We Lost a Good Friend

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May 1, 2025

Jim and my good friend Jimmy Allison passed away two days ago.

Jimmy was a kind, caring, giving man. He never had a bad word to say about anyone. He was truly one of those souls who would go out of his way and do anything to help someone in need.

We first met Jimmy around 2003 when we were promoting a motorcycle race in Albuquerque , the Sandia Classic. Jimmy was a sponsor, but also a participant. Jim and Jimmy both rode dirt bikes and quickly bonded.

Jim on 22U trying to catch Jimmy on 59U. Jimmy, Jim and John (from the next pic) all rode the same make of motorcycle, BSA Goldstars which made the racing rivalry all the more fun for them.
Jimmy in 59U being chased by his good buddy John Bergner on 98N. Jim learned so much from Jimmy about racing.
Jimmy in race-face. Relaxing, re-hydrating and getting his mind into the next moto.

We ended up traveling across the country to race motocross, mostly we’d meet at the races, but also occasionally would travel in Jimmy’s motorhome.

Jimmy was a music lover, as we are, and we’d swap music, stop places for live music and enjoy introducing each other to new artists. I can never listen to R.L. Burnside with out thinking of Jimmy and saying “It’s bad you know.” I’ll let you look up the tune. it is quite unique, as is R.L. We were traveling from Alabama in Jimmy’s motorhome and were all so cracked up listening to this song and realized how ahead of it’s time the song was. It was a new artist for all of us that we’d discovered at Cat Head Records in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

It was never a dull moment with Jimmy. “Jimmy, go sit on the pig so I can get your picture.” He was always game.

We became very close to Jimmy when we rode the Motorcycle Cannonball in 2012. Neither Jim or Jimmy really understood what we were in for. If we had, we’d not have done it. The event is riding coast to coast on pre 1930 motorcycles that are substantially “original”. The bikes Jimmy and Jim would be riding were 5 horsepower bikes with a top speed, if lucky, of around 40 MPH.

Jimmy ended up living with us for a month while we got both bikes ready for the event. Literally, he moved into our house as he lived 200 miles south, while we built the bikes.

Jimmy putting the cases together on his engine. The engines and transmissions were completely rebuilt, tires and wheels had to be sorted, brakes, lights, etc. Although the bikes were “complete”, they were no where near road ready and definitely not for a cross country trip. These were bikes built in the 1920’s to go between villages in the UK, not across the US.
Jimmy’s bike is together. It has basically not been ridden or tested. It sure looks good though!

We crossed the country from New Mexico, again in Jimmy’s motorhome, to begin the rally in Newburg, NY, working on the bikes each night when we stopped as they were not yet ready to ride coast to coast.

We’d take the bikes out each day for riding and repair. Jimmy working on the bike at the Cimmarron National Grasslands. I picked interesting stops along the way for us to spend the night. Jimmy was always amazed at the places I found.
Each day, the bikes got better and better and were getting somewhat close to being ready.
Ready or not, the event began! At the beginning it was easy to be enthuastic after all the hard work.
There were daily stops at motorcycle shops, for lunches and for folks to see the bikes. One would try to make quick repairs during the lunch stops. Other riders and “people on the street” could help you, but not any support crew.
With Marty and Gene, our support crew who drive the truck and trailer. Marty was an ace mechanic who always had an idea on how we *might* solve the problem(s) of the day. And there were problems every day.

17 days later, after riding these tiny 5 horsepower bikes across the country, we were in San Francisco! Jim won his class and I was able to ride about half the trip with him two up. Jimmy came in 2nd. The bikes were pretty much trashed by the end and both engines had been replaced along the way. We were exhausted.

This ride tightened our connection to each other; It was one of the hardest things we’d ever done.

If you want to know more of our time doing the Cannonball, here is the first post where I begin writing about it. Entries while the bikes are being built, and then a daily log during the journey. Often they were written very late at night after having ridden for 12 hours and then worked on the bike for another 6 or so hours. Jim had several friends that would hound us if they did not see the daily post to see how it was going!

And now Jimmy is gone. We are still on the boat so had not seen Jimmy in many months and did not see him regularly as he lived 200 miles from us. He always had a comment on each of my journal posts and sometimes would include a mention of a time he’d been in the Caribbean, or somewhere else we were traveling. He was glad we were doing these travels so he could continue to enjoy our time together.

We have lost a piece of our heart and will miss Jimmy greatly. Safe travels Jimmy!