Billy Joel’s Closing Down His Motorcycle Shop, H...

Bikes are among the many most human issues to be into. They’re uncooked, loud, and never at all times sensible, however they’re additionally about freedom, self-expression, and generally straight-up hedonism. To me, bikes signify the pursuit of pleasure in its purest type. And every time I see a mainstream superstar or musician who shares that very same ardour, it makes me like them much more.

We are likely to put stars on a pedestal, idolize them as if they’re bigger than life. However strip all that away and so they’re nonetheless simply individuals like us—they eat, drink, take a shit, and chase happiness within the methods they understand how.

That’s why Billy Joel’s story hits particularly laborious for me. I’ve at all times recognized the Piano Man was into bikes. Actually, again in 2010, he opened a spot referred to as twentieth Century Cycles in Oyster Bay, Lengthy Island. It wasn’t a flashy showroom to promote bikes, however extra like a dwelling museum the place he displayed his private assortment of greater than 75 bikes—Harleys, Triumphs, Indians, Ducatis, Moto Guzzis, BMWs, and even a uncommon 1952 Vincent Rapide.

And right here’s the kicker: he didn’t cost a penny for folk to come back in and see them. He simply wished followers and fellow fans to understand the great thing about these machines from the ’30s to the ’60s, an period he felt was fading from reminiscence.

Sadly, the store is closing its doorways this September. Joel, now 76, has been diagnosed with Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus—a situation the place fluid builds up within the mind, inflicting points with stability, reminiscence, and pondering. He’s already canceled upcoming live shows after fighting strolling and stability. He’s been candid about it too, saying he nonetheless feels good in any other case, however stability is a problem.

It’s robust information, as a result of you’ll be able to inform bikes weren’t only a pastime for him; they had been a part of who he’s. He’s ridden for many years, even after surviving a severe crash in 1982 when a automotive hit him on Lengthy Island. He’s joined charity rides for 9/11 first responders, breast most cancers analysis, and different causes. Bikes have been intertwined together with his life and legacy virtually as a lot as music.

Picture by: twentieth Century Cycles

Picture by: twentieth Century Cycles

For somebody like me, who considers himself an previous soul regardless of being a ’90s child, Billy Joel’s music has at all times meant so much. I’ve spent numerous hours together with his songs, which to me have at all times felt timeless. Realizing he additionally cherished bikes simply made him really feel extra relatable, like we had been linked in some small method throughout generations. And now, listening to that he’s being compelled to let go of one thing so near his coronary heart—it’s gut-wrenching.

The reality is, 1000’s of individuals undergo the identical factor every single day. They’ve to surrender passions, hobbies, or careers as a result of life throws one thing at them they will’t management. That’s probably the most human a part of this story: it doesn’t matter in the event you’re a worldwide icon or simply one other rider within the crowd, all of us face these moments of loss. My coronary heart goes out to Billy Joel and anybody else who’s needed to put down one thing they love. Right here’s wishing him the perfect, and hopefully, in some way, he will get to swing a leg over a motorbike and trip up and down that Yellow Brick Street once more.