RIP Tom Loftus (tloftus)

[kendoo]

I only met Tom briefly one year down at the IBA party in Jacksonville. His riding resume is as impressive as they come. I think he rode in 7 IBR's and was continually at or near the top of the yearly mileage list on this site. I wouldn't be surprised if he actually had more mileage on ST's than anybody else. Ride in Peace Tom.

 

[Shuey]

Tom Loftus . . . friend to all, passed away this morning. We first met 11 years ago when I started riding and had just discovered the IBA. He was friendly, encouraging and helpful without being overbearing. Truly a generous and accomplished rider as well.

As I remember it, Tom had a job going around the country checking-up on and fine tuning the radio beacons that aircraft rely on for positioning. He had offices on both coasts and would ride back and forth across the country, zig zagging around to visit beacons. As I attended st-owner and IBA events around the country, I was often surprised when Tom would just show up. You never knew when he'd appear.

RIP Tom.

 

[Mellow]

Wow, very sad rest in peace friend.

 

[ToddC]

So sorry to hear. RIP... And Ride on.

 

[st11ray]

I never met him, but I just missed him in Everrett, Washington. I was in for repair on a cross country trip and the service manager said, "We just had a guy in here last week from VA on a ST. His name was Tom something? I said,"Loftus?" He said, yeah that's it. Wished I could have run into him there.

 

[SupraSabre]

RIP Tom.

Very sorry to hear that.

I'm pretty sure he was the one always at the top of the Mileage board, that no one else could even come close to?

 

[Mellow]

RIP Tom.

Very sorry to hear that.

I'm pretty sure he was the one always at the top of the Mileage board, that no one else could even come close to?

Correct

 

[motomac]

I never rode with Tom, but had dinner with him in San Marcos and we talked about his upcoming trip to South America several years ago. Very quiet unassuming guy, but rode many mile every year. The company that he did the work Shuey talked about was his. He was the CEO and chose to use his motorcycle to visit all those out of the way beacons around the country. The year I did 91,670 miles, Tom beat me out by the 11K he did in the IBR. He told me I would have been top mileage if he hadn't done the IBR. I met his Dad at the end of one his IBR finishes. This is hard to believe such super guy has passed. RIP Tom.

 

[fnmag]

Sad.
Now you're checking those beacons in the sky.
Farewell.

 

[mattgarr57]

Does anyone know what town Tom lived in?

 

[paulcb]

I met him a few times at the Defective Gene Pool RTEs in Allen, TX. I believe they were going to "roast" him in a few weeks at the next RTE, not sure now.

I didn't really know him but he was always very cordial. I'm sure he'll be missed by many.

 

[motomac]

Does anyone know what town Tom lived in?

Vista CA

 

[dduelin]

Ride on brother.

 

[W0QNX]

Ride in peace Tom.

 

[amorley]

RIP Tom

 

[STrep]

I never rode with Tom, but had dinner with him in San Marcos and we talked about his upcoming trip to South America several years ago. Very quiet unassuming guy, but rode many mile every year. The company that he did the work Shuey talked about was his. He was the CEO and chose to use his motorcycle to visit all those out of the way beacons around the country. The year I did 91,670 miles, Tom beat me out by the 11K he did in the IBR. He told me I would have been top mileage if he hadn't done the IBR. I met his Dad at the end of one his IBR finishes. This is hard to believe such super guy has passed. RIP Tom.

Thanks for sharing Mac.

We had a safety supply company up here that shared the same name....I asked him if he was part of the ownership group (he wasn't). He rode some very serious miles!

 

[SteveST1300]

I met him once briefly at Moonshine. An amazing man.

 

[Shuey]

Some additional notes:

Could Tom ride? He finished 7 Iron Butt Rallies and never used an aux fuel cell. Just dogged determination and confidence in his ST1300s kept him going, going, going . . .

As noted here previously, Tom started is own company and the beacon tuning that I knew about was only a part of what his company did. Here's an article noting his being named the Small Business Person of the Year for D.C.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-small-business/tom-loftus-founder-and-president-of-ls-technologies-named-sba-small-business-person-of-the-year-for-dc/2013/06/14/579145f4-d50a-11e2-b05f-3ea3f0e7bb5a_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.0f035609386c

Good friend to all and I never heard him say an unkind word about anybody. RIP Tom.

Shuey

 

[motomac]

Some additional notes:

Could Tom ride? He finished 7 Iron Butt Rallies and never used an aux fuel cell. Just dogged determination and confidence in his ST1300s kept him going, going, going . . .

As noted here previously, Tom started is own company and the beacon tuning that I knew about was only a part of what his company did. Here's an article noting his being named the Small Business Person of the Year for D.C.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-small-business/tom-loftus-founder-and-president-of-ls-technologies-named-sba-small-business-person-of-the-year-for-dc/2013/06/14/579145f4-d50a-11e2-b05f-3ea3f0e7bb5a_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.0f035609386c

Good friend to all and I never heard him say an unkind word about anybody. RIP Tom.

Shuey

Thanks Shuey.

 

[VFR]

That's sad to hear. I recall at one year for Xmas STocking we had the three top mileage riders in attendance. They were Tom, Mac and I can't recall the third.

I guess now he is checking satellites, or towers in heaven. RIP, Tom