Hillbilly ride Icon

[bird man]

I learned yesterday from a friend that David Hemphill passed away recently. David was probably most known among riders for his organizing the annual spring Hillbilly ride in Ark. David was influential in introducing a lot of riders in this area to dual sport riding. I personally was privileged to get to do a number of multi day rides with him all of which were excellent experiences. Dave will be missed by those who knew and rode with him.
Link to his obituary
http://obituaries.ljworld.com/obituarie ... =183645985

[troy]

Dave Hemphill was the godfather of dualsport for NE Kansas. I don't know if there are any gravel roads in Heaven, but if there are, Dave will find them, and he'll probably lead some folks out for an adventure.

Thanks for sharing this with us, Larry.

[Savage]

Damn that sucks!!! He was a very nice guy the handful of times I rode with and chatted with him. I guess the only good thing I can think of right now is that at least he got to do what he enjoyed up until he passed.

God Bless!

[ajayhawkfan]

Very sad to hear.

[Hank Moody]

So sad to hear this news I remember one time in Arkansas we had just finished a difficult section of trail which dumped on to a gravel road. There was this big down hill on the road and Dave stopped at the top of it and said lets race to the bottom. Everyone said sure, but Dave said everyone turn off your bikes this is a coasting race. Man that was a blast! RIP Dave

[fbj913]

Didn't know him but respect and best wishes to all.

[Harvey Mushman]

Man that's bad news. I remember back around '99/early 2000's when there was a big contingent of DS riders in NE Kansas, doing rides where Dave was part of the group. I remember Dave as a jolly guy that liked to have fun. Below is a pic from a ride many years ago, pushing a stuck KLR out of the mud. I'm in the white helmet and Dave is in the red jacket "supervising" LOL! RIP my friend.

[bird man]

Had to share this one. In north east ks on the way to White Cloud Dave stopped to show us this road sign. This was on a 7 day ride ,we rode the ks -neb. border then north to Gordon Neb. on to Valentine.

In 2015 at Troys prompting we put together a ride for Dave


2014 mountain pass ride in Colorado.


Always having fun.....this was on a 3 day ride of the southern border of Ks.

[troy]

One of my earliest rides with Dave. This picture is from a ride that took off from Tonganoxie, KS on September 11, 2005. Dave is on the right. I am in the black jacket standing next to Dave.

[Bob Morgan]

Just found out about Uncle Dave's passing. Very Sad, and Taken back.

To say Dave was a Character would be a huge understatement. Told me he never lost a rider leading a ride........... Huge Lie.
I loved Dave, and spent at least one night in the same full size bed with him. Total Class Act.

God Speed Uncle Dave.

[MacWildcat]

Spent quite a few winters planning the routes with David for the Hillbilly DS event. Maybe sometime in the future I can revive some of the best routes for a group ride.

David was like a box of chocolates, on a ride you never knew what you were going to get!

[tcarlgren]

So sorry to hear of Dave's passing, enjoyed several rides with him over the years, also picked up this cool shirt on one of the Hillbilly rides.

One of the best memories was riding in the flint hills, and running out of gas and Dave (at least I'm fairly certain it was him) pulled up, tied a rope to the back of his DR650 and pulled me to the next farm house couple of miles down the road. After giving some tips on a safe way to do this off we went, if you get squirrely ... just let go he said. There were only a couple of kids at the rundown farm house, so bummed some gas from a very questionable gas can. Gave the kids $5 and they lit up like it was Christmas. To this day I now carry a short length of rope with me when I ride from this experience just in case this situation ever arises.

Todd

[Creekside]

Sorry to hear that about Dave. I didn't know him but sounds like i really missed out.

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk

[katbeanz]

Just found out about Uncle Dave's passing. Very Sad, and Taken back.

To say Dave was a Character would be a huge understatement. Told me he never lost a rider leading a ride........... Huge Lie.
I loved Dave, and spent at least one night in the same full size bed with him. Total Class Act.

God Speed Uncle Dave.

Well said Bob and RIP Uncle Dave.