Oh, no. Hurley Thomas Wilvert, HTW, we worked together at Kawasaki, raced together on Kawasaki's and Yamaha's, had a shop together, and he was, and will always be my best friend.
HTW was the only Kawasaki guy that was great enough to be the very best of both worlds, mechanic/tuner, and rider. He wanted to ride in the early 1970's, was a team mechanic/tuner, and Bob Hansen didn't want to lose his tuning abilities to the team, but HTW left to become a Kawasaki rider, with no factory support. Back then, we had the A Team, they got all the good stuff, B Team, they got a fair amount of good stuff, and HTW, The C Team, no support at all. It didn't make a difference, HTW just went about his business as a privateer in green, built his own bikes and parts, and shined through every way there was to shine.
God, please hold the start of that great Grands Prix in the clouds, at least until my time comes to get there, what a great race that will be, so many of my true life long friends, now including HTW.
He, and his family fill my thoughts, and prayers now, always will.
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