Rob Harris... Ten Years After

Thanks for posting that link. I loved CMG online when Rob started it. I met him once on one of the pub nights. What a positive and enthusiastic person. Hard to believe it has been 10 years since the accident.
 
I will never forget Rob. I remember when he found out that the ZX7 he had indirectly sold me had a front brake failure, he was right on me to make sure that I was OK and blamed himself for it. I got to ride with him and hang out a little bit with him, Larry and Steve on occasion. I was there at Larry's house for his 60th (I crashed it, I admit). My life was different when CMG was around even though I didn't know Rob well. He cast a long shadow.

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The advrider article on `arris mentions Piero Zambotti. Piero died in a crash in 2003 at age 26, accomplishing so much in his short time. I got to go out for a rip a few times with him, he was over the moon excited to ride my 500. I can`t recall ever meeting a young guy so smart, kind and polite and absolutely bursting with enthusiasm for motorcycling. Actually he reminded me of Rusty Bradley, a 21 year old who was fatally injured in a Daytona `71 crash on his Kawasaki H1-R. One of those young guys who was ascending fast and you just knew he would be big. It`s the people in motorcycling that make it a challenge to simply put into words.
 
I don't understand why Rob isn't in the Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame, when so many random Joe Bobs who once scored like three points in a race, once, 25 years ago, are. I don't know enough about the Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame to know if it's a farce or just tone deaf, but either way, it's a shame.

If we're talking about people who were beyond just a person, but a ******* institution in Canadian motorcycling, Rob Harris was up there for decades. You've probably never heard of 3/4 of the Canadian Hall of Fame inductees, but you've probably read at least 3-4 Rob Harris penned, or edited, motorcycle pieces... if not 30-40.

I thought about volunteering some time and energy with the Hall of Fame a couple years back. I thought, maybe as an 80s baby I could give some fresh blood in there since it seemed like everyone in there was from the jurassic era... but when I saw Rob Harris was out, and how many guys who've never made a ripple outside of the racing circle were in, it seems like it's just a circle jerk for geezers, that doesn't actually care to recognize real great Canadian motorcyclists like Rob.

And that's too bad, because, eventually all of us who got to meet him, hang out with him, read his reviews, etc. will stop posting his name... and I think he deserves some kind of bigger recognition that sticks around longer than we will.

"I don't want to do what everyone else is doing. I want to do the stuff that I think is interesting."
- Rob Harris

RIP Rob.
 
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adri said:
I don't understand why Rob isn't in the Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame, when so many random Joe Bobs who once scored like three points in a race, once, 25 years ago, are. I don't know enough about the Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame to know if it's a farce or just tone deaf, but either way, it's a shame.

If we're talking about people who were beyond just a person, but a ******* institution in Canadian motorcycling, Rob Harris was up there for decades. You've probably never heard of 3/4 of the Canadian Hall of Fame inductees, but you've probably read at least 3-4 Rob Harris penned, or edited, motorcycle pieces... if not 30-40.

I thought about volunteering some time and energy with the Hall of Fame a couple years back. I thought, maybe as an 80s baby I could give some fresh blood in there since it seemed like everyone in there was from the jurassic era... but when I saw Rob Harris was out, and how many guys who've never made a ripple outside of the racing circle were in, it seems like it's just a circle jerk for geezers, that doesn't actually care to recognize real great Canadian motorcyclists like Rob.

And that's too bad, because, eventually all of us who got to meet him, hang out with him, read his reviews, etc. will stop posting his name... and I think he deserves some kind of bigger recognition that sticks around longer than we will.

"I don't want to do what everyone else is doing. I want to do the stuff that I think is interesting."
- Rob Harris

RIP Rob.
Click to expand...
Correct me if im wrong,but the Hall of Fame was created under the influence of the Bastedo's.Nuff said?
 
'Arris was one of the best. CMG Online was a real font of knowledge for then-new me, soaking up everything the old heads had to say on the Soapbox. Learned so much from Larry, Bondo, @TK4 , Blackie, and many others.

Even did a spot of freebie work for the site, but quickly realised it didn't mesh with having a more than full-time job at the time. I'll never forget being insanely hungover in a Vegas hotel room after a night on the lash paid by a salesman's expense account, desperately trying to churn out a Friday Fudge in time. Made it abundantly clear that I wasn't cut out to be a part-time journalist, and gave me a lot of understanding about the sheer effort that goes into what Rob and his crew did, even if they made it look effortless.

We were all lucky to have had him as part of our lives, whether directly or indirectly. Definitely one of the best ones...
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