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Rides, Gatherings, Events, Rally's & Friendly BS This is where we share our passion for our Victory's. Help others with their machines and organize to ride, ride..........ride.

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  #1  
Old 06-19-2009, 12:21 AM
Don0083 Don0083 is offline
Don (ND)
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Cold country (North Dakota)
Posts: 48
Red Vic 802

R.I.P. Don Vanderwal Red Vic 802
http://www.pipestonestar.com/Stories....cfm?SID=21750
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  #2  
Old 06-19-2009, 04:15 AM
Sparky_Bill Sparky_Bill is offline
Bill (Webmaster)
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Cannon Falls, MN
Posts: 6,417
You know Don, I tried to call him June 9th and his phone was disconnected and I was trying to figure out how to contact him. He had a sister in Burnsville but did not know her number. How did you find out?

He helped me set up the TCVR amd I rode with him on his first rides. He rode a lot back then but he started to get a pinched nerve whenever he rode and tried many seats to seek comfort but none worked for him.
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  #3  
Old 06-19-2009, 07:21 AM
sks700 sks700 is offline
Lee (MN)
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Elk River, MN
Posts: 1,809
Wow, that sucks. I was just thinking about him too, when we were talking about everybody that has made it to a Caterpillar run in the past.

Lee
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  #4  
Old 06-19-2009, 09:31 AM
Johnny Ritz Johnny Ritz is offline
John
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Mendota Heights, MN
Posts: 4,142
That is too bad! I rode with Don a couple of times. He was a great guy everytime I met up with him.

Anybody know what happened or caused it?
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  #5  
Old 06-19-2009, 09:43 AM
sstodvictory sstodvictory is offline
Administrator Steve (IL)
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Manchester MI
Posts: 646
Sad news. Don had a nimble mind and loved conversation.

Don established one of the earlier Victory-specific internet domain names owned by a hobbyist, possibly even the first such domain, called v92c.com. His website was first announced to the old yahoo victory group in mid August of 1999, when sparky posted a link to some photos on the site. The history of some of the content of tcvr.us, and certainly of my website vicindex.com, traces back to Don's server.

For a while there Don rode a lot, and I remember doing an especially nice ride with him and IowaVic on backroads in the Galena IL area and up the Mississippi valley during flood stage.

Steve
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  #6  
Old 06-19-2009, 07:59 PM
Don0083 Don0083 is offline
Don (ND)
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Cold country (North Dakota)
Posts: 48
Bill I was working on my genealogy late last nite and was using google to search when I hit on team strange. Don's name was listed as a participant of the presidents rally/run. Linda then did a google search on his name and what a shock it was. He must have had a health problem that he kept to himself, all I know is what you told me about as far as having leg or foot trouble.

It's to bad we all didn't know so we could have gone to the service, at least to let his family know he had a lot of friends. We went on a lot of rides over the years and spent countless hours talking on the phone with Don. Bill you hooked us up with Don at the Osceola rally so he could help us find our way back to polaris headquarters, and we ended up taking the long way back, and that was the start of many rides. States we covered on our rides. Minn,Iowa,Missouri,Arkansas,Oklahoma,Kansas,Colora do,Wyoming,Montana,South Dakota and North Dakota. We had a wonderfull thanksgiving dinner of tacos at a truckstop Taco Bell In Oklahoma (2000) What a blast..

I'm sure a lot of you have good memories of Red Vic 802 lets here some..


Don
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  #7  
Old 06-20-2009, 02:57 AM
Sparky_Bill Sparky_Bill is offline
Bill (Webmaster)
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Cannon Falls, MN
Posts: 6,417
Don, I was going to set up a Memorial Web page of pictures. If yoiu have some you want shown send them to me. Heidi has gotten hold of his sister so once I have it up I will send them the address so they can show his folks.

Can't do today getting ready to go into work for a long day. Getting up this early would be too late to go riding with Connie.
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  #8  
Old 06-25-2009, 07:39 PM
ghost ghost is offline
Pete (MN)
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Brainerd, MN
Posts: 167
Bummer. Don was a good guy to ride with. I remember bringing him down 84 from Longville. Was it after the overnight ride to Cass Lake with Don0083, Linda and others from Fargo? Anyways, his tranny was starting to act up and at the next stop he had a grin and said that was a great ride but would be better if he had third gear. I could hear him behind me but didn't realize 'til then why he was either chugging along or wound out. He was always good for a laugh.
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  #9  
Old 07-14-2009, 07:40 AM
Choirguy Choirguy is offline
"Formerly Tubamotorcycle" Chris (MN)
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Southeast Twin Cities Suburbs, MN
Posts: 537
I don't get an opportunity to check this web site (or any other Victory websites) very often, as my life has mostly been about the 14 month old in my life.

I'm so very sad to see this news item today. I had the privilege to spend quite a bit of time with Don in the last part of his riding period. He basically stopped riding after that. He was one of the original victory owners, and I'll never forget him coming up to me on that first ride to Spirit Lake with Warner's, and saying, "Hey, TUBA..." I didn't know whether to take him seriously or not!

He cherished his friends on Victory Motorcycles, and racked up lots of miles with Don and Linda. He loved his bike. He loved finding solutions to various problems, such as getting music on his bike. He eventually settled on a cheap mp3 player with music encoded at a minimal rate (he said he couldn't hear the details anyway)...plus a boosteroo amplifier.

He was also a man with strong opinions, and although he was mostly soft spoken (with a big laugh), he could also get heated up. He also had an "addictive" type of personality, where he would get immersed in things...such as EverQuest. We both were (I still am) combating our weight, and I hope that wasn't the cause at the end. He did the Atkins diet for a while, and would tell me that he was eating rotisserie chicken from Cub Foods.

I tried to get in touch with him various times the last three years...he never returned phone calls anymore, or e-mails. We were going to do a Sonic run to Iowa sometime, long before Sonic ever moved here to the Twin Cities. I was going to give him my "loud" pipes for his bike, and we never met up for that. He was a good friend for the time that I had to know him, and I'm sad to hear he's gone...far, far too young. I'll miss you Don! I'll head to Sonic and have a burger in your honor.
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