30 years ago I was at the Wall Township NJ swap meet and came upon a guy selling some old parts. Among those parts were a pair of floor board extensions (AKA Cleats). I asked him how much. He told me his price and I offered him $1 for them. In disgust he said he'd rather keep 'em than sell them to me for any price...he threw them back into his vehicle. I can still remember the look on his face...which could be described as hatred, loathing, anger...you get the idea. I thought fuck you and went about my drunken business...Well it turns out that this guy (Dave Minerva) and I became very good friends over the years and have had many motorcycle dealings (that wasn't the only time I've seen that look of disgust at my offers). We always joked about those "cleats". He said some day we'll have a ceremony and he'll present them to me...
30 years later Kelly has a surprise 50th Birthday party for me (last Saturday night, more about that later) and to my surprise Dave presents we with the "Ceremonial Cleats". He was so thoroughly disgusted with my $1 offer that he kept them these 30 years!
Today, with the turn of a screwdriver, they found their final resting place! I quickly removed the old chrome ones from my '46 FL and installed these beauties.
Dave, I can't thank you enough it's been a great (most of the time) 30 years!!! And thanks to you and Pat for making the trip from Jersey. It was great to see you guys!
