From:John Grimberg e-mail:grimbergart@gmail.com
Subject:Carl Vandre Date:Wed Feb 13 06:54:06 2008
Hello – My name is John Grimberg and I suppose my posting on this site is long overdue. Carl Vandre was my Grandfather and so much more to me. I would have to say that he was the single most influential person in my life – without him I wouldn’t be who I am or where I am today.

When I was 11-years old my father married his oldest daughter Loretta and from that day he accepted me as one of his own – a common feeling that many of his friends would reflect later at his funeral. When I was very young I always felt something special when I held a piece of metal in my hand and when I met Carl I knew he was someone special – he was the first person I had met that knew how to machine metal, and I thought that was the coolest thing in the world! At that time he was about half finished with his first motorcycle restoration (1925 Henderson Deluxe) and was just about to retire from running his business (Vandre Electric and Refrigeration). Like my step-sister Rindy, I also remember all the motorcycle parts freshly primed, hanging from the rafters in the basement – that was a time before he set up his now legendary hobby/motorcycle shop. On my 14th birthday Carl gave me a gift that I still carry with me today in my toolbox - my first 0-1” micrometer, which was his first 0-1” micrometer – an old Starrett No. 203 that had signs of many years of use that he polished up and had engraved for me. He taught me how to read a micrometer and I can still remember sitting at his dining-room table taking measurements from some random part that he assigned me to measure - I would later go on to become a master machinist.

Carl and I always had a special bond. I always enjoyed listening to his stories – and he had many to tell – a lifetime of experiences that one can learn from if you took the time to listen. After I had been working as a machinist for a few years I approached Grandpa and asked if he would be interested in helping me restore one of the old Henderson’s that he had stored at the back of his shop. At the time I thought it would be a great way to spend some quality time with him before he got too old to work in the shop. So he picked out the most beat-up set of engine cases he had – one that had three holes where the rods had let loose – and that became the base of my now finished KJ. Every Saturday I would go down to his shop and spend all day working on parts and listening to his stories of when he was growing up, or when he was in the service, or how he started his business, etc, etc. I would also line up “homework” assignments that I could do on evenings during the week at the shop where I worked. That was also right around the time that Carl got the idea of building the V-6 and so when I would show up on Saturday morning, he would be so excited to show me the latest thing that he was working on, or we would collaborate on how to solve a particular problem in the design – those were fun times. He just loved solving problems. He would tell me about how he would lie in bed, unable to sleep, because he was working on a problem in his head. Or about how he would wake up suddenly and have the solution so he would have to get up and write it down – he was so excited about those engine projects he was like a little kid – and he was in his 70’s! That was also before he bought the Proto-Track mill so he convinced me to do a bunch of machining on some of the parts for the case to that engine – I remember being frustrated at the extra work he was giving me when all I wanted to do was make progress on my own motorcycle project – but in the end I was glad to help after all that he had helped me with. He was so impressed with how nice the CNC was able to machine the engine cases that he went out and bought one for himself. All I had to do was show him the basics and he was off and running, programming it on his own in no time – I really enjoyed how much enthusiasm he always had for modern technology. Even with motorcycles – although his passion was antique motorcycles, he would tell me of how he enjoyed watching the Superbike races, always impressed with how much power they were making with the latest engines (this from a guy that never got a speeding ticket in his life!).

In the end it ended up taking me about 6-years to finish my KJ project; partly because I want back to school to study engineering, but also because so many days were just spent tinkering around with other projects or telling stories about this or that. Those are days I’ll never forget. I can remember days where I didn’t get a single thing done – if I was having a bad day I could just go down and talk and he would listen – maybe he didn’t have the answer, but he would give me something to think about that would eventually lead to a solution. He was a very wise man. Carl ended up teaching me so many things, not just about motorcycles, but about what is really important in life and how short it really is. Motorcycles were a really big part of his life, but it wasn’t just about the machines, it was the people that they bring together. Just yesterday I was talking with Gene Harper and I tried to remember one bad day that I had with Carl and I couldn’t – not one single day. He touched so many people in his life and will be dearly missed by all of them.

I’d like to attach a picture I took about 4-years ago. I know it’s not a Henderson, but this is how I want to remember Carl. I’ll really miss those nice Spring days when I would show up at the shop and he would be so excited to get the bikes out and go for a ride...

- John Grimberg