The Passing of Great Motorcycling Friends, Margaret and Mike Wilson

The Passing of Great Motorcycling Friends, 

Margaret and Mike Wilson

The Passing of Great Motorcycling Friends

As we have grown, matured as motorcyclists, most of us have had older best friends, mentors, people we always see at events or stay in touch with. These are people who can help us with technical problems, or simply share their stories regarding how motorcycling was "back in the old days." We respect their opinions, want to listen when they speak. They just seem to always be there for us as symbols of how to "do it right," how best to live as motorcyclists. Until one day they are gone. Never to be talked with again.

Margaret and Mike Wilson of Cedar Rapids, Iowa have been those people for many of us, actually, all across America. Mike, the dirt track racer, pilot and airplane restorer, Bonneville Land Speed Record Sportster tuner, Margaret, Golden Life Member of the Motor Maids, named America's Most Popular and Typical Girl Rider for 1958 by the AMA. Mike and Margaret, Harley-Davidson dealers, then Honda dealers, ambassadors, always motorcycling pals that put down motorcycle miles in 48 states. Active with any organization that seems to
respect motorcycling history, they poured in hundreds of hours serving on boards, volunteering, sharing their spirit, and likely hundreds of thousands of their hard earned dollars to support the preservation and telling of motorcycling's great history.

Mike Wilson died yesterday, February 2. We lost Margaret Wilson last summer. If you ask anyone who knows them, they'll agree they were a really fine couple, lived life to the fullest. Pure and honest, always helpful, and hopeful for their friends and fellow motorcyclists. For many of us who knew them well, or just crossed paths with them at some event, they will be missed a great deal. Luckily, we have material evidence of their enthusiasm, motorcycles they raced and rode, photos of them with friends, their smiling faces preserved. 

Sincerely,
Jill & John Parham
All the staff at the National Motorcycle Museum, 
One of Mike and Margaret's favorite places to meet people, share stories.