Kari Prager, bay area founder of Cal BMW/Triumph and Tri Valley BMW/
KTM passed
away Sunday, Nov 14, at age 62 (?) from strange medical problems
which apparently
had remained undiagnosed until recently. He had been in a head on
collision on a single
track dirt ride on Memorial day and I'm unclear whether this had
anything to do with the
medical problems which followed.

Kari held degrees from Dartmouth in Anthropology and Fine Arts, and
had dropped out
of a dotoral degree program at Harvard "but dropped out to become
motorcycle technician
and other duties in shop", eventually parlaying that into two thriving
dealerships.

I've known Kari perhaps 10 or 15 years and I've lost count of how many
of his shop rides
I've been on and the number of times he's offered me free expert
technical advice on repairs
I decided to do for myself.

I recall Kari talking about the Zen of pistol target shooting and his
misadventures in
Europe when he managed to enter an eastern bloc country presenting
among his
other travel documents, a totally bogus one that he had artistically
manufactured
himself from a California driver's license and a couple of borrowed
stamps from his
local hotel. Kari said that later it finally occurred to him that
traveling in cold war era
eastern Europe carrying forged documents was really an incredibly
stupid trick to
pull, even for a motorcyclist.

A guy who will be long remembered, admired and missed by many. Deepest
sympathy and condolences to his family.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&s...=Google+Search

On Nov 15, 6:05*pm, Rob Kleinschmidt <Rkleinsch1216...@aol.com> wrote:
> Kari Prager, bay area founder of Cal BMW/Triumph and Tri Valley BMW/
> KTM passed
> away Sunday, Nov 14, at age 62 (?) *from strange medical problems
> which apparently
> had remained undiagnosed until recently. He had been in a head on
> collision on a single
> track dirt ride on Memorial day and I'm unclear whether this had
> anything to do with the
> medical problems which followed.
>
> Kari held degrees from Dartmouth in Anthropology and Fine Arts, and
> had dropped out
> of a dotoral degree program at Harvard "but dropped out to become
> motorcycle technician
> and other duties in shop", eventually parlaying that into two thriving
> dealerships.
>
> I've known Kari perhaps 10 or 15 years and I've lost count of how many
> of his shop rides
> I've been on and the number of times he's offered me free expert
> technical advice on repairs
> I decided to do for myself.
>
> I recall Kari talking about the Zen of pistol target shooting and his
> misadventures in
> Europe when he managed to enter an eastern bloc country presenting
> among his
> other travel documents, a totally bogus one that he had artistically
> manufactured
> himself from a California driver's license and a couple of borrowed
> stamps from his
> local hotel. Kari said that later it finally occurred to him that
> traveling in cold war era
> eastern Europe carrying forged documents was really an incredibly
> stupid trick to
> pull, even for a motorcyclist.
>
> A guy who will be long remembered, admired and missed by many. Deepest
> sympathy and condolences to his family.
>
> http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&s...ger&btnG=Googl...

I am sorry for the passing of your friend.

His life lives on. He was part of your life and you will pass that on.
Whether or not you mean to.
My sincere condolences

You sent me on a ride that I will never forget (Tunitas Creek):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/morgan9...4187/lightbox/

On Nov 15, 9:05*pm, BryanUT <nestl...@comcast.net> wrote:
> On Nov 15, 6:05*pm, Rob Kleinschmidt <Rkleinsch1216...@aol.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > Kari Prager, bay area founder of Cal BMW/Triumph and Tri Valley BMW/
> > KTM passed
> > away Sunday, Nov 14, at age 62 (?) *from strange medical problems
> > which apparently
> > had remained undiagnosed until recently. He had been in a head on
> > collision on a single
> > track dirt ride on Memorial day and I'm unclear whether this had
> > anything to do with the
> > medical problems which followed.
>
> > Kari held degrees from Dartmouth in Anthropology and Fine Arts, and
> > had dropped out
> > of a dotoral degree program at Harvard "but dropped out to become
> > motorcycle technician
> > and other duties in shop", eventually parlaying that into two thriving
> > dealerships.
>
> > I've known Kari perhaps 10 or 15 years and I've lost count of how many
> > of his shop rides
> > I've been on and the number of times he's offered me free expert
> > technical advice on repairs
> > I decided to do for myself.
>
> > I recall Kari talking about the Zen of pistol target shooting and his
> > misadventures in
> > Europe when he managed to enter an eastern bloc country presenting
> > among his
> > other travel documents, a totally bogus one that he had artistically
> > manufactured
> > himself from a California driver's license and a couple of borrowed
> > stamps from his
> > local hotel. Kari said that later it finally occurred to him that
> > traveling in cold war era
> > eastern Europe carrying forged documents was really an incredibly
> > stupid trick to
> > pull, even for a motorcyclist.
>
> > A guy who will be long remembered, admired and missed by many. Deepest
> > sympathy and condolences to his family.
>
> >http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&s...ger&btnG=Googl...
>
> I am sorry for the passing of your friend.
>
> His life lives on. He was part of your life and you will pass that on.
> Whether or not you mean to.
> My sincere condolences
>
> You sent me on a ride that I will never forget (Tunitas Creek):
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/morgan9...gan928...-Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Prager, obviously a great talent with a non-typical background.

On Nov 16, 1:05*am, Rob Kleinschmidt <Rkleinsch1216...@aol.com> wrote:

<snip>

> I recall Kari talking about the Zen of pistol target shooting and his
> misadventures in
> Europe when he managed to enter an eastern bloc country presenting
> among his
> other travel documents, a totally bogus one that he had artistically
> manufactured
> himself from a California driver's license and a couple of borrowed
> stamps from his
> local hotel. Kari said that later it finally occurred to him that
> traveling in cold war era
> eastern Europe carrying forged documents was really an incredibly
> stupid trick to
> pull, even for a motorcyclist.
>
This alone marks him out as a guy who was obviously worth knowing.

Just read the post, (I haven't been here for a few years..8 ?) Sucks!
Now who the heck am I gonna buy a bike from?

On Dec 5, 7:24*pm, conductormark <conductorm...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Just read the post, (I haven't been here for a few years..8 ?) Sucks!
> Now who the heck am I gonna buy a bike from?

The memorial service was attended yesterday by several
hundred people and filled a hotel ballroom. In every story
told, Kari emerged as the kind of guy who just charged at
life head on. There's also a memorial ride next Sunday.

Cal Moto is alive and well and run by his former partner,
Mike. Kari, while still active at the dealership, had sold
his interest to Mike several months ago.