Written by Mike Roberts
George is a retired graphic artist/illustrator who dabbles in vintage motorcycle restorations. He is truly a vintage British bike enthusiast who “talks the talk and walks the walk”. George lives in SW Portland with his lovely wife Sarah and their dog Cassie.
He got his start in the late 1980s when he purchased and restored a 1967 Triumph TR6R. Later in the early nineties he started doing restorations for Kenny Dreer (Vintage Rebuilds & Restorations). This is where he was able to hone his craft that eventually laid the path for creating stunning, award winning, sometimes “best of show” awards. George was formerly very active in Oregon Vintage Motorcyclists where he designed the OVM logo and created club graphics including the Corvallis Show and Swap Meet posters, hats, and T-shirt designs. He also served as secretary for four years and an additional four years as President.
Because of his effective leadership during his tenure, he helped increase membership in the club from the previous declining years. He is currently the self described OVM Design Consultant at large — still designing the yearly show poster and T-shirt designs. George can be described as the consummate vintage bike enthusiast. Not only does he build and restore British motorcycles for customers (gekrestorations.com), he restored his own personal one-off custom 1971 Norton Commando — winning trophies in nearly every event he has entered for the last 25 years. You can go to any vintage event in the Northwest and George is usually there promoting vintage motorcycling and our club. He is always there for you in a time of need. If your bike broke down on the side of the road, he is the first one to pull over and get you going again. George will always be a friend to
those who congregate in vintage bike circles.
In addition to restoring motorcycles, he also restored a rare European automobile, a 1960 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider Veloce. His everyday driver is an all original 1987 BMW 325is.
George gives generously of his time to our club and members offering expert tech support and conducting tech sessions in his garage in addition to serving as Vice President and newsletter editor of the Oregon Norton Enthusiasts — he was the 2016 INOA “Newsletter of the Year Award” recipient for the oNe Norton Bits. Also, since May 2015, he has published the monthly Alfa Bits newsletter for the Alfa Romeo Owners of Oregon, (AROO Newsletters). He has been a member of INOA since 1995 and is one of the founding oNe members since its inception in 2010 when it split off from the INOA Northwest Norton Owners chapter.