How and Why did you get into Motorbikes?

I have read a few motorcycling blogs recently that I haven't seen before.  With almost all of them, I was left wondering how the authors of those blogs initially got into biking, and why?

This wondering has got the better of me, so I thought I would ask.

Keen to set the ball rolling, I have set out below my reasons.  I would like to know your reasons, so if you want to participate in this, then write something on your own blog about 'How and Why I got into Motorbikes'.  Then, so we can keep track of the responses, please add a comment to this post, with a link to your own post.

Here is my biking background....

I can remember that when I was really young, maybe at around the age of four, that my Father had a motorbike with a sidecar. Rather frustratingly, that is all I can remember of this.

At about the age of 13, I was taken to some motorcycle races and I really enjoyed these.  I went for a couple of seasons and at the time, it was the Yamaha's and Suzuki's that prevailed and I watched the end of the Norton racing decline.  Racers like Giacomo Agostini, Barry Sheene and Kenny Roberts dominated and produced exciting racing.

Money was short in our family as my wonderful mother was raising us four kids on her own.  My father had died when I was 11 years old and as the eldest boy, I felt the need to start working as soon as possible to help out financially. I was sixteen when I left school and got my first job, full time.  The only form of transport I could afford was a pedal cycle and I rode that 13 miles to work and 13 miles home again each day. This kept me fit and I was as thin as a rake back then!

At 17, continuing to ride a bicycle was becoming impractical in all seasons, so I decided to buy a small motorbike (a Honda C90) as a necessity to travel to and from work. I bought a small motorbike because it was the only form of vehicle I could afford and I rode that bike along with its two replacements every day for about five years, in all weathers. Really good gloves and waterproofs were unusual and cost way too much for my limited budget, so I used to suffer really badly with the cold.  Riding in snow is not much fun if you have to because it is the only way to get to work.

Like many others, marriage and children put an end to my early motorcycling days and it wasn't until many years later that I bought my next bike.  Early for a meeting in London, I had about 45 minutes to waste, so I went to see a nearby Harley-Davidson dealer.  I admired the shiny gleaming machines so much that I arranged to rent a Road King for a weekend. Within an hour of riding the bike, I had decided to buy one.  Returning the rental bike saw me ordering one for myself.  That was six years ago and since then, I have thoroughly enjoyed my re-introduction to biking.  I guess I am a born-again biker!

What's your story?

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Protest Ride

I don’t often protest. In fact, I cannot remember ever joining a public protest.

I did last Tuesday though because it was about something that I care a lot about – motorbikes!

The European Parliament makes laws that affect all of Europe and sometimes these laws are just plain stupid. It was becoming clear that the law makers were considering draft proposals that could mean home maintenance and the fitting of non-standard parts on motorbikes would not be allowed. If passed, this anti-biking legislation could severely restrict what for some is a common practice. Imagine not being able to modify, say, a Harley-Davidson with different exhaust pipes, or not being able to change the shocks on your sports bike, not being able to maintain the chain, brakes or doing the tuning on your own bike yourself. This proposed legislation is clearly a nonsense, and we needed to do something about this.

Motorcycle News, the weekly UK biking newspaper, had organised a protest ride at the centre of the European Parliament, in Brussels, Belgium. Previous protest rides had taken place in various UK locations, but while these had helped to consolidate feelings in this country, they lacked impact where it really mattered, in Brussels. I was able to attend, so at 4.30am on Tuesday morning my alarm clock rattled me awake and after making coffee for the ride, I hit the road at 5.00am on my way to Belguim.

The ride to the coast at Folkestone was in the dark the whole way. Worse, it was 98 miles of fog that meant keeping the speed down while having to crack on in order to get the bike onto the right Channel Tunnel train to France. I just made it in time and drank my previously made coffee while waiting in line to board the train....

I recognised a fellow rider in the train as we journeyed under the sea and five of us agreed to ride together to Brussels. Stopping for fuel and supplies replenishment, we pressed on riding through France and soon crossed the border into Belgium. Arriving in Brussels caused some confusion as at the last minute, the assembly point was changed and after struggling to find it for a while, we eventually arrived in good time.

A midweek protest ride in late November in another country that meant you would have to take your bike abroad, was never going to attract huge numbers, but we were pleased to see between 150 and 200 bikes had made the journey from the UK.

Me in Brussels with the Leading ladies....

Brief speeches were made by MCN’s Steve Farrell, Motorcycle Action Group’s Ian Mutch, British Motorcyclist’s Federation’s Chris Hodder and MP Mike Weatherley. Red Dwarf actor Danny John-Jules was also there. This is Ian Mutch talking to the assembled bikers.....

The bikes start the protest ride....

I have to say the Belgium police were fantastic. They lead the ride in their vehicles and at every junction and traffic light on the 5 mile route around the city, police stopped all traffic and waved the bikes through.

Here is MCN’s video of the protest....



The bikes arriving outside the European Parliament....

Marta Andreasen, a supportive MEP, talking to some of the bikers....

The bikes rode back to the assembly point before setting off back to the UK. All of the police motorcyclists and those in vans and other vehicles also went back to the assembly area as well. As they left, the protesting bikers spontaneously applauded the police for the great job they had done. The police smiled, waved back and blew their horns in recognition – an unusual and great moment.

The journey back to Calais and the train was uneventful and we arrived in time to get the planned train. I arrived back home at about 8pm having completed 476 miles on the trip.

I will keep you posted regarding what happens with the proposed legislation. Let’s hope these meddling politicians change their minds!

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Survey about the future of motorcycles

I was contacted recently to complete a survey about the future of motorcycles, especially in respect of drive trains. Part of some research by Triumph Motorcyles, the survey is about people’s expectations of new motorbikes, so that it can help Triumph to specify the next generation of bikes.

Tim, the guy doing the survey said “This is an opportunity to let your opinions reach the people who actually make the big decision on future motorcycle models so please make the most of it! We would appreciate it if you could forward this on to as many other fellow riders as possible.”

If you want to take part in this anonymous survey, here is the link.

Feel free to re-post this on your own blog.

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Birthday Surprise Harley Ride

On this particular day, we turned up at the school where Paul is the Headmaster. His sister organised the Harley Ride as a surprise gift. Noteably, his students were very impressed as can be seen by the amount of attention we got at the time we picked him up. 

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For those that don't know how do it manually

I recently changed the name of my blog and some of you have noticed the link from you own blog back to mine is still called USA Tour on a Harley-Davidson.

I assumed that these links back to my blog would automatically update to the new name somehow, but they don’t. You have to change it manually on your own blog and I have noticed that many of you have already done that in your own blog so the link to mine reads correctly. Thank you for doing that.

If you don’t know how to do make this change manually, here is how you do that, assuming you are using Blogger....

You know where you add a new link to your blog list? That is also where you change the name of a blog on your list

It is in your dashboard (which is also called Design, depending on which version of Blogger you are using), go there and click on ‘Layout’ (which again depending on the version of Blogger, may be in a drop-down menu) and this takes you to how you have laid out the various elements of your own blog page. On that layout page, find whatever you have called your blog list – some may call it, ‘The Blogs I Read’, ‘Blogs of Interest’, or something like that. Click on edit and that takes you to where you add new blogs to that list.

Next to the names of the existing blogs, you can edit or remove the existing blogs on your list. Find ‘USA Tour on a Harley-Davidson’ and rename it to “Flies in your Teeth”. Then click on Save to close the box and then it’s all done.

Many have already done this, so try it. I will be checking up on you to see if you have successfully changed the name!

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We went to lay a wreath

Each year on Remembrance Sunday, the H-D dealer I use, Warr’s, organises a ride out to honour the war dead.

I had never been before, so I thought it about time I did.

That was last Sunday and we were blessed with a warm and sunny autumn day.  About 35 bikes had arrived at Warr’s for the ride.  As usual with most H-D ride outs, there was the obligatory pre-ride safety briefing beforehand and unlike the last ride out, I was there in plenty of time to get a cup of coffee and to listen to the briefing before we left.

If you have never been on a H-D ride out before, it is an impressive sight.  By some standards, this was not a large gathering, but 35 Harley-Davidsons riding along any road is an impressive sight and it turns many heads. Lead by Scottie, we rumbled through the busy roads of south-west London and some waved to about the same number of scooters heading in the other direction as they rode into the capital for what was probably a scooter meeting of some sort.  The familiar smell of two-stroke engine exhaust wafted through the air, reminding some of us of our earlier riding years.

Soon, we reached the leafy scenic lanes of Surrey and encountered some slippery steep downhill roads that needed more attention than usual.  I was riding three bikes back behind a guy I didn’t recognise and he was being more careful than most as he made his way through the twisting winding roads and his slightly slower pace meant we were falling back from the main group a little, not that this mattered.  It wasn’t until later I discovered he had only taken his bike test three weeks earlier and this was one of his first long-ish rides, so my full admiration goes to him!

We stopped for a break and a coffee at a place called Forest Green and re-assembled for the traditional two minutes of silence at exactly 11am to remember those that gave the ultimate sacrifice for their fellow countrymen.  We bowed our heads and stood still as a mark of respect of those soldiers from around the world that fought on behalf of others.

11am is the time chosen in many parts of the world to remember the war dead as it was the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918 that the Armistice signed between the Allies and Germany at Compiègne in France,  took effect to formally cease the hostilities of World War I.  Remembrance Sunday has of course gone on to remember the war dead from all wars, not only WWI.

The ride continued to Elstead where there is a small war memorial and we laid a wreath.  Our group of 35 or so were from many different nationalities as so it was appropriate that a few words were said that we should remember the dead from all countries.

Nearby is the Mill at Elstead, a pub and restaurant , where we stopped for lunch of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. Marvelous!

Wikipedia tells me that Elstead Mill, was occupied by Oliver Cromwell’s ‘roundhead’ army during the English Civil War of 1642-1651, but subsequently burnt down. The present structure is therefore thought to date back to the 17th century.  The river flows through the mill at can be seen from inside the building.

We broke up as a group and made our own way back from there and as I rode, I thought about what a good day it had been.  I promised myself I would go on the same Warr’s ride next year.  After arriving home, it didn’t take me long to fall asleep on the sofa....

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Time for a Change

When I started this blog, I gave it a very specific name to reflect the tour of the USA I was about to undertake. Now that that trip is well and truly over, the title long longer fits, so it is time for a change.

I hope you like the new title.

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