{"id":28563,"date":"2024-11-23T00:01:07","date_gmt":"2024-11-23T08:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/?p=28563"},"modified":"2026-04-19T11:25:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T18:25:26","slug":"dave-barr-12-apr-1952-7-nov-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/2024\/11\/23\/dave-barr-12-apr-1952-7-nov-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Dave Barr (12 Apr 1952 – 7 Nov 2024)"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Joe Berk<\/h6>\n

I first heard of Dave Barr on a motorcycle ride with Baja John and friends through the wilds of Tehachapi and Kern County.\u00a0 One of the riders in our group (an Air Force colonel) mentioned Dave’s book on a roadside stop somewhere out in the Owens Peak wilderness area.\u00a0 It had my attention immediately.\u00a0 The Internet was in its infancy in those days and when I made it home, I managed to find more about Mr. Barr online.<\/p>\n

The site I found listed a book (Riding the Edge<\/a>) and a phone number, so I called.\u00a0 I ordered several copies, one for me and others for friends.\u00a0 The guy on the other end of the line was Dave Barr himself and we had a nice conversation.\u00a0 As it turned out, Dave lived in Bodfish near Lake Isabella.\u00a0 One thing led to another and in that conversation, I arranged another ride to meet Dave in person.\u00a0 Good buddy Baja John rode with me.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Dave Barr and yours truly 20 years ago in Caliente, California.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was a grand ride, starting in Caliente (on the magnificent Bodfish-Caliente Road) and then around glorious Lake Isabella with world traveler and living legend Dave Barr.\u00a0 Dave rode a Sportster in those days; his earlier ride was a 1972 Super Glide.\u00a0 Much has been made of the fact that Barr rode that Super Glide around the world as a double amputee, but it took only a few minutes knowing Dave to stop thinking of him as a double amputee and to see him as a fascinating and genuinely nice guy, and that’s what I remember about him.<\/p>\n

Dave Barr’s book,\u00a0Riding the Edge<\/a>, is the greatest motorcycle adventure story ever told, made all the more significant by two facts.\u00a0 \u00a0The first is that Dave Barr, the author, did the ride after losing both legs to a land mine in Africa; the second is that Dave did the ride on a beat up old \u201972 Harley Super Glide that had 100,000 miles on the odometer before<\/span> he started his run around the planet.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dave Barr’s ride around the world took four years, mostly because Dave financed the trip himself.\u00a0 He\u2019d ride a country or two, run out of money, get a job and save for a bit, and then continue.\u00a0 I first read Riding the Edge<\/a> two decades ago, and it was the book that lit my fire for international motorcycle riding.\u00a0 I\u2019ve probably read Dave’s book\"\" five or six times.\u00a0 The guy was and still is my hero.<\/p>\n

Rest in peace, Dave.\u00a0 \u00a0You inspired me and many others, and your memory will far outlast all of us.<\/p>\n

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