Rick Hazlet March 10, 1954 - May 14, 2012

Rick Hazlett passed away at 6am this morning.

I spent quite a bit of time with Rick, mostly while he was doing two things he loved, riding on motorcycles and working on them. For most of us riding is a pass time, for some of us it is a way of life, for Rick it was the love of his life. Working on bikes helped Rick get by financially but he also loved doing what it was he did. He once told me the reason he loved working on them is because it's personal, unlike working on a car where your under it or next to it, working on a motorcycle means you are usually draped across it while reach through it.

Rick and I would hit the road and cruise the back roads, he showed me quite a few roads I never knew existed. Some of the best roads I took people on last year was because Rick introduced me to them. Rick was no slouch on a bike, most of our rides were...spirited...no...closer to nuts. He found on one of our rides that if my Glide could make a corner, his Sporty could take it wide open. We were on one ride (Danny included) where Rick led through a corner, his bike laid right over, at the apex of the turn there was a dip in the road, his bike dropped into it and high sided,  kicking his back end out. Rick never let off the throttle, he just simply caught the wobble and kept going. Later that day, back at home he found his engine guard was bent back two inches from the impact.

I spent quite a lot of time visiting him when he was working on peoples bikes.
I only wish I had spent more time there.


I lost my older brother in 1987, now I feel like it's happened again.

Rick departure has left a hole in the hearts of many of the Club's members, Rick was Family, Rick was our Brother and I couldn't have loved the man more.

When we visited him on Saturday night, he requested we take him with us on our rides. 


klay