Bikers are all full of ****, ooops, sorry - stories I meant. Especially ones who survive. If anyone's interested in my ramblings, I don't peddle the fancy claims heard around bars & cafe's that we all know are just fanciful dreams to make up for lack of 1. bottle & 2. horsepower.
Well I started biking in 1977 at 16 when I had a brand new Puch Maxi - stop laughing, it got me to and from work for ages, with a bit of help by pedalling up the hill to help the poor 49cc beastette. It cost around 180 pounds, was 'R' registered and was black.
No training then, I just went out into the back lanes around here until I felt sure enough to take to main roads - My lack of experience and an inconsiderate car driver with their full beam headlights on on a dark wet night caused me to swerve out of the way into the hedge and hit a rock bigger than the Puch - new forks and a new 'headlight'. No pictures thankfully.
I managed to buy a 'Fizzy' a Yamaha FS1eDX a 50cc - lovely thing it was. Yellow and the front disk brake worked! I could thrash my mate on his Puch 3-speed now, except he was more mental than I was & usually lost me on corners. However I just wasn't satisfied, I wanted something larger and capable of leaving the county. I'll try and find a picture of this.
I got myself a Honda CB100N from Harry Stanfords in Wellington Shropshire(UK) and went off to Mid-Wales and generally all over Shropshire, the bravest excursion was a holiday to Cumbria (Pooley Bridge was the place) for a week. I went with my mate who also took his CB100N, but his had a knackered exhaust valve - so was limited to 55mph, that slowed us down somewhat as these machines could touch 75mph (on its clock!). That bike ended its life and nearly mine when a van did a 'U' turn in front on me - without indicating - I just managed to avoid hitting it square on and just missed getting around it - I hit the back corner and went over the bars (missing the van) and having the bike land on me. The driver tried to get me done by the police, they didn't. The insurance were so helpful (not) and agreed like-for-like. I traded the bike in for my next one.
A new Honda CB250RS - How nice to have a bike from new, a 250 single cylinder sporty and a de-compression lever to stop it kicking back. I could now ride with the big boys - who had CB250Ns Z650s, GS400s, CB750zs and Some nut on a Gold Wing. We hung around Ironbridge Square - the cafe welcomed us (then) and also the Station hotel in Ironbridge. There wasn't so many tourists then, it was ours at night - unless we made to much noise or tried rebuilding 2-strokes in the square leaving oily patches. We were local anyway - but that meant shopowners would threaten to tell our parents what we had done.
We seemed to spend all the hours arguing where we should go, eventually we got off to places like Church Stretton - a lovely ride out over Wenlock Edge - we went too bloody fast though. Cafe racing I think it's called - we went to a small cafe in Stretton in a side street. Also we took to riding down the A5 to 'Greasy Lills' truckstop by the M6 Gailey Island for a cuppa & meal then racing like mad back up the A5 in the middle of the night when it was quiet.
It was then when the 125cc limited came in and I had outstayed my welcome on 250cc bikes not bothering to pass my test - sadly I had to sell it. It wasn't long before I was fedup of buses & walking I bought a 'Y' reg Suzuki GS125es and passed my tests on it.My Tests. First time I took the test, I really wasn't ready - I borrowed my friends CB250N because my 250 had lost the taxdisk & one of the footrests - I doubt that the piece of dowling hmmered into the footrest mounting hole would impress the examiner. I failed, in Shrewsbury. Later I was more prepared - I had to take part one, an off-road test. I went to Bristol on my GS125es to a training centre which was superb and recommended - I'll put up the details if they're still going! I took my second test - at Oswestry. I spent 20 of the 40 minutes stuck in traffic trying to workout where the examiner was. No following on a bike then. I passed. This means another bike.
125 to 650 ! I owned the GS125 for about 30days - it was mint and had never got wet - until 100yards away from Church Stretton Kawasaki's shop when the heavens opened up on me - I was on my way to trade it in for a CB650KZ - they had put the KZ outside - I then realised I'de never found out if I could touch the ground on it! I could, just about - but riding it was another thing, I managed to get through the teatime traffic and out into the countryside in second gear, then stopping to let my heart slow down - I started to enjoy it after that.
The 650 was a monster of a thing - it had a big black fairing with twin rectangular halogen headlights on it, which vibrated all over the place on our rough roads around here. In the winter I bought a MZ250 which I rode home & never again - also I ownend a 'Q' reg Honda 400-4 which was small fast & mean. The 400-4s electrics were terrible - I went on the 'Dragon' Rally on it a couple of times & had to carry a can of WD-40 to spray the spark plug leads while travelling to stop them shorting on the tank when they got wet. Frightening!
I started going to a gathering of bikers at Enville Common, a picnic area that was taken over on Sundays by bikers gathering to look, talk and show off a bit - see pictures. It was a lot of fun, but sometimes the numbers made us unpopular with the police - there was no resident to annoy though. But to show the lack of understanding that the police had - one day a senior officer arrived and started asking who the leader was! No leaders here mate - we just turn up. Anyway the riot van turned up and cruised around a couple of weekends. I don't know what they thought we were, some hassling of bikers nearly turned things ugly. The local papers carried stories of ambulances being blocked off by us - I was there the weeks referred to and it just didn't happen. The local council were not bothered to find out - and put up an iron gate to stop us - it's quiet now. Bikers go into towns and make a nuisance of themselves there. More to be added later - when I can: