No Age Limit - Piaggio MP3

As a 72-year-old, semi-retired business leader and a poster boy for adventure travel, Bob Chase’s passion for seeing the world by motorcycle has kept his heart pounding for nearly 35 years.  His love affair with two-wheeled freedom machines began while trail riding on family vacations in the early 1970s. Bob’s obsession with street bikes came in the early 1980s and over the years has driven him to own a fleet of high performance models.

The list of places he has ridden reads like the itinerary of an international diplomat. Whether it was the sweltering deserts of North Africa or the lush highlands of Scotland, Chase has been leading the charge in changing society’s traditional views of life after retirement. Bob’s latest endeavor will take him on a nearly 3400-mile ride from San Francisco to New York City along the Lincoln Highway, the first coast-to-coast road built in America.  Both he and his long-time riding partner Dr. Bernard “Buddy” Rosenbaum will be riding 500cc Piaggio MP3 three-wheel scooters. After a chance meeting on a motorcycle tour in the late 1990s, the two solidified their friendship on a three-week riding tour of the German Alps. But his life wasn’t always about riding.   

As president and CEO of RJ Chase Company, Inc, an industrial Teflon coating company his father started in 1952, Bob watches the money while advising the COO, his son, Richard, on day to day business operations.

Besides being a corporate leader, Bob also took initiative as a productive member of his community. In 2002, as president of the Dawn Breakers Lions Club in Fremont, Calif., he started an eyeglass recycling program that collected nearly 50,000 pairs of glasses for people in third-world countries.

Chase graduated from San Jose State University in 1958 with a B.A. in business.

Born May 9, 1936 in Mt. Pleasant, Mich., Bob currently lives in Fremont, Calif. with Jeanne, his wife of 49 years and enjoys photography, golf, camping, volunteering for Meals on Wheels and spending time with his two sons and three grandchildren.