This was reported today on another site. I would apprciate if anyone can verify this report.
"Real sad news folks, Tom Boyd from Michigan suffered a serious spinal cord injury at the Log road AHRMA race today."
If it is true please keep Tom and his Family in your Prayers and thoughts...real good guy and has helped a lot of us over the years, not to mention being a Great Rider.
Ron Carbaugh
Tom was injured yesterday although there are conflicting reports on what happened. He was placed in an ambulance and then airlifted by lifeflight. The rumor going around the track was that he had a heart attack. No updates were available as of the end of the event.
If anyone can tell us more, please do.
Dwight
i have just talked to toms wife, tom broke his neck.they fused a bone in his neck, but as of right now he is paralised from neck down. and it is day by day
dennis l.brown
Thanks Dennis.
Ron Carbaugh
Damn, We will have Tom in our prayers.
Dwight
I read on the Vinduro site posted by Paul Johnstone the sad news that Tom Boyd passed away last night at 9:20pm. Rest in peace Tom and my prayers go out to your family and friends. Mike
Michael R. Winter
I enjoy rebuilding and appreciating Pentons!
1974 250 HS Pentons-1980 KTM 175-400'S
I thought I would post this picture of Tom and I at the end of the '08 Barber vintage CC race. We are discussing my...um...lack of patience while waiting at the bottom of a bottlenecked hill. Nice fella and he was one of those guys you knew was "the real deal".
(http://www.the-gunfighters.org/DSC_0094.JPG)
Brian
'72 Berkshire
Mike,
Thanks for the update. I had heard from a Friend and just wanted someone else to post it. Hard to believe.
Brian,
Thanks for the pricless picture.....got to love the open face helmet.
Ron Carbaugh
Tom was one of the few people that I have known that was a truly up standing and out standing person. He will be sorrowfully missed on the starting line. I wish that I could have said good by to him. May he rest easy.
See you down Old Dusty Tom.
P.A. Busick
Brian ,
Kind of ironic , you talking to Tom ,with your neck brace on .
I have to wonder sometimes , are we selfish for pursuing our vintage hobby and being in harms way , when our loved ones have to deal with the resulting tragedy ......
Mike ( looking into a neck brace ) Johnstone .
Very sad news. Tom loved the sport and his Huskys were works of art.
God Speed Tom
Dennis Jones
Mike,
I thought about that too when I went to look for the picture. My opinion is you are crazy to ride without one. I've driven 1.5 hours to a track and left my Leatt at home, instead of risk it and ride I turned around and went home.
Brian
'72 Berkshire
I am not sure a neck brace would have helped Tom. The handlebar caught him in the back of the neck.
We sure will miss him.
Dwight
I would'nt say we were real close. But we were certainly good friends.
I always wanted to see him and say hi, if we were at the same race.
He's been to my house, and I've been to his. He would sometimes call me for Penton parts,
and I would always call him if I found a Husky, to tell him where it was.
One day I sat for a while in his shop, and learned how serious he was about building competitive machines.
He loved the Husky Mag's.
He was a racer a decade or more earlier than I, so loved talking to him about racing and riding in Michigan before my time.
Brian coined it perfectly about Tom being the "real deal". I think he rode the Jackpine Enduro twenty times or more.
He never went to a race to get 2nd place. I could relate to his approach on the vintage scene we're now in,
building our favorite old bikes and riding them, what could be better.
It appeared to me he was doing what he loved the most.
I feel very fortunate to have gotten to know Tom, and to have shared the times we did.
Bob Wardlow
I want to give a little context to the picture I posted too, as I think I is a good example of the kind of guy Tom was.
We rubbed a little paint at the '08 Barber CC race, it was my fault. There was a bottleneck at a 90 deg turn that sent you up a short but very steep hill. I rode up behind Tom and stopped. A few seconds later it looked like he was going to move so I let out the clutch, but he stopped suddenly and I hit is rear wheel with my front. Neither of us fell, but it did cause Tom's bike to stall. He kind of agitatedly waved me by and I went on. After the race I stopped him to apologize. Tom had every right to be angry, but he was not. When we talked (actually he talked, I listened) it was more like an old Bull giving a young buck some sage advice. Tom was like those old E.F. Hutton commercials, "when Tom talked, people listened". Two weeks later at the ISDT Reunion Ride in Tulsa, I sought him out and we both had a big laugh about it.
Which brings me to an important point. As a younger guy in the Vintage scene I really appreciate being able to hang out and talk with the guys who did it back when these bikes were new. Guys like Tom, All of the Penton clan, Doug, Dane, Dwight, Speedy, those guys are national treasures and we should never pass up an opportunity to pry some memories out of them if you have the chance.
Brian
'72 Berkshire