million miles on a couple or four BMW K75 RTs, but as BMW began shrinking the number of dealers until one day when he was in northern MT, his driveshaft failed. The nearest dealership was over 400 miles away and when he go there, he learned that there were no driveshafts in the US and it would take 6-8 months to get one from Germany. It wasn't long until he'd found that Brookhaven Honda had one of the first NTs in the country. He bought it sight unseen. His verdict was that the NT was the K75 BMW should have built. I saw him again at the Big Sky Rally in Big Sky, MT. I was riding in the rally and Bob was there as one of the scorers. He was riding an '11 NT then but still had his 2nd '10. He kept one in Baltimore and the other in Daytona.
I hadn't seen him again until today. He's down to one NT, the '11 and it has a heavily duct-taped right big pannier lid. (He's looking for one, BTW. If you've got one I'll connect him with you.) He's not riding much anymore and came here on a Stingray. He's not terribly impressed with it, but it was either free or a long term loaner.
The time comes for all of us to stop riding. I hope I've got another 3-4 years. If I can make it out of the Provo Marriot Hotel and Convention Center in the morning, that put me a long way from stopping soon.
