RIP, Michael Parks…

I’m going to guess most of you are too young to remember a late 1960’s TV series called Then Came Bronson.   It was one of those TV weekly dramas about a good-looking young guy who encountered and solved one impending human tragedy every 7 days (no matter where he went on that Sportster).   Then Came Bronson starred Michael Parks, who died today, 10 May 2017, at age 77.   He was born in 1940 just down the road from us in Corona, California (my good buddy Matt’s stomping grounds).

For those of us old enough to remember Then Came Bronson, the opening scene is the one we remember best.   His encounter with the guy in the station wagon is classic…

I think a lot of guys my age were influenced by that scene.   The idea of just getting on a motorcycle and riding around America (or around the world, for that matter, as the RX3 is fully capable of doing) is a thought that stuck.   For all of its predictability and weekly drama (and the use of a thinly-disguised enduro bike for the scenes Bronson’s Sportster couldn’t manage), it was a good show.  It led to a lot of dreams in a lot of young minds, and for many of us (men of a certain age, like yours truly and probably a lot of you folks reading  this blog), it led to a lot of great adventures.

Godspeed, Mr. Parks.