Rural Routes: Dad and the art of motorcycle maintenance: Family uses motorbikes to stay close

Editor’s Note: Rural Routes is an ongoing photo feature series about Southeast Missouri residents.

The day before Thanksgiving was crisp and cloudless. In other words, it was perfect weather for racing motorbikes across the hills between Jackson and Oak Ridge.

So that’s what Joe Strauser and his kids, 12-year-old Matthew and 10-year-old Sophie, decided to do as they waited for out-of-town family to arrive. Or they did, until Sophie’s 50-cubic-centimeter machine suddenly gave out.

The problem, Strauser deduced, was probably a bad fuel hose, so he and Sophie headed back to the garage so Strauser could perform some maintenance and Sophie could play with the cat.

While preparing the necessary replacement parts, Strauser said motorcycles have become more or less a family tradition.

In this diptych, Joe Strauser, far left, fixes a motorbike for his daughter, Sophie, center, and socializing with relatives as his son, Matthew, right, prepares to ride a motorcycle Wednesday at their home outside of Oak Ridge.TYLER GRAEF

“I had gotten into cars and trucks and stuff,” he said. “And then I got into motorcycles.”

Which worked well, he said, since his wife shares his love of motorcycles, and her parents are even avid riders themselves. Sophie proudly pointed out her grandparents’ bikes in the garage; a pair of machines styled more classically than the sportier models the rest of the family rode.

So passing on the love of riding, he said, just seemed like a natural and fun way to spend time with the kids.

“They can be dangerous,” he admitted. “Just ’cause there’s no cage around you.”

But life is full of dangerous stuff, and learning how to navigate such obstacles is a part of growing up.

Joe Strauser, left, test drives his daughter's motorbike while his son, Matthew, rides ahead of him in their yard Wednesday at their home outside of Oak Ridge.TYLER GRAEF

“If you know how to ride ’em,” he said. “They can be ...”

“Fun!” Sophie interjected from behind him in the garage.

“Fun and safe,” Strauser reminded her.

As they tended to the smaller bike, Matthew continued zipping up the hill, along the ridge and back down toward the pond, stopping occasionally to check in on their progress.

He said the thrill for him is the sense of freedom that comes with feeling the wind in your hair. But it’s hard to describe the feeling, he said.

Sophie Strauser nuzzles a cat while waiting for her father, Joe, to fix her dirtbike Wednesday at their home outside of Oak Ridge.TYLER GRAEF

“I don’t know. Whenever you’re riding, I just like the way the wind feels,” he said, throwing his arms wide and glancing toward the horizon. “I’m not sure, but the breeze feels great.”

It’s even better than fishing, he said.

Before long, Strauser had the smaller bike running again. He climbed on and popped a 50-cc-sized wheelie to test it out before returning it to Sophie.

After a little eye-rolling about having to put all her safety gear back on, she climbed back atop the bike just to have it sputter out of juice yet again before she went anywhere. She let out a groan.

“Well, I don’t know if it’s gonna run today or not,” Strauser told her.

But by then, relatives were beginning to arrive. Barbara Cribbs, an aunt, surveyed the driveway as Strauser tinkered with a motorbike and the kids whapped one another with pool noodles to pass the time. She said she wasn’t surprised to see them doing the motorcycle thing yet again.

“It’s how this family spends their Thanksgiving,” she said with a chuckle. “On two wheels.”