Mike Friedle left us on April 4, 2020 after a long illness. Mike  was not only a dedicated member of the BMW brotherhood/sisterhood,  he was also a motorcycle safety instructor and as such he may have a few lives and many crashes. His warm heart and kindness endeared him to all who got to know him.  I always thoroughly enjoyed his seminars, the depth of his thinking and his humor made the subject of motorcycle safety easy to digest. Over the years, Mike’s beard grew longer but his enthusiasm for the cause never weakened. 

Tom Cutter of Rubber Chicken Racing Garage fame said it best, he wrote:

“I had a long conversation with his wife Karla today. She plans to hold a 25th anniversary Airheads at the Aerodrome Rally, with catered food, so for the first time she won’t be cooking! Of course the Rally will be in memory of Michael and all that he has done
for BMW riders through the years. Michael was the one who Chaired several BMWMOA Rallies in New England. Michael was on the Airheads Beemer Club Board of Directors several times. Michael served as NY State Airmarshal for the Airheads Beemer Club. Michael was the one who hosted the Airheads at the Aerodrome Rally in Milan, NY for 24 years. Michael was an Motorcycle Safety Foundation Rider Training Instructor and trailed literally
thousands of new motorcycle riders. I met Michael when he was the first person through the doors of BMW of Staten Island in New York, the dealership that I started in conjunction with the BMW Automobile dealership Bel-Aire Motors. He came in, introduced
himself, we talked for over an hour and right away we knew that we were kindred spirits. We had a lot of the same friends, grew up riding on the roads of New England, and we were both committed to BMW motorcycles and BMW riders. Michael was the one who nominated me for the prestigious BMW Friend of the Marque Award, bestowed by the BMW Clubs International organization. Michael was a trooper in every way, always with a hearty laugh and a kind word. The last time I saw Michael was at the rehab facility where he was housed after he had brain surgery. I was fortunate enough to visit at the same time as other notables in Mike’s life, Richard Clegg, and Sam Booth from Ohio. People traveled great distances to sit at Michael’s side, as his health slipped away. 

I will miss my friend terribly. His passing leaves a huge void in my life. In Michael’s honor, I will leave my motorcycles parked during this
pandemic, so that every medical person can tend to the COVID19 patients and their needs. He and I were in agreement about that.”