Warner Wachter, October 4, 1943 – January 16, 2021. Photos courtesy of Edelweiss Bike Travel.

It?s early in the 1980s. Rider magazine is beginning to show promise as a motorcycle monthly devoted to the touring market. I?m working a motorcycle show in Cincinnati. Here comes this ebullient Austrian guy with an infectious smile who says, ?Hi, I?m Werner Wachter, Edelweiss Bike Travel, and I?d like to invite you to go on a riding adventure with us for a story in your magazine.? My mama didn?t raise any dummies. So shortly thereafter I?m with Werner and an impassioned platoon of Moto Guzzi riders from the States touring the Alps in Italy and France during one of the coldest, snowiest, wettest springs on record and loving every second of it. The record of my initial joyous Edelweiss scoot was published in the September 1983 issue of Rider under the headline ?Der Flug der Ganse,? subtitled in English, ?The Flight of the Geese,? together with photos of wintry riding conditions that still give me, uh, goosebumps under my thermals.
Werner was a fabulous guy who brought joy and mirth everywhere he went. Through hard work and passion, he built Edelweiss Bike Travel into the world?s largest motorcycle tour company. In 2010, Werner and an intrepid group of riders embarked on a trip around the world.

There was a tie that bound Werner and me from the start. We both shared the background of beginning our professional careers working for our fathers, mine in RV magazine publis...