A son ‘stole’ his father’s beloved motorcycle and secretly fixed it up – before surprising his dad in an emotional moment caught on video. The 1983 Yamaha Midnight Maxim was Jim Tarpey Snr’s pride and joy, bought when he was in his 20s. Jim had ridden the bike when first dating his now wife, Linda, taking her on excursions to the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco. But as time went by the Yamaha ended up sat rusting under tarpaulin at the family home in Rockford, Minnesota. Tucked away in the corner of a garage, behind lawnmowers and other garden tools, the bike was no longer running – and hadn’t been used for over two decades. But Jim’s son, also called Jimmy - a self-confessed motorcycle enthusiast, a hobby he inherited from his father – embarked upon an elaborate project to restore the Yamaha without his father knowing. After crowdfunding online to raise enough cash to cover the necessary repairs, new parts and labour required to get it back on the road, Jimmy set in motion a plan to ‘steal’ the bike from under his father’s nose with the help of family and friends. Jimmy waited until his father was out of the house before entering the unlocked garage and loading the bike onto a truck. He then used a series of tapped up boxes to mimic the shape and size of the Yamaha, before throwing the cover back over the top in a bid to fool his father into not realizing it had gone. The bike was then whisked away to a repair shop in Loretta, Minnesota. There the team of mechanics set about fixing the ageing bike, including giving it new tires, battery, spark plugs, carburettor’s, a complete oil change, installing a new fuel line and of course a wash and wax of the leather.