Holmeslice
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- Joined
- Sep 27, 2009
- Messages
- 493
As some of you may know, Ron Halem, aka "Goldstar Ron", passed away last week after a tough battle with cancer.
I don't think any of us have ever met a person with quite the fiery passion he had. I first learned of Ron from different Brit Bike internet forums I'd frequented. As we all knew, you couldn't tell Ron otherwise (online, anyway) when it came to Goldstars, racing, or what was going to happen at the Manx Grand Prix. But when I met the man in person I saw the true Ron - a very considerate, caring, generous, gentle man, who loved motorcycles and racing, but even more, loved life and his friends. Ron wanted to win. He set lofty goals and worked every day to achieve them. I pitted with him when Dave Roper rode his Goldstar at Miller a few years ago and Ron and I hit it off. After that, he "tossed me the keys" to his bike, allowing me to come racing out west and have a BEAUTIFUL machine to push through the corners. In return, I would give him as much feedback on setup, power, etc. as I could. He gobbled this stuff up, as it all was fodder for his master plan to achieve his 100mph goal on The Island. I never had a doubt he would make that goal. I will always be thankful for his generosity, and I'm a better man to have called him a friend. We last spent time at Barber this year - an event he had yearned to attend - and I was happy to keep him comfortable in the paddock. Ron was sick, and we candidly discussed his ability to keep up at the pace he'd been going. But the news of his death really caught me by surprise.
I thought some of those who knew him would like to see a video featuring Ron that was put together yesterday by our friend, Don Lange. In 2013 Don and his crew accompanied us to the races to shoot footage for a documentary. Don was new to the sport and admitted he wasn't sure what he'd find. But upon arrival at his first event (Sonoma, CA) he was completely struck by the wealth of character in the racing paddock, and Ron was front and center, and became the first interview. Don went on to shoot the entire 2013 season, and a short film he compiled on Roper that was released earlier this year has been quite a hit, giving him even more motivation to continue working on a full-length feature.
In any case, he captured some fantastic, candid, intimate moments with our buddy "Goldstar Ron", and I'm grateful he was able to edit some of this together in a short amount of time.
Click this link here to watch:
[video]http://vimeo.com/111265713[/video]
Ron was definitely one of a kind. We can all learn from his enthusiasm and passion.
-Kenny
I don't think any of us have ever met a person with quite the fiery passion he had. I first learned of Ron from different Brit Bike internet forums I'd frequented. As we all knew, you couldn't tell Ron otherwise (online, anyway) when it came to Goldstars, racing, or what was going to happen at the Manx Grand Prix. But when I met the man in person I saw the true Ron - a very considerate, caring, generous, gentle man, who loved motorcycles and racing, but even more, loved life and his friends. Ron wanted to win. He set lofty goals and worked every day to achieve them. I pitted with him when Dave Roper rode his Goldstar at Miller a few years ago and Ron and I hit it off. After that, he "tossed me the keys" to his bike, allowing me to come racing out west and have a BEAUTIFUL machine to push through the corners. In return, I would give him as much feedback on setup, power, etc. as I could. He gobbled this stuff up, as it all was fodder for his master plan to achieve his 100mph goal on The Island. I never had a doubt he would make that goal. I will always be thankful for his generosity, and I'm a better man to have called him a friend. We last spent time at Barber this year - an event he had yearned to attend - and I was happy to keep him comfortable in the paddock. Ron was sick, and we candidly discussed his ability to keep up at the pace he'd been going. But the news of his death really caught me by surprise.
I thought some of those who knew him would like to see a video featuring Ron that was put together yesterday by our friend, Don Lange. In 2013 Don and his crew accompanied us to the races to shoot footage for a documentary. Don was new to the sport and admitted he wasn't sure what he'd find. But upon arrival at his first event (Sonoma, CA) he was completely struck by the wealth of character in the racing paddock, and Ron was front and center, and became the first interview. Don went on to shoot the entire 2013 season, and a short film he compiled on Roper that was released earlier this year has been quite a hit, giving him even more motivation to continue working on a full-length feature.
In any case, he captured some fantastic, candid, intimate moments with our buddy "Goldstar Ron", and I'm grateful he was able to edit some of this together in a short amount of time.
Click this link here to watch:
[video]http://vimeo.com/111265713[/video]
Ron was definitely one of a kind. We can all learn from his enthusiasm and passion.
-Kenny
