APR 16, 14 .. ‘ZILLA .. ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ‘ZILLA

By Cap Chastain April 16, 2014 God's Eskimo(s), Zilla THE Story

For those of you who have been following along with me here at this website .. the mention of my friend of some 38-plus years ‘Zilla .. is familiar to you. I have decided to post ..

All You Need To Know About ‘Zilla.

How-on-earth did ‘Zilla get his nickname.  Read along with me here.

‘ZILLA’s proper name is Jim. Actually ‘Jim’ is also a nickname formed from the three initials of his full name but I won’t go into that story. Both of us are in our mid-to-late 70s.

I met Jim in Frankfurt West Germany in October of 1975.  We are both civil engineers and we were both working in Frankfurt for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on military construction projects.   I can recall the instant one evening during the late autumn in 1975 in the parking lot of the V Corps Post Exchange in front of the Class VI Store when Jim and I ‘connected’ with one-another.  We knew each other from work but we truly ‘connected’ that long-ago late evening.  Go figure!

When in Rome do as the Romans do!  When you live in Germany .. it is a no-brainer to own and drive German automobiles and ride German motorcycles!  Actually you can’t do much better than owning and driving German vehicles anywhere in the world!

At the time I owned a German BMW R25 Motorcycle with a Steib Sidecar.  As fate-would-have-it .. with me sitting in the sidecar and coaching Jim astride the motorcycle .. I taught Jim how to ride a motorcycle.  Why Jim wanted to learn how to ‘ride’ a motorcycle I cannot remember. It could be that I ‘strongly suggested’ he learn to ride because  .. as I had learned .. motorcycling in Europe is an experience far beyond-the-beyond!  Prior to teaching Jim how-to-ride .. I had taught Al .. another associate of ours .. how to ride a motorcycle.

In 1977 Jim, myself and a third friend purchased brand new .. absolute state-of-the-art .. BMW R100RS solo motorcycles.  At the time the BMW R100RS had just been introduced to the world motorcycling community and it was celebrated as THE toast of the world sport and touring motorcycles.

The days of sidecar motorcycling were behind us by that time.  After my R25 sidecar motorcycle .. I myself graduated upward to several solo BMW motorcycles, an R50 to an R75 to an R80 and finally to an R100RS.

On one trip together .. in the dark of night on the shoulder of an Autobahn in West Germany near Frankfurt .. it was during the late autumn of 1977 ..  Jim and I had parked our ‘Beemers’ to rest awhile.  As we were resting there on the shoulder .. an enormous German truck traveling at a very high rate-of-speed blasted past us .. literally inches away from us .. so violently that the wind it was pushing knocked my BMW over onto it’s side on the shoulder!

Do any of you ever wonder .. “Where would we be without ‘Google’?”

I just ‘Googled’ .. 1977 BMW R100RS Motorcycle .. and found that its weight was Five Hundred and Thirty Five (535) pounds.

So there the two of us were when ..  Jim by himself .. got beside my fallen BMW and .. BY HIMSELF SPORTS FANS .. Jim lifted and Jim tilted my motorcycle back up into a vertical position!

With the roar of the passing trucks and cars I FAIRLY SCREAMED AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS..

“Jim !! .. I should call you GODZILLA for lifting my BMW !!”

Thank You So Very Much Mister Paul Harvey!  THAT IS THE REST OF THE STORY about Godzilla or ‘Zilla as I love to call Jim and have done for some thirty seven or so years since that late autumn in 1977.

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I personally consider Jim to be one of God’s Eskimos in my life.

OK ‘Zilla .. coach-me-up with any comments you may wish to make here!

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Well .. I have taken a VERY DEEP BREATH and I have decided to make this one post about ‘Zilla as complete as I can make it .. you know .. a ONCE-AND-FOR-ALL.

Jim has ‘coached-me-up’ and below (with a little editing by myself) is JIM’s .. REST OF THE STORY!

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Cap you nailed it!  Not much to add to your story.  You have covered the events accurately.  Regarding the “why” I wanted to learn to ride a motorcycle is kinda interesting.  In one of our conversations way back then, we discussed your teaching and riding with our friend Al and that got my attention.  Since I am a type “A”, and previously owned a couple of Corvettes, I enjoyed driving fast!  In Germany, back in the 1970s, there was no speed limit on the “autobahns”.  Anyway, I had an interest and of course learning to ride a motorcycle with you teaching me while you were riding in the sidecar seemed like a great way to learn.   Also, at the time, I remember you were getting ready to go on “home leave” and said you may not have the time later on to teach me, so this was my chance before you left.   That’s when the real action started!   I learned to ride (with you in the sidecar guiding me) before you left and that was what I call very nifty;  you then went on “home leave” and after your return we got serious. We used to ride out early in the mornings up in the Taunus Mountains near Frankfurt all-the-way-up-to the Grosser Feldberg before we went to work! Very nifty!!  It’s history from that point on. I was hooked!

As a side note I really haven’t ridden the BMW during the past few years, because of a “Bakers’ cyst” in my left knee that has really bothered me.   I still have the ‘Beemer’ covered and it still looks in great shape.

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Well ‘That is That’! All You Need To Know About ‘Zilla .. Smiles .. Cap

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