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Rick Yates
"Big Dog"
2007 Kawasaki Mean Streak, Special Edition |
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“You aint from around here, are ya?” No, sadly, I wasn’t born here.
But I got here as soon as I could! I am from South Bend, Indiana,
born there on May 23, 1956. I am the second oldest of four boys and
two girls. After graduating from High School in 1974, I got involved
in the Electronic Parts distribution business, where I am still
employed today. That business has taken me to Indianapolis, Tulsa,
St. Louis, Dallas TX, and finally to Powder Springs. Somewhere in
there I got married (1977) and have a soon-to-be UGA graduate daughter,
and three scrapping (really-ALL THE TIME) boys 12, 17, and 19. I have
spent the last twelve years knee deep in the Cub and Boy Scout program,
where I have held every position from Den Leader to Assistant Scoutmaster,
as well as numerous District positions. I have also served on the District
Scoutmaster training staff. My Cub Scouts gave me the name Big Dog when
I was their Cubmaster. The name stuck! My hobbies include photography,
scuba diving, computers, and of course motorcycle riding!
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I started riding somewhere around 1974. My first bike was a green Honda
CL360. I rode it for several years, then sold it before one of my cross
country moves. I had to sell my Harley, too. But it was a Harley snow
mobile. Yep-black and chrome! After not riding for quite some time,
I picked up a 1995 Kawasaki Vulcan 800 and regained my “bike legs.”
I began to feel like that bike wasn’t big enough for me, so I started
looking for another a bit bigger. I made the mistake of going to the
Atlanta Bike Show a couple years back to buy a jacket. There on the
floor, calling my name, was this beautiful Vulcan Mean Streak with my
name on it. (most expensive “jacket” I’ve ever bought!) One week
later I had sold my 800 to a friend, and was riding in the North
Georgia Mountains on my Streak.
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The bike is a 2007 Kawasaki Mean Streak, Special Edition.
It was more of a step up than I had planned, but I have no
regrets. I’ve had fun adding accessories, but have tried
to maintain the red and black SE color scheme. Oh-and
I’ve had a ball riding it, too. I’ve been told they made
one SE per dealer-about 500 bikes. I don’t know if that’s
true, but I get a lot of looks because it is a unique paint
scheme. Since the Streak I’ve met hundreds of other riders
from all over the country AND Canada, including all my
friends at the Lost Mountain SCRC chapter.
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