Cool restoration of frame by my first cousin

[SnikPlosskin]

https://www.ticycles.com/news/2020/1...989-tesch-s-22

Dave helped me build my C2. He was a master chassis builder and fabricator who designed and built bikes for Olympic teams. He was also a crack restorer and builder of Italian race cars.

He died from a brain tumor shortly after we finished my car. We think the project extended his life a little giving him something he loved to focus on.

He gave me his GM Master Mechanic ring before he passed. He was a controversial figure in bike racing with radical designs that riders first scoffed. Until riders started winning the Olympics on his bikes.

They had unusual geometry and were challenging to ride because of steep forks. But this gave the rider very exact control and provided a high level of nimbleness that traditional designs couldn’t touch.

I still miss that smartass know-it-all who actually did know it all. From aircraft (10k hr pilot) to race cars to bicycles to music - he was an encyclopedia with a photographic memory.

He could literally tell you the spark plug gap spec on a 1962 Alpha Romeo off the top of his head or list the players on any rock album you could name.

We spent hours smoking weed and arguing over minutia only to turn to the Internet to find out he was right. Every. ****ing. Time.

I miss him.

[Chemtrails99]

Awesome frames!

[markids77]

*Alfa Romeo*. I think I would have liked him.

[Olustee bus]

Amazing work.

[SnikPlosskin]

Originally Posted by markids77

*Alfa Romeo*. I think I would have liked him.

Damn spell check…

Most people didn’t like him. He was sort of tone deaf with people. His mind was like a steel trap and he didn’t hide it. Smaller people resented this and David would lean into them even more.

He worked for Hooker Headers helping them refine how they braze tubes, worked at Holly doing design, Trek, and GM. He was a pilot, built and raced Doorslammers, owned three funny cars, was featured in Bike week and countless other media.

After all this was behind him, nobody believed him. Guys at work said he was a pathological liar. Until they came to the funeral and saw the magazines, the sports press photographers, his flight bag, etc. I hope they felt like shit for treating him so badly.

His bicycle shop was everything to him. He helped a down and out guy that happened to be a con man. This guy stole all of Dave’s custom made tooling. Hollywood made a movie about the thief.

As a kid he would beat me up. He was sarcastic to the extreme, mean in his younger days, got kicked out of the Navy for being a dick…

I didn’t see him for 25 years. Then I heard he was working at a Cadillac dealer a half mile from my house. I showed up there expecting young Dave.

Instead I met old Dave. He was a GM Master Mechanic, a “bumper to bumper” guy. He still knew everything. We shot a potato gun from the back door of the dealer and somebody called the cops!

At that time my C2 was totally disassembled to the bare frame in my garage.

He asked me if he could swing by and meet my wife. I said “Sure. Wait until you see what’s in my garage…”

That started a renewed relationship. There was zero chance of me not including him on the build. He reengineered my chassis, rebuilt the transmission, assembled the motor, plumbed and welded side pipes.

We built that car in 18 months. He died one week after it rolled out of the shop. The side pipe plumbing was a bit whacked out because of his brain getting damaged but he insisted in doing the job until the car was built.

I remember he would work for fifteen minutes, then rest for 15. I kept those crooked pipes for years until I installed factory side pipes. I could have had them fixed but didn’t want to.

What a privilege to get the opportunity to know him as an adult. I ended up caring for him at the end working in shifts with the family.

I misunderstood where the cemetery was and missed the service and burial. They didn’t do a funeral because Dave didn’t want one. I drove around for a couple hours trying to find it, even after I knew it was over.

I never did find his grave. I wasn’t close with his family then so I just let it go. That bothers me to this day.

I knew him all my life, but I really only knew him for less than two years. 20 months to be exact.

He was amazing.

[SnikPlosskin]

The ring

[Lakeside49]

Sink, a very nice tribute to your reformed/new-found Cuz! Very nice.

Hope that you are feeling better of late, and can update us on your amazing USS Enterprise “model”.