Craig
02-23-2006, 09:00 PM
From City Bike, San Francisco, CA
The Tough Old Bird We Just Call Grossi
The Geezer series continues...........
By Patrick Moriarty
His friends just call him Grossi. Seventy-six year old Italo Grossi has
made lots of friends in his fifty years on two wheels. His first bike was a
1932 H-D VL 74 flat head. That was back in 1947. Hešs still riding today, if
you ride dual sport events, you might see him out there.
After WW2 the Bay Area was a Mecca for motorcyclists, in those days
Grossi and his buddies used to hang out in Rodeo, a kind of later day Alicešs.
Although Grossi never raced, he was a big fan and he and his buddies
followed racing all over California. Places like Vallejo, Belmont, and
S. San Francisco all had tracks. They even rode as far south as Ontario
and Riverside raceways and watched the dirt trackers run at Ascot Park.
As a young man the Richmond native was never without work, his
immigrant parents instilled a strong work ethic in their son, he learned how to
save and how to take care of his motorcycles himself. Grossi rode every day
for years and years, commuting and going to school on various bikes and
blasting around with his buddies on the weekends. He learned the printing trade andlater became a successful real estate agent.
He took time out from riding when Korea came along and another
sabbatical after his daughter was born. He and his lovely wife Alice have been married nearly fifty years and now live in Clayton, CA.
Today Grossi seems to be more involved in bikes than ever. In 1985 he
discovered dirt bikes and has never looked back. He sometimes rides
with the infamous hooligan AYU clan on the street but its Dual Sport riding that is his passion. The man has ridden the Barstow-Vegas event, Death Valley, Moab and through the mountains of Colorado. He has ridden ten Ridgerunner 500šs (now defunct), all the SheetIron 200 events, and many other Nor Cal dualsport events. How many seventy-six year olds can match that resume? And all these rides since 1985!
Grossišs weapon of choice is his trusty Suzuki DR650. This bike seems
to cover a lot of bases and now has over 20,000 trouble free miles on the
clock. For tougher trail riding Grossi has added a new Suzuki DRZ400S
to his stable and also has a pristine Honda VTR1000 Superhawk for occasional
blasts down the highway.
So how does he do it? Grossi says its going to the gym that keeps him
fit for off road duty. He works out hard 4 or 5 days a week, doesnšt smoke
and also just plain rides a lot off road. Retirement has its benefits too.
Grossi doesnšt ride alone now, he has some good buddies (myself
included) who watch his back. He avoids picking up a fallen bike, his buddies
cover that chore, and he doesnšt do too many Black Diamond trails these days. I rode with Grossi recently for three days through some challenging
single track in Nevada and we never had to wait for him. These were 100 mile
days with all kinds of terrain.
We all respect Grossišs age and plan our ride accordingly. The good
news is Grossi rarely falls and never complains. In the dictionary next to
ŗtough old bird˛ should appear a picture of Italo Grossi. Grossi fully intends
to keep riding. He hopes to ride dirt bikes until age 80 and God willing
will continue on street bikes after that. See ya at the next gas stop
Grossi!
Patrick Moriarty
City Bike
The Tough Old Bird We Just Call Grossi
The Geezer series continues...........
By Patrick Moriarty
His friends just call him Grossi. Seventy-six year old Italo Grossi has
made lots of friends in his fifty years on two wheels. His first bike was a
1932 H-D VL 74 flat head. That was back in 1947. Hešs still riding today, if
you ride dual sport events, you might see him out there.
After WW2 the Bay Area was a Mecca for motorcyclists, in those days
Grossi and his buddies used to hang out in Rodeo, a kind of later day Alicešs.
Although Grossi never raced, he was a big fan and he and his buddies
followed racing all over California. Places like Vallejo, Belmont, and
S. San Francisco all had tracks. They even rode as far south as Ontario
and Riverside raceways and watched the dirt trackers run at Ascot Park.
As a young man the Richmond native was never without work, his
immigrant parents instilled a strong work ethic in their son, he learned how to
save and how to take care of his motorcycles himself. Grossi rode every day
for years and years, commuting and going to school on various bikes and
blasting around with his buddies on the weekends. He learned the printing trade andlater became a successful real estate agent.
He took time out from riding when Korea came along and another
sabbatical after his daughter was born. He and his lovely wife Alice have been married nearly fifty years and now live in Clayton, CA.
Today Grossi seems to be more involved in bikes than ever. In 1985 he
discovered dirt bikes and has never looked back. He sometimes rides
with the infamous hooligan AYU clan on the street but its Dual Sport riding that is his passion. The man has ridden the Barstow-Vegas event, Death Valley, Moab and through the mountains of Colorado. He has ridden ten Ridgerunner 500šs (now defunct), all the SheetIron 200 events, and many other Nor Cal dualsport events. How many seventy-six year olds can match that resume? And all these rides since 1985!
Grossišs weapon of choice is his trusty Suzuki DR650. This bike seems
to cover a lot of bases and now has over 20,000 trouble free miles on the
clock. For tougher trail riding Grossi has added a new Suzuki DRZ400S
to his stable and also has a pristine Honda VTR1000 Superhawk for occasional
blasts down the highway.
So how does he do it? Grossi says its going to the gym that keeps him
fit for off road duty. He works out hard 4 or 5 days a week, doesnšt smoke
and also just plain rides a lot off road. Retirement has its benefits too.
Grossi doesnšt ride alone now, he has some good buddies (myself
included) who watch his back. He avoids picking up a fallen bike, his buddies
cover that chore, and he doesnšt do too many Black Diamond trails these days. I rode with Grossi recently for three days through some challenging
single track in Nevada and we never had to wait for him. These were 100 mile
days with all kinds of terrain.
We all respect Grossišs age and plan our ride accordingly. The good
news is Grossi rarely falls and never complains. In the dictionary next to
ŗtough old bird˛ should appear a picture of Italo Grossi. Grossi fully intends
to keep riding. He hopes to ride dirt bikes until age 80 and God willing
will continue on street bikes after that. See ya at the next gas stop
Grossi!
Patrick Moriarty
City Bike