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A potted history of my
two-wheeled affairs, past and present... |
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This 1959 BSA Bantam D7, a 175cc 2-stroke, was
my first bike. It hardly ran and there was always something
wrong with it, but on one occasion it did manage to
transport me the seven miles into work, from Hackney to Bush
House on the Strand, without breaking down. This mammoth
journey was clearly too much for the little Beezer and the
thought of the ride home brought out its stubborn side.
After an hour of fruitless kick-starting I rounded up the
BBC security guards to push me around the car park, but to
no avail. The Bantam never ran again and soon it was part
exchanged for a mightier relative. |
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| Despite the
temperamental Bantam, I was still in love with all things
BSA (still am) and my next bike was a 1963 A65 Star,
a 650 twin. It was something of an impulse buy, based
on nothing more than that it was black and shiny
and started first kick. Of course there was still plenty of
the usual teeth-gnashing one expects with British bikes, and
it was pushed home on more than one occasion. But this was
really the bike I learnt to ride on, and it became a
reliable commuter, as well as taking me on my first motorcycle trip to foreign shores - a thousand mile tour of
France with no breakdowns! |
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| I had to
sell the A65 to fund my trip of the Americas. It was a
sad decision, but adventure was calling! I bought the
Yamaha XT225 Serow that carried me on my
nineteen-thousand mile journey from Alaska to the
tip of South America, across every terrain and through every
climate imaginable. Naturally, I was rather attached to the
old thing by the end, so I shipped it back to the UK from
Argentina, had the engine rebuilt, and then some bastard
went and stole it! I was totally gutted. But I knew I
couldn't live without a Serow in my life so I got this one
here, a 1993 model. We've already clocked up a
mini-adventure - a three-thousand mile ride through eleven
countries in Western and Eastern Europe last summer. |
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| When I got
back from my Americas trip, I had a little foray into the
world of modern street bikes, with a Honda Bros 400.
It kind of went against the grain, as I'm more inclined
towards motorcycles that are either older than me or
designed to get covered in mud. But my best friend,
Lisa, was
selling it cheap, and it looked like it might be fun. I was
right about that - I'd never owned a bike that went faster
than 60mph before! And all those cylinders and liquid cooling made for a
nice smooth ride. It was a bit of a novelty, and as you can
see from this picture, surprisingly versatile! |
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| What with
embarking on the life of a struggling writer, the Honda
had to go for financial reasons. But as soon as I received
the first advance for my
book of Lois On The Loose, I decided I needed to make life harder for myself
and splashed out on this beast, a 1978 Yamaha XT500.
It took me a while (and a few bruises) to get the hang of
starting it,
but once I got the knack I absolutely LOVE it. It pulls away
like a wild horse and the vibration turns internal organs to
a pulp - but it's taken the top spot as my all-time
favourite bike! If you own an XT500 and are looking for
someone to work on it, restore it or just find parts, I can
highly recommend Dave Newitt in Hinckley. He is the UK's
leading XT500 specialist and knows everything there is to
know about these wonderful bikes. His website is
www.motorcycle-restorations.co.uk
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| This is the bike I rode from London to Cape Town. While on my ride through the Americas I met lots of motorcyclists on big bikes who laughed at my little 225cc Serow, so when I was planning my Africa trip I decided to take their advice and get a bigger machine - I went up an extra 25cc with this Yamaha TTR250! I bought it with 200 miles on the clock and gave it a right old hammering through Africa, but it never failed me once, and it's still going strong. You can read more about this bike and the modifications I made to it here |
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