Dave Bostrom, Ben and Eric's father, served in combat in Vietnam. A racer, Bostrom expected to go to war and be on the front lines. As luck would have it, his prowess in keeping a certain General's motorcycles running—and fast—kept him out of hazardous duty. The famous story is he left America where he was racing motorcycles and working on motorcycles then went to Vietnam where he did the same thing while curating the General's collection of motorcycles.