Motorcycles

My Motorcycling Background.

I have to own up to being a relatively recent convert to the benefits and joys of two wheels. However, it wasn't always like that. In my teens I was like most youngsters of my age, keen to be mobile, and to that end a motorbike was the logical progression from a pushbike. Nothing wrong with a pushbike you understand, I still have one now. The main problem with a pushbike is that your ultimate horizon is limited by your stamina.

Anyway, my first motorcycle was a red, nineteen sixty something BSA Bantam 175.

A bit like the one shown here. I forget the exact model number but I think it was something like D175 and it cost the princely sum of £30. I can still remember the first ride out on that bike. In those days, armed only with a provisional licence and the obligatory L plates, you were allowed straight out onto the road without any form of instruction. Scarey eh!
Well most of what I learned about riding motorbikes then was by trial and error. Plenty of trial and plenty of error. Though luckily no serious errors. The only time I came off that bike was one day when I was on my way to college. I had been following my normal route and was approaching a junction which was often busy but unusually quiet on this particular day. I swung a left to join the main road and the bike just slid away from under me. Both me and the bike ended up sprawled in the middle of the road. Well was I suprised or what? What I had assumed were water trails in the road (which used to be seen after fire tenders had passed), were in fact trails of diesel fuel! Diesel fuel on the road is probably the next most slippery substance to ice on the road. Well that incident luckily didn't do any major damage to me or the bike but it taught me an important lesson. Namely, don't assume wet patches on the road are water! Diesel spills are still a very common and dangerous hazard for bikes.

After the Bantam came a 250 Norman, to which most of you reading this are probably thinking "A what?". Well I have to admit when I was first told about this bike, my reaction was also "A what?" If I remember rightly, this bike had a 250 Villiers twin 2 stroke engine. Well that bike was a bit of a handful. Not fast, in fact 50 mph flat out, but it was relatively heavy and the clutch would drag so much that it was really difficult to hold it back at traffic lights! I was never really happy with that bike and didn't keep it for long.

My next steed was a Triumph Tiger Cub. I don't really remember much about the Tiger Cub except that it seized up on me once and I had to push it 4 or 5 miles home. For a small bike that was hard work. Other than that, it always started ok and never let me down again.It has to be said though that the lights were lousy. With the 6 volt headlamp only producing a dull glow, riding after dark was a bit of an adventure.

Well, once old enough, I graduated to my first car and somehow lost touch with the world of motorbikes. My abiding memories being those of leaking oil, poor brakes and lights and freezing to death in winter.
Some years later after a change of job, I was sat in a particularly bad traffic jam when a motorbike passed me. In what seemed like a blinding flash I suddenly realised that a motorbike would make far more sense than a car. Having been on bikes in my teens and being too idle to take my test, I set about taking my test locally. The training leading upto my test was nothing if not thorough and totally enjoyable. It was obvious to me then that not only were the instructors enthusiasts but so were the pupils. Once the test was in the bag I wasted no time in buying my first 'real' bike, a Suzuki GS500e.
Left is a photo of the "new" bike. This was magic! What a difference from all those years ago. This bike had real acceleration and the real bonus was it also had brakes and lights that worked! Well I was well and truly hooked now and enjoying every minute of it. Any excuse for a trip out on the bike and I haven't looked back since. Rain or shine I'm on the motorbike. It's got so bad that I hate driving the car now. The GS500e is probably an ideal machine for commuting. It is light, can easily negotiate the traffic and is cheap to insure and run. Mine would return 60mpg consistently. The only drawback with the GS was lack of power when riding two up. So time to move up. See next page.
Click on the small image to see more detail.  
It's strange how things change with time. When I was in my teens, a 500cc bike was a big machine. Today though, a '500' is probably the smaller end of the motorcycle average. If you park a '500' alongside an average motorcycle (if such a thing exists), the '500' really does look small.

This page last updated 20/04/2004