Pete Bredemier passed away last Wednesday. He used to have a motorcycle shop in Grand Junction called Pete's Thing.
If you ever saw his can crusher made from Norton parts you would know he was an interesting man.
I met Pete at the 1980 Rally in the Redwoods. He and his wife had ridden out from GJ with her sitting on a very minimalist butt pad that was strapped to the rear fender. Just as they were entering the campground Pete hit a big chuckhole launching his wife skyward. With a quick glance to make sure that she was still alive he immediately started giving his bike a thorough going over. He wanted to make sure that the rear frame loop hadn't bent. He had a '75 Roadster that he'd removed the starter motor from and reconfigured the inner and outer primary so you couldn't even tell that the starter had been there. He just wanted a leak proof primary. Somewhere I've got some photos of that along with his scalloped front and rear hubs. He'd removed material from between each spoke in a nice artful arc. I've still got a "Pete's Thing" t-shirt that he gave me for allowing his wife to braid my hair into two pigtails in preparation for the INOA photo shoot. Yes, alcohol was involved. Great if somewhat foggy memories.
Pete rode in from Grand Junction to the 1982 rally in Bar Harbor Maine. His Atlas looked horrible but didn't leak a drop. He won the ugly bike contest and glued the plaque to his tank. Betty passed away back in the 80's. I remember several of us walking to a local crab shack for dinner being very well lubricated. Good times and a good man.
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