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A 49-year-old former merry-go-round salesman decides to start a motorcycle touring company. Sounds like the beginning of an obscure joke, doesn't it? But Robert Donaldson Beach Sr. wouldn't find it funny.
Beach, that former amusement ride solicitor, has been able to turn his love for motorcycles into a career that has taken him most places people only dream about visiting.
What's going on: Beach's Motorcycle Adventures Ltd. specializes in tours through the Alps, Italy and New Zealand. The company will coordinate 16 motorcycle tours between now and spring 2007.
"The tours were set up to avoid places where tourists would flock," he said. "We were near the big cities and always encourage tour members to explore on their own."
Year founded: 1960
History: Beach owned a motorcycle from the time he was 15. His wife Elizabeth always wanted to go to Europe but could never convince him. That was in 1968.
Beach was unemployed from the Allan Herschell Co. Inc. and noticed an advertisement for a European tour in a motorcycle magazine. The trip included the purchase of a new BMW motorcycle. Beach took out...