Quote from: ducatiz on May 22, 2011, 02:00:27 PM
Something tells me he had a heart attack. Not crashed due to wild riding.

This, or a similar event, crossed my mind.

My Dad was 62 and slumped over behind the wheel, mid-sentence, while driving and went off the road into a forested area. He essentially suffocated in the wreckage. Autopsy to determine the cause of the accident was inconclusive, IMO. The only thing notable was that he showed evidence of a phenomena known as cardiac vein bridging; with this the veins that normally encircle the outside of the heart can intrude upon the muscle and cause intermittent issues. Apparently much is still to be learned about this.

Such a thing could have easily happened here.

RIP, Dolph.

Quote from: redxblack on May 22, 2011, 08:29:51 PM
Would it be possible to have an image (his avatar, etc) as a memorial on the home page for a while?

I am not a cold hearted son of a pregnant dog, and don't want to sound like an asshole when I say this, but I don't want this.

1st-ly, any newer member or new visitors to the site, how would you think of your welcome  or introduction to the site would be with what you might determine as a morose or depressing memorial thread or memorial on the home/landing page as the 1st thing you read!!!...think about that for a second as a tone setter.....

2nd...while some may not say it, whether out of respect or perhaps just avoiding bad taste, while I think that no one here wished him dead(I am guessing), some may not have liked the guy or what he had to say, and that would be a helluva polarizing thing to do a portion of the membership,regardless of their activity level.

Quote from: redxblack on May 22, 2011, 08:27:32 PM
His local paper, The Lancaster Eagle Gazette, does not have an obit or funeral notice. I figured I'd save you guys the trouble of looking. It's a damned shame because I'd like to let his acquaintances and relations know he was a damn fine man who touched many lives.

I always loved his defending of our home state and making the case that Ohio is a great place especially for motorcyclists.  Always had a good word to say to me and took a lot of time to get me info on the roads we both like to ride. 

Red I was thinking that we could meet up and do some rides on the roads he loved if your down.  Any word on when a funeral/service will be?

I'd like that. I live about 2.5 hours from where he was.

As a frequent lurker and rare commenter, I can say that Dolph was one of the most memorable personalities on this board.  I admire that he lived life on his own terms on with no compromises.  He died surrounded by his loves: fast bikes and twisty roads.

Maybe someone would like to print out this thread for his brother

throw a cover letter on it and send it to him....maybe not

as for doing something at the site here...

we all know we dance with the fates...

every time we start rolling and lift our feet to the pegs

I am not sure we need to be reminded

when the fates take one of ours

Just a thought....

Over other forums I've been on, whenever a member passes, people temporarily change their avatars to either the departed's avatar or to one of a burning candle.

may need resizing:

RIP dolph.
GOing to miss his signature.

-Dolph

Sux.

RIP Dolph

very sad news indeed.  i always thought of Dolph as kind of an elder statesmen on the board.  he obviously had a lot of experience and a lot of means.  i loved reading about his collection of cars/bikes, and imagining the grown-up little-kid lifestyle he seemed to enjoy. 

he always seemed to be very indulgent of those with less experience.  i rememeber recently someone made a joke about rubbing used motor-oil on your rotors, and he was the first one to point out that we should clarify it was a joke, lest a noob interpret it as serious advice.

it also impressed me that, as others have pointed out, he always took the time to sign his posts by name and add the smiley face.

RIP Dolph.

oh wow........just caught up on this thread........what terrible news.

I really enjoyed and appreciated Dolph's contributions here and this wonderful place will be a little bit less so without him.

I sit here with a heavy heart, you see Dolph was alittle younger than myself and we often  e-mailed each other privately and shared the passion of motorcycles along with other interests and even exchanged gifts.
In my heart I one day hoped to have had him over to the UK so as we could have visited the Isle of Man TT races together which I know was on his list of things to do but alas that we never happen now so Dolph my internet friend RIP.

Geoff...

Quote from: DucofWestwood on May 23, 2011, 11:38:49 AM
very sad news indeed.  i always thought of Dolph as kind of an elder statesmen on the board.  he obviously had a lot of experience and a lot of means.  <snip>

means, yes, experience, well.....

Many of the arguments I had with him were about his newness to sportbikes and how he portrayed street riding given his experiences.  He was polite to a fault.  He was soooo enthusiastic about Ducs.   He was nothing but a gentleman on the forum.   To that I will raise a glass, loft a wheel, and try to emulate his happiness in what he loved doing. 

He was dangerous on the street and I would have never ridden with him.  I would have loved to buy him a drink... buy him dinner... talk about life (more than we did over PMs and with less diagreements).  I would have loved to get him on the track because I think he would have giggled the entire time.

I regret not acknowledging his point of view about his riding beyond limits on the road.   I regret not spending more time discussing with him things other than motorcycles.  I regret my phrasing of things I said to him about his favortite thing to do.

I have learned a lot from him and I will make sure I sail, ride, live with more happiness and enthusiasm.

I have been very conflicted about what to say publicly.

I am sad.

Dolph was pretty cool.

I think Chris hit the nail on the head with this. 

I saddens me that he is gone, but I also take solace in knowing that he was living his life the way he chose to right up to the very end. 

The man was neither a hero, nor a villain.  Just Randolph, living his life as he chose.

Quote from: geoffduc on May 23, 2011, 03:32:54 PM
I sit here with a heavy heart, you see Dolph was alittle younger than myself and we often  e-mailed each other privately and shared the passion of motorcycles along with other interests and even exchanged gifts.
In my heart I one day hoped to have had him over to the UK so as we could have visited the Isle of Man TT races together which I know was on his list of things to do but alas that we never happen now so Dolph my internet friend RIP.

Geoff...

I saw looking through his list of posts the pictures of the IOM t-shirt you sent him! How cool was that??!! Very very nice of you to do that!! I am sure it meant the world to him and how he would have loved to visit you and catch some IOM races! Who wouldn't?? Nice work Geoff! [moto]