Uncategorized

At Christmas, I looked about me and thought "I'm going to give up the bikes"

At the time it seemed rather logical, I have a shed, a huge elderly ST1100, an equally elderly Bandit, a GSXR1100 streetfighter needing finished, most of another slabside and a CB250 all sitting doing nothing. I wouldn't sell the Bandit, I would be keeping the shed and I'm very fond of the old beast anyway, co it could stay, the fighter just needs paint, the ST would go on Gumtree and the assorted ...

I suppose I was doing about 90 when I noticed the red light, the road round the Ards penninsula was deserted at that time of the morning, and the SV was thrumming along happily, presumably the local residents were not as happy at the noise, but at that speed, I wouldn't be long in earshot for long, but I was distracted by the glow from beside the rev counter, and as Billy Ocean once said "Red light spells danger!!!"

I quickly dropped my eyes to the LCD panel, praying there ...

On of the disadvantages of living on the Emerald Isle is that it costs so bloody much to get off it. Sure you can get a cheap Ryanair flight, but by the time you add up all the charges and transport to the airport and the plastic bags you need etc, then by feck it adds up. Plus, giving that odious wee shite O'Leary money would make me feel grubby to say the least.

I'll be honest, I don't like flying, I admire the machine, but I don't like the whole experience, the airport, the feeling ...

It's August 2005, and I'm standing looking at the BMW R80 that I had lavished much care on, wondering why, it had tried to kill me. Coming back to Stranraer, we were late for the ferry, I was pushing the old BM for all it was worth, turning the A77 into my own private TT circuit, certainly I had never ridden that particular stretch of Scottish tarmac so quickly, probably I had never ridden the BM so quickly, I wanted to get my feet back on Irish soil and nothing was going to stop me.
...

This week, I found myself halfway to my threescore and ten years, a fact that, if I am brutally honest, fills me with a sense of great annoyance, not because it's pretty apparent I'm not going to be a person of any major importance, but because I'm now looked upon as being old enough to know better.

20 years ago, on my 15th birthday, I was given a Commodore Amiga, a pair of trainers and I was looking forward to the day when I could ride legally on the road and didn't have to go to ...