The Sun:
When her husband of 43 years died, Sue Paver needed someone to help fill the void in her life now that the love of her life was suddenly gone.
And she didn’t have to look far. It was her customers – her dozens of sometimes rough around the edges, but softhearted bikers who came to her rescue.“After my husband Jim died in December 2007, they became my extended family,” said Paver. “They keep me going.”
Paver owns Buckle & Belts, a motorcycle parts and accessories store in Calimesa that she and Jim started in 1991. When Jim died, she thought briefly of calling it quits. But her family of bikers soon wiggled their way into her heart, and now she wouldn’t think of selling and leaving them.
They roar in on their Harleys to visit “mom,” as they call her.
For Paver’s daughter, Michelle Rice, who works in the store, the bikers are far more than customers. She vividly remembers how they showed their caring nature when her dad died.
“The night of my dad’s wake the parking lot of the funeral home was filled with motorcycles, there were only about five or six cars,” said Rice. “They hugged my mom and told her how sorry they were. Mom told me once that (motorcycle riders) have a heart of gold. They are very loyal friends.”
Photo by Custom Motorcycles