{"id":7277,"date":"2020-01-14T06:47:44","date_gmt":"2020-01-14T14:47:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/?p=7277"},"modified":"2020-01-14T06:56:25","modified_gmt":"2020-01-14T14:56:25","slug":"jay-leno","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/2020\/01\/14\/jay-leno\/","title":{"rendered":"Jay Leno"},"content":{"rendered":"

Susie and I saw Jay Leno this weekend at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts and he was great.\u00a0 The 90-minute show felt like it passed in a heartbeat, and I guess that’s the sign of greatness.\u00a0 I laughed so hard my sides hurt.<\/p>\n

I’ve seen Jay Leno in person several times at motorcycle events over the last few years, and I was surprised when writing this blog at how many photos I had.\u00a0 He’s a regular at the Rock Store on Sunday mornings, and it was at the Rock Store where I first saw him in person.\u00a0 He had arrived on his Y2K Huey-helicopter-jet-engine motorcycle before I did, and I didn’t realize he was there until I heard the characteristic whine of the Huey engine when he fired up his bike to leave.\u00a0 It was pretty cool.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Jay Leno on his jet-powered Y2K motorcycle at the Rock Store.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Another shot of Jay Leno on his Y2K. I didn’t realize it when I grabbed this quick photo, but I caught my own image in Jay’s faceshield.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On another occasion, good buddy Marty and I were at a Hansen Dam Britbike bike get-together.\u00a0 Most of the folks had already left for the classic bike run through the mountains when I saw this very classic vintage Excelsior enter the parking lot.\u00a0 I was focused on the bike, as I could see it was unrestored but still in very good condition.<\/p>\n

\"\"
An unrestored but pristine Excelsior Four. It was an impressive motorcycle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I was snapping photos while the rider was still on the machine, with no idea who he was.\u00a0 When the helmet came off, though, there was Jay Leno.\u00a0 For a few minutes, it was just him and me.\u00a0 “Hi,” I said.\u00a0 I can be very articulate sometimes.<\/p>\n

“Hi back,” Jay responded, and then the standup started, from a world famous comedian sitting on a nearly-80-year-old motorcycle.\u00a0 “It’s a ’36 Excelsior.\u00a0 I got a call from a 92-year-old guy in Vegas getting a divorce and he needed to raise cash,” Jay said.<\/p>\n

“Really?”\u00a0 Like I said, I have a way with words.\u00a0 Leno just smiled and shook his head.\u00a0 It’s not often people can fool me, but if it’s going to happen, I guess if it’s Jay Leno it’s okay.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Jay Leno. Up close and personal at Hansen Dam. That motorcycle was unrestored.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On another occasion, good buddy Marty and I rode to an event celebrating the life of Bud Ekins, the guy who brought Steve McQueen into the motorcycle world and went on to become one of Hollywood’s greatest stunt drivers.\u00a0 Jay Leno was one of the speakers at this event (it was at Warner Brothers Studios), and I was able to get another photo.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Jay Leno speaking at Warner Brothers Studios. The guy on the left is Harvey Weinstein.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here’s one last photo, and it’s another one at the Rock Store.\u00a0 When Jay Leno arrives, he’s always by himself and he’s immediately mobbed by folks wanting autographs and photos.\u00a0 That’s lasts for 15 minutes or so, Jay is always gracious, and then the crowd leaves to let him just poke around, looking at the bikes and making small talk like everyone else.\u00a0 What always impressed me was that Jay Leno is completely unpretentious.\u00a0 He’s just one of the guys. \u00a0 My good buddy Dave Walker and I had ridden to the Rock Store on our Harleys when Jay happened by, and I asked him if I could get a photo with Dave.\u00a0 Jay was on it in a New York minute, I probably took 20 photos, and Mr. Leno kept up a running banter the entire time.<\/p>\n

\"\"
After Jay left the Rock Store that day, I’m sure he spent the next several days telling folks he met Dave Walker.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I’ve seen Jay Leno a few other times when I didn’t grab photos, and he’s always the same nice guy, and he’s always good for a laugh. \u00a0 He is exactly the guy we used to see every night on the Tonight<\/em> show.\u00a0 At the Love Run one year, he was the emcee and he asked if anyone had seen his buddy. \u00a0 “He’s wearing a Harley T-shirt, he has gray hair and a beard, and he’s got a pot belly…”<\/p>\n

Jay is still out there and he’s still doing standup.\u00a0 And he’s still funny. \u00a0 If you ever get a chance to see him, take it. \u00a0 The guy does a great show, and it’s not an act.\u00a0 He’s the real deal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Susie and I saw Jay Leno this weekend at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts and he was great.\u00a0 The 90-minute show felt like it passed in a heartbeat, and I guess that’s the sign of greatness.\u00a0 I laughed so hard my sides hurt. I’ve seen Jay Leno in person several times at motorcycle … Continue reading “Jay Leno”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[96,140],"tags":[390,389,1030],"class_list":["post-7277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-feel-good-stuff","category-vintage-motorcycle","tag-excelsior","tag-jay-leno","tag-y2k"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7277"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7306,"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7277\/revisions\/7306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}