[SilverSurfer]

<img src=http://www.cycleforums.com/forums/avatar.php?userid=32057&dateline=1118857021 align=right>Our friend, Adam Bell (abell955) passed today as a result of injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident which occurred this past Sunday, 8/6/2005.

There's so much to write about Adam that it's actually difficult to start in any one place. Well, there's that common bond... Adam was a motorcyclist. Like me, Adam rode a silver Daytona 955i with even MORE bling than my own. In his avatar you can see the Union Jack hugger of which he was very proud. Just this year, Adam purchased a BRG Triumph Tiger 955i and was enjoying it immensely. Adam took the Tiger along for our recent NTSR Camp Meade trip this past June. I was lucky enough to be part of the same group as Adam throughout the weekend. Jesus, we had a GREAT time, all of us in that group.

<img src=http://www.cycleforums.com/photopost/data/519/Adam_Annie.jpg align=right>Adam will be remembered as a very personable guy with a great sense of humor (with that UK twist) and an easy going manner.

The way I'll remember Adam is both from the last Camp Meade ride and from MotoMarket on Thursday nights. I don't know how he did it, but just hanging around him you always felt as if you were part of the inner circle. Just a cool guy to hang around with. I'm really going to miss him.

A lot of you will probably remember Adam's Minuteman 1000 distance rally report. See it here This story was funny enough that I made my wife read it!

Here's one that you may not have read. Adam's write up of his buddy Pete's ZedX10 (as Adam would say).

Today I rode the Daytona to work and back and generally enjoyed it,
although as usual I felt like it was a fish out of water in commuter
traffic. I also wondered, as I often do lately, why the suspension
sucked so very much.

I have been wondering whether the Tiger's kickass-for-the-street
suspension is spoiling me, or whether the Daytona's ride
characteristics have indeed actually got a lot worse since I've owned
it. So, when I got home, I decided to ride Pete's Kawasaki ZX-10R
since he has been offering for a while and has left it in my garage
while he is in the Isle of Man getting hammered.

As a brief backgrounder, this is the same bike that spent 4 months or
so in the corner of my garage during Wintertime looking pissed off and
threatening my wife's Subaru.

I consider myself an averagely competent street rider, and recognize
that I have probably much better judgement and self-discipline than I
have skill. I am fairly comfortable with things that way around
though, I expect it's why I am still alive.

Although it was near dark and I did not intend on or do much of a ride
on the bike (cheers though Pete if you are reading this from the IOM)
and only took it out for a short ride through some local urban and
residential areas, I found it was a motorcycle that spoke to me clearly.

This is what it had to say:

1. I am actually much greener in color than you have noticed
previously, and will be stared at by people as if I were an alien
spacecraft abducting their children.

2. Although my bars are well-situated and my tank is a joy to grip
between your legs, my footpegs are so very fucking high that you will
wonder if they're even there. However once you find them you won't
notice it much, for reasons I will come to next.

3. I know you have ridden a number of so-called performance
motorcycles before, but they have the focus of a Chinese-made $2
disposable camera compared with me. Believe me when I tell you that I
go, stop, and turn much faster than you or anyone you have ever spent
much time with is capable of addressing effectively. I make the Ducati
999 you rode last year feel like a Volvo. Like the public roads you
force me onto, you are so fucking unworthy - the only difference is
you know it, because you've had your license for more than 18 months
unlike the twats in t-shirts that it is my mission to maim or kill.

4. You had better not make any throttle mistakes or grab too much
brake at the wrong time or I will spit you into the gutter in a
highside you won't fucking believe.

5. You should know that if we encounter any 19 year-old squids, they
will decide they need to ride in formation with us, or have a race.
You will probably decline to participate in either because you're such
a fucking pussy and you don't want anyone to die in the busy part of
Route 9. You suck!

5. You can short-shift through to second and third if you like you
fucker, but you are only delaying your inevitable doom.

6. Even though I am so very fast, I do not intend to make speeds feel
slower than they are. Particularly with this Devil exhaust - I am so
fucking loud that last week Motorhead moved in next door and called
the police to deal with me. Fucking deaf people will jump into hedges
when I pass. When you're doing 35 through a town center in third, I
will make it sound like MotoGP and you will think you are doing 70.

Honestly I did really enjoy the ride as limited as it was, but I was
quite stunned by how focussed the 10R is. You can read the magazine
articles all you like and it doesn't convey the message properly. Ride
one if you get the chance because it's a loony little bitch.

Cheers
Adam

So I'll end this as Adam would. Cheers, mate. And thanks for making all of our lives better for having known you.

 

[T-595 Greg]

Adam would chastise us for being a sad bunch of muppets for making such a to-do....
but damn me, he was the very best person you could know.


bye Adam, you'll be sorely missed.

 

[PixMan]

I just can't get my head straight about this. As has been said, if you ever met him, you liked him. No one of this calibre should have been taken from us. This hurts bad.

 

[atombomb]

he was a great chap to speak to and was the perfect symbol of our euro-motocyling community.

i remember the first day i met him all six foot plus of him wrapped around that lil TT600...always a smile, and some quick wit....even if it took me a bit to cut through his accent.

 

[TriplesRule]

Ditto...the coolest bloke you would ever want to meet.

You never expect this to happen to anyone you know, but even more so with Adam. We have all had our moments where we might have pushed too hard or done something silly on the street, but not Adam. He was always in control and NEVER pushed it.

One example that Sean will remember from our Camp Meade ride was a tight little windy road through the woods where we came upon some bicyclists. I believe Sean was leading, I was 2nd to last and Adam was riding sweep behind me. We all took the pace down several notches, but Adam didn't think so. At the next stop, he was clearly pissed off at the rest of us and let us know it. I remember at the time thinking, "damn, who pissed in his cheerios", but that was Adam. He spoke his mind and we probably needed to hear it. Also, that was the end of it. We continued on our ride and had an absolutely fantastic day.

You always think it's going to be the other guy, the idiot, the squid, the wanker, the muppet... I won't think that way anymore.

 

[SilverSurfer]

Oh, God, he was seriously NOT happy about flying by the bicyclists. :laughing I wasn't leading, I was second in that line and it got a bit slippery in all that pollen and dust on the ground. The quote from Adam that I remember, and you've got to picture those squinty eyes and disgusted look on his face, "...they've got a fucking right to live today, too, don't they? I mean, they're only out for a fucking bike ride and they deserve to make it home."

It was a real wake up call because up until that point the ride was a bit boring.

I'm going to miss that dude.

 

[T-595 Greg]

speaking of Adam....

we were talking about people riding badly, not sure where the conversation started, just squids on the road in general, and being safe.... the e-mail exchange was so funny, and so Adam, I had to save it.

Adam: a timely reminder link

Greg: for sure, especially with all the wankers on the road.

Adam: Would sir prefer a truck in the face, or a green Daytona up the arse?

Greg: I think I'll wait for the desert cart...

Adam: Very well sir, here is the dessert menu:


Attacking the brow of a hill at 80mph souffle $8
Passing into a blind bend gateaux $12
Running wide through corners eclairs $15

Since sir had the squid for his main course, I strongly recommend the gateaux.

Classic Adam...

 

[Mercury264]

If I even get half the outporing of affection that Adam so rightly deserves...I will indeed be a very lucky man.

Some guys have class and most of classless - Adam was very much in the first group.

RIP mate - say hello to Sheene and Jeffries for me.

 

[SilverSurfer]

The memorial service is going to be held this Saturday between the
hours of 2-5. Location is:

Nickerson-Bourne Funeral Home
154 Route 6A
Sandwich, MA
(508) 888-3511

Quite a few of us will be leaving from MotoMarket in Acton to ride down as a group.

 

[joel647]

Wish I would have been able to know him. Godspeed Adam.

 

[pdog]

+1 Terrible news. RIP Adam.

 

[matthias955]

He was an uncommon personality

Adam will be greatly missed, more still when we are out riding or planning a ride. He was one of the most ardent motorcyclists I knew, with the warmest personality and sharpest wit. He always made you feel included. The abruptness of his being taken away cannot be fully accepted by those who knew him, if only because a friend like Adam only comes along once in a great while if at all.

 

[Sean]

Seemed like a really good guy. Every day I read these things I think my time on a bike is just that much closer to being over.

 

[SilverSurfer]

Update: we'll be leaving Moto Market in Acton at precisely 10:45 am. That's leaving, not donning helmets and putting on gloves. If you're planning to be at MM, be there plenty early to meet up, have a coffee, and tell Adam stories. The mood should be upbeat, as Adam would have wanted it.

 

[NinjaRat]

I enjoyed reading Adam's Minuteman 1000 distance rally report, awhile back, and I particularly liked his take on the ZX-10R.

RIP and God speed.

 

[mercutio80]

RIP

 

[rbrsddn]

Well said, Sean, guys. I really got to know him as a person up at the Maine bike event. I met Annie for the first time, and felt kind of envious, because it was obvious how much they enjoyed and loved each other. He, Hank P. some others and I stayed in the bar until closing having some serious laughs. I'll always remember that. He was a great guy.

RIP Adam

Ben

 

[BBQ Chef]

So sad to hear. We mourn the passing of yet another great friend.
R.I.P. Adam. Peace to your family and friends.

 

[TRIPLEHOUND]

Rest in Peace.. although I did not know him, just reading the first post and "bio" on Adam has gave me the chills in a way that no other one of these horible reports have in the past, God speed to you......

 

[Chris S]

RIP