Frank Conley

[Colin Sparrow]

I'm very sorry to have to pass on the sad news that Frank Conley of California, lifetime enthusiast for all things Greeves and justifiedly self-styled Greeves guru died yesterday.

He had a fall a couple of weeks ago, suffering a head injury which put him in hospital. Sadly he declined fairly rapidly and passed away peacefully yesterday morning.

A great many of us have lost a well-liked and respected friend.

Colin

[John Wakefield]

Sad news indeed & our condolances to his family. Looks like there will be a big sale coming up of all his Greeves stock, one for our USA members to keep an eye on.

[Dick F]

Frank Connely

Very sad to hear of the passing of Frank, hope that there will be some of our members out there who will keep us informed of the situation.

Nice that through the web site , .it has brought our genuine members closer together

[i like rocks]

Frank

This was very sad news. I have known Frank for about 35-40 years and he was a real motorcycle guru not just the Greeves He And Shep restored some of the most amazing bikes I have ever had the pleasure of seeing I had the opportunity to help out a couple of times and considered it a real honer to be ask I belive you are a very lucky person if you can say Frank was one of your mentors Some of my fondest memories are peaking under the tarps for my next prodject
He will be missed
My condolences to the family and freinds
Pat Neal

[Andy Z]

Frank Conley

Pipe Major Conley will be very sadly missed by Greeves and bagpiping communities around the world. Many condolences to the Conley family and all who knew him. RIP.


Andrew

[Colin Sparrow]

Let's put a face to the name.

Here's a picture of me with Frank just a few years back when Pat and I went to see him in Carmel Valley.

A privilege to have known him.

[stormer254]

Very sad news, I bought spares from him quite a few times and always found him helpful, knowledgeable and friendly. My condolences to his family and friends, he will be sadly missed.

[greeves246]

fr\ank

2007-I remember him as this - Frank from the Guy who let me sleep on his couch because there was no motels nearby, he said "there is a price and said beer and pizza on you !" so we went to village below and went to pizza shop ate a massive pizza with sprinkles and two pints of beer went back and talked england till midnight, he opened the fridge and there was diet coke top to bottom and deep with all lables lined up i felt guilty he said want a drink ? there were pistons all along the back of the house wall full height and length i remember seeing a room of mx3-5 gears rusty in boxes, we walked outside in morning sun there were 5 challengers rusty under a tarp in the drive one with front end gone and i said "frank what would you take" for that poor boy he said without faltering $200 i said yes and handed him the money i said do you have some tools frank ? he said yes so i took the tools and to his amazement i took it apart and loaded it into the back of the mecury sable and said i have to go frank he said well please come back sometime.

gary

[tammyanddaveky]

Frank

Our condolences to his family. A very sad day it was when we heard of Franks passing.
It seems so strange not to sit in on the frequent phone calls Dave made to Frank. I miss the amazing "Frank" stories, not always just Greeves, though those were usually the funniest and inticed his "Frankness"

The first phone call Dave made to Frank still makes us laugh so hard we almost cry!
Dave had Eleanor for better part of 20 yrs, long before the internet and all it's connections. After introductions and small talk, Dave made the rookie mistake of asking if he could purchase cables from Frank...
"There's no damn cables Johnson, if you don't know how to make your cables then you have NO business owning a Greeves!" Frank inspired us in more ways than he will ever know, Dave now makes all our cables.

Another infamous Frank conversation was over the "missing" head gasket on the MCS. It was a Sunday, of all days, and we removed the head off the 36A and to our horror...NO head gasket, we kept looking at the books, and they all showed a head gasket. In complete panic Dave called Frank....
"Frank, this guy ran this bike with no head gasket!"
"Dave, what makes you think it should have a head gasket?"

Dave kept referencing the "book" that showed a head gasket and finally Frank unleashed...

"Dave, what in the hell book are you looking at? We never used head gaskets! Throw that damn book away!"

"Well, Frank...it's your book, it has your picture on it"
"Oh, Well than you should keep it."

From then on and through 5 Greeves projects later, it was a friendship. We talked of other marks, but Greeves was the mainstay...life, dogs, the war, and we were blessed to hear of the days when Frank raced Greeves, oh the stories and fun!

A few of my personal favorites.....
I was telling Frank about our pet desert turtles we had in AZ, he told me of a desert race he was in and he came over a hill and in the middle of his path was a HUGE desert turtle, in an attempt to miss the big guy he ended up crashing and breaking his collar bone. As he lay on the desert floor stunned and assesing what was hurting, the ole desert tortoise came right on over to Frank and began sniffing on him.

When restoring the American Spec Wessex, Grizzy I knew I was going to street legal her and set in lights. I was speaking with Frank about the headlight and he was against it all the way. Finally one time he said to me..."What in the hell are ya gonna do with lights, rescue lost fisherman in the woods?" All I could do was lol!

Frank defined a generation and era almost gone, gruff out of genuine desire to teach and love. I miss that gruff of love generation, and the disappearnce of such standards may very well be what undoes this good ole world.

We feel so fortunate, the last phone call to Frank was to thank him, with his teaching and encouragement we had taken 1st, 2nd, and 3rd with the MCS and American and British Spec Wessex's..couldn't have done a single one of these ole gals without him! He was excited to hear that at a British Bike Show over run with Laverda's, BSA, Triumphs, Norton etc...The Greeves sweeped the competition class that included several Triumphs and BSA's

We will miss and think of him always, especially every time I hear a Greeves run, or I ride Grizzy and turn on my headlight

[Bearingman]

Frank Conley's Greeves Days 2013

Hello to all.

For all USA & homeland GRA members. I've listed Greeves Days on Frank's website. The new date will be March 2nd & 3rd, with a rain date of March 23rd & 24th just in case...and yes it does rain in California!

We will be honoring Frank for all the many years of keeping our Greeves running well. We'll have special trophies as well for honoring Mr. Conley.

All contact info is on the website.

Thank you.
Kenny Sykes
USA