In Loving Memory of My Friend… Jim Overman 1959-2017
It was the fall of 2002 and I was standing in a parking lot of a newly formed motorcycle company. As I got out of my Chevelle I heard the distinct roar of a distant v-twin thunder. As the sound came into sight two large motorcycles came around the bend of the road. Each bike was a gleaming monster befitting the roar of the exhaust tune that proceeded. Mounted on the bikes were two hardened riders. They slowed and turned into the parking lot sweeping by me, one with eyes fixed straight ahead, a long grey beard, and a ponytail braided the length of his back. The other rider had on work-shirt with short sleeves that were pulled up by the wind exposing his muscular arms with skulls and barbed-wire tattoos. The second rider fixed his eyes on me and without expression gave me a thousand yard stare… I now know I knew very little that day – most of all I did not know that I had just seen the man who would become my best friend.
In 2017 we lost Jim Overman to cancer. Few know that if it wasn’t for Jim, Vengeance would have never existed. Jim was one of the original five founders of Vengeance and was the person who brought all of the players together to form Vengeance in the fall of 2002.
Prior to founding Vengeance, Jim worked at Ultra Motorcycles and was an avid dirt and street bike rider. Originally Jim was the “service/parts guy”, later he was the shop foreman and then he was my right-hand man running the shop and handling all of the production duties during some very tough times. After Vengeance closed, Jim lived down the street from me and he spent many of his Saturdays helping me work on my bikes, old cars, and vintage 2-stroke boat.
A Jim Overman custom build for QTM Brembo
Jim was a gifted mechanic with pure instincts for understanding the inner working of anything with a motor. After Vengeance, Jim handled the technical support duties for Spyke (Starters & Ignitions on Vengeance bikes) / Compufire (VW & Honda motorcycle electronics) / STD Development (H-D Panhead parts) in Downey, CA. Despite everyone’s “stupid questions”, Jim handled the tech support and service phones with grace and determination.
The unfinished project— Jim’s 35 Chevy Ratrod
In his free time, Jim built many custom bikes often combining his love for v-twin power and the suspensions found on road-racing bikes. Jim’s last unfinished project was a 35 Chevy RatRod he was building from an original 1-ton chassis that was rescued from a farmers field in Kansas.
For those of you who have participated in the Vengeance forum you knew Jim as the “Head Janitor” (he claimed that screen name most likely because he was always cleaning up my messes). He always was willing to help people identify and locate parts for their bikes.
Jim was my best friend and he will be truly missed. — Stephen