Do you ever wonder if there is a real human being on the other end of your online parts order? Here at K and G Cycles, you can be sure there is. Most of the time, Tom Vaughan is handling your questions and matching you up with the items you need for your bike.

In between phone calls and all his other duties, he had a chance to answer some questions for us. Here they are!

Your Name
Tom Vaughan

What positions do you play on the K and G Team?
Customer Support Manager is my title but it goes way beyond that.  I handle the shipping and receiving as order placement with the various vendors.  There is always some IT work that needs done so I get my share of that as well.

Where are you from?
I grew up in West Central Iowa (About 60 miles from Omaha, Nebraska) and moved all over the country until 1991 when I moved to Indiana and stayed.

Tell us a bit about your family.
I grew up in a home in a very small town (we had 26 in my graduating class).  I am the oldest of 4 kids.  My dad was a meat cutter at the Oscar Meyer Plant there for 20 Years and was also the “Best Mechanic Around” He Drove and maintained Super Modified Stock Cars way back before NASCAR was a big deal so I grew up with a wrench in my hand.  I learned mechanics at a very early age and just loved to take things apart.  I had some trouble at first putting them back together but when I finally succeeded my dad was really pretty proud.  I joined the Air Force after High School and decided I wanted to be an Aircraft Mechanic and from there to Aviation Maintenance School and then on to the airlines where I spent 20 years as a mechanic, and finally a Maintenance Manager for the airline I was working for.  My first ride on a motorcycle was when I was about 12, I hopped on my buddies 125 and promptly balled myself up.  Being the person I am I continued to ride and the first bike I owned was an 850 Suzuki, great bike.  I got married and had kids so there went that.  I got a 1200 Gold Wing later on and was hooked.  After a back injury I was sidelined and I sold that when the kids wouldn’t stay off of it and kept knocking it over.  I just couldn’t pick it up myself anymore.  I have since healed and am really itching to get back in the saddle.  As a mechanic I would love to find a “basket case” and build what I want, it just hasn’t happened yet.

What is your favorite quote, by whom, and why?
Have fun while you’re alive, you’ll be dead a long time.  I don’t know who wrote it but it stuck.

What are you most proud of accomplishing so far in your life?
I don’t know.  I raised a family, happy and healthy and we get along.  I guess that’s pretty big.

What’s your favorite place in the entire world?
Haven’t found it yet.  I keep finding better places.  I love wild and rough country so anywhere like that will do.

What is your favorite thing about K and G Cycles?
I think my favorite thing about K and G is that fact that I have been part of it since it was born and have had a hand in every part of it at some time.  It changes and grows and sometimes just makes you madder than hell but that’s part of it too.  I like being able to change and grow along with it.