Len Martin

by Len Martin

I was born in Chicago and grew up in Norridge, Illinois, which in the early years was a suburb. My first "motorcycle" (read motorized bike) experience was at the tender age of 10, when I managed to get my hands on a "Wizard" (although, a little research turned up a "Whizzer" that looked just like it.). I was a bicycle riding maniac, so it just naturally follows that I would eventually graduate to something with two wheels and a motor (that was before the four wheels and a motor became the center of my existence).

By the age of 25 I had migrated to the Orlando, Florida area and bought a used Kawasaki 350 for fun and going back and forth to work. It was extremely economical, and that was back when the gas rationing of the '70's was at it's peak. That bike was lime green. Well, maybe there was another name for it, but it was definitely that Kawasaki "green". Being employed as a carpenter at the time, I built my own "sidebag" to haul my tools. This made me appear somewhat unorthodox, but every day the rest of the crew would gather around as I pulled in. I owned the little Green Monster for about 11 years, but at some point I didn't have time to ride and sold it.

There was a long dry spell there between bikes. Finally, in my later waning years I decided it was time to get back to having fun and bought a Honda VLX Shadow. I don't weigh much so it was a nice little bike. Great for tooling around town and not bad for some longer rides as well. Recently I took the plunge and bought the Valkyrie. All in all, I've been riding (off and on) for about 11 years.

I ride for "therapy". Sometimes, just a short little trip after work does wonders. The Upper Hawthorne Trail is one of my favorites. But my longest ride was to Savannah, Georgia to visit friends. Meeting new people, interesting rides and seeing new sites are the things I like best about this Chapter.

My day job is as an Industrial HVAC technician, specializing in Building Automation Control Systems (that's computer controlled indoor climate systems). I work for the TRANE company out of Tallahassee's local office.

I have a significant other, "The Editor". We have one tall, 25-year old kid named Dash. We're both short, so we don't know what happened there. He's our in-house Illustrator and network guru, in that order (usually). We have one stuffed couch dog. I'd have a real one, but "The Editor" is allergic to the real thing.

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