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Jimmy Rucker "Big Hon" 2005 Honda Goldwing
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	I was born July 5, 1961 on Columbus AFB, Miss. After Dad got out of the Air Force, we moved backed to Georgia, where both of my parents are from. The first home I can remember was the one on a dirt road at Rt. 2 Hembree Rd. Marietta, Ga. Over the years the road became paved, sidewalks were put in and a redlight down the road. But when I was growing up it was out in the country. You knew everyone, or least their family name within 10 miles of our home. The kids in my elementary school were mostly country people and my family had known a lot of their parents while growing up. When I was three years old a family bought some land from my uncle just down the road from us. They had three kids. All of the family would be a part of my life growing up and even today.
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When I was about 13 years old I got my first motorcycle, a Kawasaki 100 Enduro. My brother got a Honda SL70. Not long after that my Dad got a Honda XL 250 Motorsport. We made trails through our property everywhere. On the weekends we would ride from almost sunup to sundown. We had friends whose house we could get to through the woods. I’ll never forget, when they wanted to go ride they’d say lets get on our motors and go. They always called their bikes motors. For the family down the road there was one boy and two girls. The boy, Doug, got a SL 70, not too long after we did, so we rode with him. The youngest girl always wanted to ride but her Mom would not let her. As we grew older I hung out with Doug and even dated his twin sister Donna a few times. The little sister was just that--the little sister.

As the years passed, I moved up to Dad ‘s XL 250 as he got a Yamaha DT400. I liked the bike, but it was heavy for a dirt bike. In a few more years, as I turned 16, I bought a new 1977 Kawasaki KZ650 Custom. I eventually put a Vetter fairing on it and a backrest that would slide up to the driver when there was no passenger. I grew away from the dirt bikes and turned to street riding more; taking trips through the North Georgia Mountains and even into North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee. In 1981 I decided to join the USAF. When I got stationed at Charleston AFB, S.C., the Kawasaki stayed at home. I really had no place to store it and I did not want to leave it outside.

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	Somewhere around 1983 or 1984, I noticed the little sister next door in a different light. She had gotten older. So I asked her out, she accepted. We dated for about a year, I guess. I had to go overseas for a while, I got a letter from her sister, and I knew there was something wrong. I eventually got a letter from the little sister; it was a Dear John letter. We broke up. About six months to a year later, I was Best Man at her brother’s wedding. We talked. About a week or two later I asked her out again. The rest is history as they say. As far as the little sister, everyone knows her as Radio. We married in May of 1986. In 1990 we had our one and only child, Alanna. A week after she was born, we moved. We were headed to Guam. I left about 3 weeks later and left Radio and Alanna in Georgia and they came about 3 months later. Alanna was a big girl the next time I got to see her. In 1992, I was stationed at Robins AFB in Warner Robins, Ga. I brought down the KZ 650. It still looked good since it was garage-kept all those years. I started riding it. The more I rode it, the more it started giving me problems, so I sold it after having it for almost 20 years. A few years later I got a new 1999 Honda Ace Tourer. I did a lot of research on this bike; the only problem was back then they did not let you test ride. I went to Rome and bought it. I got on it and pulled out on the street to come home and thought OH GAWD!! I bought the wrong bike for me. I was not use to the wide handlebars after riding the Kawasaki. I almost wrecked getting on I-75. I made it home and over a period of time it became second nature. But that first ride-- I thought I had made a mistake. After retiring from the USAF in 2001, we moved back home and built a home in Acworth. In 2005 I traded in the Ace for a new 2005 Goldwing, which I still have today. We have been members of the Southern Cruisers Riding Club since 1999.
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The BIG HON(da)