Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1513811
Didn't know him from Adam, he could have been the man on the moon for all I knew, but guess what t-shirt he had on? He had that huge Maico badge emblazoned on his chest and the two of us snapped together like magnets. "And then the BS began! We must have stood together there talking Maico-ese for two hours, in front of this poor guy's booth and probably blocked out all his poten al customers that morning! "Did you ever do this...?", "How did you do that...?", "What did you do when the swingarm bolt stuck in that bushing?" We went through every piece of gruesome maintenance we ever had to do on that bike, and in the process, we were instant blood brothers in this growing Maico cult. "The friendship expanded because we were both obsessive-compulsive. Rick kept prevailing on me to come out to California. "Krause, you go a come out, there's gonna be a Suzuki intro at Indian Dunes, we can go riding out in the desert..." So, I asked how long should I come for? and Rick tells me "A week!" So I tell my girlfriend, just watch the store, and I drop everything and go out to L.A. So like four weeks, five weeks, six weeks later, I hear from my girlfriend back in Illinois, and she's like "Krause, when you coming back? All the bikes and most of the riding gear is sold out!" I just got addicted to California--the weather, the bikes, all the riding, all the crazies I met, and in the process Rick and I became the closest friends. The girlfriend was not thrilled." Paul: "My story is just as convoluted, but I'll try to keep it short. In 1977 I came to Cali- fornia to seek my fortune, as my good friend Rik Paul had been handed the editorship of the original Dirt Rider magazine, published by Challenge Publica ons in Canoga Park. I remember showing up for work the first day and learning that all the motorcycle maga- zines shared one fairly large room. Rik Paul and I shared the room with Modern Cycle, plus a road bike magazine the name I can't re- member, but I do recall the editor's name was Jeff Peck (not unlike the famous guitarist), and a minibike magazine of unknown parent- age (I think the editor worked from home).