As I’ve stated previously…everyone’s got a first, and Paul’s is a painful first as he’s the only one on the site, who’s Red Rocker was stolen…hope he has a double first and some awesome caring soul that reads and may own, (as I’m sure possible new owner doesn’t even know) & gives this man his 30 year + wedding gift from his wife back.
*YOUR CHANCE TO BE THE WEBSITE’S HERO $500.00 REWARD*
1. Paul, your story brother is a kick in the gut and the nuts at the same time. Your Red Rocker was stolen right before your move to Milwaukee, can u give us the best brief step by step how this happened?
My wife lost her job in California because of Covid, and we were forced to move back to the md-west. Mama Movers was a moving company who we found online who could move us by the end of October (when our lease ended) and quoted us a decent price. We have moved nine times over our 32 years that we have been married and have never had a problem, ever. This was the first time we were using a smaller company. The problems we had begun immediately when they showed up and told us that the ‘real price’ was actually three times what we were initially quoted. Having no other choice as our lease was ending the next day, we had no choice but to agree to pay this price. They did a really careful job packing all our stuff and loading up the trucks. At the end of the very long day, they left around 8PM and the house was dark, and we could not clearly see what we signed and handed over our big check. we got in the car and noticed that the paper they handed us did not have any information on it, nor the details around ‘what they packed. The next day on our way out of CA, we tried to call Mama Movers and surprise, surprise they didn’t answer their phones or return voice mails or emails for days. We were to move into our new house on November 16th, two weeks after we left CA. We made 100s of calls to Mama Movers to schedule the arrival of our goods, and all went unanswered. We got the police involved and filed a theft report. Finally, we got a call on December 14th, saying our stuff had ‘been found’ and they would be delivering it to our house in 2 hours. We needed to have $7500 in cash (even MORE money than we had already paid) or they would not deliver our goods. We contacted the police and they said – you don’t have much choice, if you don’t pay you have zero chance of getting your stuff back. The truck pulled up and it was clear, it was MUCH smaller than the ones that took our stuff away in CA. When we asked if this was all of it, they assured us it was. Then they opened the truck, and it was a horror show. Things were unwrapped, damaged, torn, soiled, scratched and broken. They were throwing stuff out of the truck and dragging it across the sidewalk, destroying everything. We were panicked as they were getting to the end of the truck and we began to notice significant things missing – tables and chairs, bed frames, dressers, three of my tool chests, our family photos, and the Red Rocker. When we asked where the rest of our stuff was, they got really mad and said, “We don’t give a f^&* about your stuff and don’t accuse us of stealing it’. These guys were not affiliated with Mama Movers, this company was AJ Pro Logistics out of Addison Illinois, and they claimed Mama Movers went bankrupt and sold these guys our stuff (not true). We amended our police report, we contacted our insurance company, called the FBI and the Federal Department of Interstate commerce, and all had sympathy, but no one could do anything to help us. Because of our insurance claim, we had to dig up proof of what we owned that was stolen. This sent us on a hunt to find my original receipt for the Red Rocker and photos that proved that we owned it recently. We came across many photos (that we have shared with you) of that bike and all the items I had with it. Then on December 23rd at 4PM we got a call telling us the movers had ‘found’ the rest of our stuff and they were coming to deliver it. The truck showed up and sure enough a good portion of the missing items (tool chests and family pictures) were there, but alas, the Red Rocker was not there and the movers, of course, had no idea what we were talking about.
2. How did you ever hear about a Red Rocker Bike that was Sammy Hagar’s? My best friend John Kuehn was an avid bicyclist and read about it in a bicycling magazine.
3. When was the first-time you heard Sammy? My first Sammy concert was in 1984 in Milwaukee on the VOA tour.
4. How many live shows? I’ve only seen Sammy twice: once in 84 and then 88 when he was with Van Halen on the Monsters of Rock tour.
5. The pics of you riding in front of Sausalito are some of this site’s BEST! Any more memories of that day? My wife Su and I were on our honeymoon (we were 22yrs. old and we were just starting out…money was tight) I really wanted the bike, but $869.00 in 1989 was a ton of money! My wife knew that it would mean the world to me, and she agreed to spend the remainder of our wedding money on the bike!
6 Top 3 fav Sammy albums or projects? Three Lock Box, Standing Hampton, 5150 and Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock (book)
7. Top 3 other fav groups? Rush, Van Halen, Motley Crue.
8 first show of Sammy/Halen? Sammy, Milwaukee 1984
9. What were your thoughts when u heard about this site? I thought it was a great idea! My recollection was that there were 1000 RR bikes made and to be a part of that group is pretty cool!
10. We all hope the future holds you FINALLY being re-united with your Red Rocker bike that you have owned for decades and just lost last year…any other hopes/goals for the future you want to share (this includes links if you’re a business)? I would love to get my bike back and it would be an awesome benefit to finally meet Sammy too.
Red Rocker Riders 