1389 Hidden Circle

Sugar Hill, GA 30518

404-863-0522

Tues - Fri 9:00am - 5pm

Sat - Appointment Only

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A Gift For A Returning Freedom Fighter!

Devin Cary is not your average customer. He is brave soul and a fearless defender of our country. He has not spent a ton of money with my shop. He has not sent many customers my way. He has done something very special though for each of us. He has chosen to put himself in the way of harm for both you and me.

First a little background on Devin. I have seen him from the start of his motorcycle journey. Young and inexperienced he bought a Yamaha R6 and calls me for some help. He said it's running poorly and the chain is slipping. I tell him bring it in and we will see what is going on with it. Devin shows up with it and it it's in sad shape. It's apparent this bike has been ridden hard. It needs a transmission, 2nd gear slips. It needs a chain and sprockets. The carbs are dirty and it's got electrical issues and needs a bath. Bodywork was a mix of parts of different colors. My advice was to get it mechanically sound and safe to ride first. We can make it pretty afterwards.

I get to work on it and with a few new bits and some parts I had left over from previous race bikes it doesn't take long until it's ready. A couple hours of tuning and some final checks and it's time to deliver the bike.

With the repairs complete I delivered the bike to him at work. He is so happy and eager to ride. He pays me, shakes my hand and I said be careful. I asked him if he had gear to ride safe. He said yeah, I have a helmet�I grin and hop in my truck. He gets on the bike with no helmet and takes off to go behind a large industrial building. Zoom, zoom, back and forth and pulls a wheelie while he smiles ear to ear. He calls a few days later to let me know how very happy he is with the work and to he wants to do a track day now. Thank you I said. Go get all of the wild stuff done there and not on the street. He says he needs the bike prepped for the track day.

I say ok and get to work. I get the bike drilled and wired according to the track day guidelines and mount some take off rubber he brought with him. I tell him be careful, take it slow and have some fun. He comes back a few weeks later all smiles�yup he is hooked. This goes on for some time but then I don't hear anything for a few months. He calls up and says the bike is running poor again. I go to his house and at least it is all one color now albeit black primer! He tells me the story of his wreck, work canned him and his car is dead. He tells me he needs the bike to get around and gives me his best sob story. I clean the carbs, get it happy again and take it back to him. Several more months go by he shows up at the shop. He has some questions. I am going in the Army he says. I was in for a few years so I give him the speech. I told him it will fix you right up but I said you know that you will be going over to the big beach with no water and get to see some mountains. He says: "I know but I want to do this for my country." I said good deal be careful have fun at basic training.

He and his dad come in a few months later as he is going off to fight and drops off his bike for me to look after while he's away. Tells me to get it ready to ride for whenever I get back. We hang out for a bit I tell him watch is six and to shoot first and ask questions later. Off he goes. His dad comes in a few weeks later with some old bikes he has and wants to get back riding. He tells me some stories about Devin and what happened to the bike. Seems it was a wheelie gone bad resulting in a trip over a banking. He is hurting and misses his boy and needs something to keep his mind busy. He brings me an old Goldwing that his friend, who had died of cancer, owned and wants me to see if I can get it running. Let's say it must run in the family�The Goldwing is a separate story�but when it did start a mouse house blew out of the exhaust!

After thinking for a while and looking at the condition of his R6 a planned was hatched. I planned to rebuild the bike for him as a token of appreciation for the sacrifice he had made. Kenny, a customer of the shop that I have built several bikes for and I were chatting about it when the idea came up to ask the motorcycle community for a little help with the project. We put the call out on a couple of motorcycle specific forums and it did not take long for the troops to rally around a soldier. Donations came in within minutes of the request being posted. Some were big, others were small but in together it allowed us to do what would have been otherwise financially impossible. Traxxion Dynamics, a local suspension shop, stepped in and offered to completely rework the suspension. WERA Racers donated sprockets, case covers, body work and other parts. Derek "Stickboy" Bennett supplied new racing compound brake pads for both ends of the bike. Moto400 sold us parts at their cost to assist with rebuilding the motor. Members of the RC51.org forum donated money and parts to help with the project. Kyle Grob donated time, labor and materials to paint the bike with a theme fitting of the recipient. Sport bike Track Time stepped with a track day of Devin's choice. All in all a gracious effort was put forth by the members of the motorcycle community and we could not have done this without them.