You meet so many people in this world and you never know how it will turn out. I met MD through his racer, Bill Biber, in the mid 80s, not long after we had started Kiwi Rider Magazine. Bill was a road racer who also dabbled in Enduro, MX and XC, which have always been my preferred types of racing. Bill and MD had been sponsored by New Zealand Motorcycle News for road racing at the time. Some good natured banter was exchanged and from that grew a friendship that never stopped. Bill was a riding a BMW R80G / S when I encountered him and MD at the Cold Kiwi Rally. I had been given a demo bike from BMW Motorrad and it was from this meeting that I decided to move to the flat twin side of life. MD was not only a most excellent mechanic, he too had a love of the flat twin that never stopped. In fact, his last ride was in his beloved Bural, which was a BMW R100-powered Ural sidecar outfit. As our friendship developed we discovered we both shared an interest in adventure riding, guns and shooting, and both kinds of music, Country and Western. Visiting MD was always a pleasure, his love of STRONG coffee was certainly an eye opener for me.