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Brodie

Darksider #16 - and Proud of it !
Joined
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Location
--- Milpitas, CA --- San Jose Bay Area
Bittersweet news...

My good friend Brian Bott, aka FJRONAMISSION, has graduated from off the Dot and onto the Line into eternity with our Lord.

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He joined up sometime around 2008, and like many new members he asked if there were anyone in the San Jose area who wanted to go riding. We struck up a friendship and with my being somewhat new to the FJRForum also, we started attending several local gathering of forum members. We quickly learned that if a FJRForum member's name was Mike, he came from the Sacramento crowd.

I remember when Brian and his younger son Dillan rode with me to the '09 Manchester KOA gathering that Tyler and her friend Patric put on, and where Tyler had her AE moment.

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We had breakfast at Alice's Restaurant in nearby Woodside up on the peninsula. It was a cold morning and we had a table outside, so he pulled one of the outdoor space heaters next to us. A few moments later we smelled some burning and realized the big parasol over the table had caught fire from the heater - oops.

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He was a good rider, and a proud papa. But even with Dillon on the back of his bike he kept commenting on all the parked cars in the middle of the winding road that we were passing as we were nearing the campground.

For all you Darksiders, it was my friend Brian who came up with the Michelin Pilot Exalto which quickly became such a popular tire. He considered it part of his mission to demonstrate just how capable that piece of rubber was for our chosen platform.

Back in July of 2010 when I had my accident which took out my first FJR, it was Brian and another good friend who helped me with getting the wreck back from the salvage yard. Brian also hooked me up with an attorney friend of his who took good care of the legal issues involved. Back then I was building Grounding Harnesses, and Brian with his two sons helped me keep up with the demand.

A few years passed and he was compelled by DMV to change his riding style a bit. HE sold his beloved FJR and bought a Road King. He also got back into dirt bike riding and enjoyed watching his kids fall in love with it too. Alas, with the sale of his FJR he kind of faded into the background on this forum, people come and people go.

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Late 2015 a cancerous mass was discovered in his left knee, and he went under the knife several times to have it removed. It got to the point of taking the limb to save his life, and he had to adjust to a life of walking with an artificial leg. Of course, with the aggressive cancer comes equally aggressive treatments which took a toll. The last time I saw him was in a hospital bed several months back. One thing my friend was was a fighter. He was on top of his medical team, and keeping the staff straight and on target with his treatments.

The other thing about my friend was he was terribly in love with his very best friend and wife Susan, and his two sons, Dakota and Dylan. Dakota became a Marine last year, which made his dad proud!

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He graduated this past Sunday.

Brian was in the hospital for 19 days, and he was heavily sedated during the entire time. As always, the doctors were amazed at how he fought to keep going, against enormous odds. He passed away peacefully on Sunday, May 7 at 7:05 p.m., surrounded by family and friends. A Celebration of Life will be held in his honor on Saturday, May 27 at 2:00 p.m.

God Speed my friend.

Brodie

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Godspeed, Brian and may you rest in peace. Condolences to his friends and family who are missing his presence on earth but cherish their memories of him.

 
A lovely tribute to a friend... well done, Brodie... Brian was an imp... always had that glint in his eyes that he was up to a wee bit of trouble along with a big old sh*t eating grin... I'm guessing he's stirring it up on those twisties in the sky... godspeed, Brian, and condolences to his family.

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Thank you Brodie.

I never got to meet Brian. Someday in Heaven I will get that chance.

 
That's a touching tribute, Brodie. May we all be so fondly remembered. My sympathies to you and to Brian's friends and family.

 
Thanks for the touching tribute Brodie. I only came across Brian once that I remember during Wheatie's trip back in '11 I think at some inn in Bodega Bay - now that I think about it that's where I met Don Stanley as well.

I heard the first rumors of the (in)famous tire debate at dinner that night and wish I had had another chance to have heard the story again as it surely would have continued to grow over time!

I'll keep good thoughts for his family.

 
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I remember reading a link years ago to a ride report of Brian blasting through the curves with that car tire. He was on certainly a mission that day. I didn't know he was struggling against cancer lately. Just curious, how old was he when he passed?

We'll be keeping his family in our prayers.

Gary

darksider #44

 
Sounds like a good man that this earth could not afford to lose but who the Man upstairs called home to a better place. God Bless him and his family.

 
Nicely said Brodie. It can be hard on family and friends, but still we are appointed to die once. It appears that Brian has found the way to avoid the second death, good on him.

 
I'm sorry to hear about Brian's passing and the troubles he went through toward the end. Good guy. Yep, an "imp," good choice of words, Tyler, along with fearless and unforgettable--I was up in Eureka that weekend and got the full story about the big darksider v. um, not-darksider showdown. Not really surprised to hear the DMV got into the conversation at some point, to say the truth, but he did it all with enthusiasm and joy. Sincere condolences to his wife and boys, and to you, Brodie, and all of Brian's friends.

 
Like Russperry, the Boss and I met Brian at the Bodega Bay gaggle when the Wheatie/Airboss clusterfeck rolled through town. I sat next to him at the Spaghetti feed that Ms. Tyler (thanks again) put together and chatted extensively, making more noise at one point than the Papa Chuy/OM/Tyler table, no small feat! He was not the kind of guy that snuck into a room unnoticed, you knew when he was around, a character for sure. We're all better for having known him, albeit for that short time.

I went back and read some old ride reports from that time, realizing that we've lost Brian, Papa Chuy (Don Stanley), TWN (Tim), Orangevale (Andrew), Good2go(Greg G) and others that have in one way or another, impacted our lives. Makes one kind of sentimental about our interactions with people who share our 2 wheel passion and reminds us that we might only get the one chance to learn what makes that person tick and how interesting their life is. Glad I got to know Brian and offer condolences to family and friends who will have to carry on without him.

 
I never met him, but I remember seeing his name. I'm sorry he's gone, and I'm sorry you lost your friend Brodie. His boys are awful young to lose their dad. I hate threads like this, yet I'm glad he lived a good life!

 
Met Brian in Eureka and he was an imp, but a really fun guy. He did a burnout in the parking lot and got a lot crap for that.

Brodie you wrote a great tribute to Brian and I am sure his family would enjoy it as much as we did.

 
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