Don Hughes poses atop one of his many motorcycles. Hughes will be at the Vancouver Motorcycle Show this weekend.
Don Hughes was somewhat of a late bloomer.
Coming into young adulthood in Vancouver in the 1950s, at a time when car culture was taking off, Hughes quietly waited until he was 18 years old to get behind the wheel.
The “Greasers” would hop in their cars and gun it down Vancouver’s main drags, eventually coming to a rest at a drive-in diner to show off their chrome.
Hughes wasn’t interested.
“I never believed in pushing the envelope,” the 76-year-old says frankly, seated at the kitchen table in his Upper Lonsdale home.
The 1950s were considered a golden age for the motorcycle. Hollywood icon James Dean effortlessly popularized the two-wheeler in his film “Rebel Without a Cause.”
Still, Hughes watched from the sidelines as the bikers roared past.
He recalls how he always wanted a motorcycle, but his first wife said no. He wouldn’t feel the wind on his face until he was 50 years old.
“I think two weeks after we got divorced, I went out and bought one,” he chuckles.
The 1981 C70 Honda Passport came to him in pieces. The previous owner had stripped it down, using the frame to stop creatures from running under his house.
Meticulously piecing the bike back together was so much fun for Hughes, that he went out and bought a couple more bikes.
That’s when his motorcycle obsession shifted into high gear.
Restoring vintage motorcycles became a full-time hobby for Hughes 15 years ago, after he retired from his longtime plant manager job at Mitchell Press.
As we walk past immaculate rooms on the main floor of his sprawling home, with minimalistic decor and pristine carpets, I’m instructed to keep my shoes on. We’re on our way downstairs to Hughes’s workspace.
“There are metal shavings all over the place,” he cautions.
As I push off the last step, a tinny smell permeates the warm air in the makeshift motorcycle garage that Hughes has carved out in his basement.
A milling machine sits silently in one alcove. Meanwhile, a welder occupies the adjacent room. Duplicates of every single motorcycle part imaginable are carefully organized in cupboards.
“I’m on a first name basis with the courier,” jokes Hughes, who acquires parts from eBay and all over the world.
A large hoist — showcasing a rare, 1973 Auranthetic electric scooter — hangs from the centre of the workshop. It’s the focal point of the room, along with the busty babes posing in calendars on three of the four walls, one of whom is discreetly covered by a can of Zinc Mate.
Hughes’ wife, Sharon, doesn’t venture downstairs very often.
“She doesn’t care what I do, as long as it doesn’t show up upstairs,” he says.
Although, Sharon is convinced the bikes are breeding down there: Hughes had 38 motorcycles at one point. Many of them are now scattered all over the Lower Mainland — some in friend’s garages and motorcycle showrooms.
He doesn’t even want to think about how much his hobby has cost him over the years.
“We don’t talk about that,” says Hughes, half seriously.
And while seven of his motorcycles are certified as “collector” vehicles, Hughes tries his best not to baby them.
“I don’t want to sit and stare at these bikes, I want to ride them,” he says, with fervour.
A few years ago, at the age of 73, Hughes hopped on his 800 Suzuki Volusia and set off across Canada and parts of the United States — a bucket adventure of sorts.
He spreads a bunch of maps out across the table and, with his finger, traces the shaky line of black felt that cuts through the cities and towns he visited.
Hughes and his 65-year-old buddy, another motorcycle aficionado, covered 25,000 kilometres — braving torrential rain, fog and elevations of 14,000 feet, in nine weeks.
“I had never done more than a day ride before that,” he says, proud of his feat.
Riding a motorcycle is often considered a risky activity. Hughes uses his thumb and pointer finger to show the small amount of rubber that separates the bike from the road.
There was an accident a few months back. Hughes dropped a bike on some gravel going around a corner. That was shortly after he had undergone open heart surgery.
“I just bruised some ribs,” he says casually.
He shook it off, got back on the bike, and rode home.
Hughes says this hobby of his keeps the mind active and young. Next Sunday he will turn 77. His engines are still revving.
The 2011 Vancouver Motorcycle Show rolls into Abbotsford from Jan. 20 to 23.
For info visit vancouvermotorcycleshow.ca.
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