Dane Leimbach

[rob w]

It was a Friday evening at my first Vintage Motorcycle Days at Mid-Ohio in 2002. All of the day's activities had wound down, it had turned dark, and most all of the folks that leave and go elsewhere for the evening, had already left.
I was killing time wandering the lanes of the swapmeet alone, and I stopped by the POG tents to see if anyone else was hanging out. There was'nt anyone there, but while I stood there for several minutes, someone did appear out of the dark, approached me and said hello. It was Dane.
These were my earliest days with the POG, but months before this I attended my first monthly POG meeting where I briefly met Dane for the first time.
It had just started to rain a little bit, and Dane said to me, "would you like to help me carry some things from the van". I remember having a load in my arms, and when I approached some light, I looked down and saw that I was carrying a case full of ISDT Gold Medals. Holy carp! It startled me a bit, I could barely believe what I had in my hands.
Then Dane said to me, " before I left home, I grabbed a box of some old stuff out of the attic – I have'nt gone through it, but I think it's mostly old Penton stickers - would you like to go back to the van, and check em' out " ?  I said, " Are you kidding, I'm the biggest sticker freak you'll ever find"
 Picture this - one minute I'm all alone wondering why I'm in a field in the middle of Ohio - what this VMD & POG stuff is all about, and wondering where my new found love of vintage motorcycling is going to take me....AND the next moment I find myself sitting in a van, with Dane Leimbach, a couple of flash lights, and a box of old Penton stickers. It was like a dream. Dane would grab a hand full, and we'd go through each one, he'd say "remember this one?" - and I'd be "oh my gosh, I forgot all about those, I used to have that one" - then Dane would hand it to me, and say "here you go, for your collection"
We probably hung out, and spoke to each other for more than a hour that night. I knew the allure of meeting all these legendary Penton riders attrached me to the POG as much as any reason, but this was a fantasy come to life. I know of no words to actually discribe what a special moment in my life that was for me.
Bob W

[rob w]

I think this is a wonderful picture of Dane. I have never seen this one before. I swiped it from Charlie Morey's Facebook page



Remembering Dane Leimbach -- great rider, great guy -- as I knew him best: an International contender for Team Penton. This photo's from the 1976 ISDE in Austria, and instead of a moment of silence, I recommend 30 seconds of a well-tuned Penton/KTM racing motor going through the gears at full RPM...I think he'd like that.
Charlie Morey


Bob W

[Mike Bower]

Bob,
Visually and phonetically perfect...

[joe novak]

Rob,  Great photo of Dane.   If that is a 175cc Penton, that is the Penton which Dane told me was his favorite ISDT bike.  joe          p.s. Can you "share" that photo to my FB page?

[garrettccovington]

Wow!  Just heard about this.  What a loss

g

72 six-day
79 KTM MC80 250

[Paul Danik]

At the memorial service for Dane, his Mom mentioned that she had heard that there were numerous nice comments about Dane on the POG website. I have just finished printing out all of your posts and will be giving them to Mrs. Leimbach tonight at the POG Family Night meeting.  

     I am sure she will appreciate all the wonderful things that you folks have written about Dane.

     I would also like to mention that Al Born had a beautiful 100cc Steel Tanker at the memorial service, it was actually rolled into the lower level of the church where the reception area was, also, Dane's family had a very nice slide show of photos constantly going during the entire time of the reception.

     The church was filled to capacity, plus....

Thanks,
Paul

[joe novak]

Well, I am looking forward to visiting with Pat Leimbach at tonight's POG meeting.  She is such an uplifting, spirited person.  I will personally offer her to try some of my home-baked oatmeal/raisin cookies.   joe

[scott brogan]

Bob W. could you E mail me a copy of the pic of Dane that you posted on the web site? I'm starting a collection for possible use on next years shirt design. If any one else has any good pictures as well  could you shoot me some copies?

Thanks evryone.  Scott B

[Cliff Cook]

God Speed Dane.  Thanks for the enrichment.  See you soon I expect.  Cliff

[rob w]

quote:Originally posted by scott brogan

Bob W. could you E mail me a copy of the pic of Dane that you posted on the web site? I'm starting a collection for possible use on next years shirt design. If any one else has any good pictures as well  could you shoot me some copies?
Thanks evryone.  Scott B

Scott, Don't think I can upload and send images through the POG's email system. Can you get me your email address - I'll send the photo. Thanks, Bob

[scott brogan]

Bob use [email protected] Thanks