17-04-2011, 12:09 PM
The story of me and my 'Beemer':
From age 14 - 20 I was a keen cyclist, (push bike that is!) and youth hostelled and camped all over the UK, and with two pals, spent three weeks cycling in Switzerland and Italy, riding over several mountain passes such as the Simplon and St Bernard. Like many young guys growing up in the late 1950s, the normal thing to do was to graduate from a push bike to a motorbike – cars weren’t even on the agenda. However, at that time, the scooter craze began, and due to slick marketing, gullible teenagers considered scooters to be much more ‘cool’ and trendy, so it was a Lambretta TV175 for me – none of your Bonneville nonsense!
However, after a couple of years of happy scootering, during which time, at he Nottingham Lambretta Club I met the girl who was ater to become my wife, and it slowly dawned on me that wearing a Corker helmet, RAF split lens goggle, and a hanky in the top pocket of my Burton’s suit was perhaps more Mr Bean than Mr Cool. Thus began my love affair with motorbikes. The scooter went, and in its place a ‘Triumph 21’ was obtained – 350ccs of throbbing torment – well not exactly, if you needed to accelerate quickly, the best thing to do was to pick it up, put it under your arm and make a dash for it! Nevertheless, in the two years that we had it, it took us to France, Switzerland and all over Britain.
The along came our two sons and the nee for a family car meant that the bike had to go. My biking days were sadly over forever – or so I thought. A familiar tale for many former bikers I guess, but with no happy ending. Not so with me! I never lost my love of motorbikes, and took a fancy to what was for many years, the standard steed of police forces – the BMW R80RT. Just a pipe dream of course. Our sons grew up, went to university and out into the world, but I hadn’t realised just how much I’d bored them over the years waffling on about motorbikes every time one overtook us in the car. Then just before my 55th birthday in late June 1994, I received a surprise call from a local motorbike training firm, which I thought was a wrong number, asking me to make an appointment to attend for re-training. The caller said that my sons had paid for a one day refresher course for me as a birthday present, after which they either wanted me to buy a bike to realise my pipe-dream, or to just stop banging on about them – they didn’t care which!
It was an intensive day, during which the instructor – with a look of apprehension, after having put me through the off-road CBT, pronounced me fit to let loose on the open road. He’s borrowed two bikes from a local dealer – a 600cc Yamaha ‘Diversion’, and a Triumph Thunderbird. We had a glorious ride in the summer sun from Hull to Scarborough, and over the N Yorks Moors – me on the Diversion on the outgoing journey, and the Thunderbird on the return, with two-way radios in the helmet to keep me on the ‘black stuff’. The experience was enough to convince me that I had to get a bike. Early retirement came just two months later, in August 1994, when I sank gently to earth in a ‘golden parachute’ after 40 years with British Gas. With some spare cash burning a hole in my pocket, I bought my BMW R80RT from Alan Jeffries, BMW dealer in Bradford – a 1989 bike, with just 4000 miles on the clock, looking as fresh as the day it left the factory. As I stated in an earlier post, I kept it 14 years till 2008, having only put another 13,000 miles on the clock.
There's no doubt about it - this area of the East Yorks North Lincs Wolds, and the North Yorks Moors have some of the best biking roads in the coutry - undulating, well surface, picturesque and with low traffic density.
I've attached a few pics of me and the bike.
Happy days!
Hope that's of interest.
David
From age 14 - 20 I was a keen cyclist, (push bike that is!) and youth hostelled and camped all over the UK, and with two pals, spent three weeks cycling in Switzerland and Italy, riding over several mountain passes such as the Simplon and St Bernard. Like many young guys growing up in the late 1950s, the normal thing to do was to graduate from a push bike to a motorbike – cars weren’t even on the agenda. However, at that time, the scooter craze began, and due to slick marketing, gullible teenagers considered scooters to be much more ‘cool’ and trendy, so it was a Lambretta TV175 for me – none of your Bonneville nonsense!
However, after a couple of years of happy scootering, during which time, at he Nottingham Lambretta Club I met the girl who was ater to become my wife, and it slowly dawned on me that wearing a Corker helmet, RAF split lens goggle, and a hanky in the top pocket of my Burton’s suit was perhaps more Mr Bean than Mr Cool. Thus began my love affair with motorbikes. The scooter went, and in its place a ‘Triumph 21’ was obtained – 350ccs of throbbing torment – well not exactly, if you needed to accelerate quickly, the best thing to do was to pick it up, put it under your arm and make a dash for it! Nevertheless, in the two years that we had it, it took us to France, Switzerland and all over Britain.
The along came our two sons and the nee for a family car meant that the bike had to go. My biking days were sadly over forever – or so I thought. A familiar tale for many former bikers I guess, but with no happy ending. Not so with me! I never lost my love of motorbikes, and took a fancy to what was for many years, the standard steed of police forces – the BMW R80RT. Just a pipe dream of course. Our sons grew up, went to university and out into the world, but I hadn’t realised just how much I’d bored them over the years waffling on about motorbikes every time one overtook us in the car. Then just before my 55th birthday in late June 1994, I received a surprise call from a local motorbike training firm, which I thought was a wrong number, asking me to make an appointment to attend for re-training. The caller said that my sons had paid for a one day refresher course for me as a birthday present, after which they either wanted me to buy a bike to realise my pipe-dream, or to just stop banging on about them – they didn’t care which!
It was an intensive day, during which the instructor – with a look of apprehension, after having put me through the off-road CBT, pronounced me fit to let loose on the open road. He’s borrowed two bikes from a local dealer – a 600cc Yamaha ‘Diversion’, and a Triumph Thunderbird. We had a glorious ride in the summer sun from Hull to Scarborough, and over the N Yorks Moors – me on the Diversion on the outgoing journey, and the Thunderbird on the return, with two-way radios in the helmet to keep me on the ‘black stuff’. The experience was enough to convince me that I had to get a bike. Early retirement came just two months later, in August 1994, when I sank gently to earth in a ‘golden parachute’ after 40 years with British Gas. With some spare cash burning a hole in my pocket, I bought my BMW R80RT from Alan Jeffries, BMW dealer in Bradford – a 1989 bike, with just 4000 miles on the clock, looking as fresh as the day it left the factory. As I stated in an earlier post, I kept it 14 years till 2008, having only put another 13,000 miles on the clock.
There's no doubt about it - this area of the East Yorks North Lincs Wolds, and the North Yorks Moors have some of the best biking roads in the coutry - undulating, well surface, picturesque and with low traffic density.
I've attached a few pics of me and the bike.
Happy days!
Hope that's of interest.
David
I used to live up in Yorkshire and know Allen Jeffries from my days restoring a '69 Bonny !! It seemed to be my second home as I needed so many parts ! Sherburn-in-Elmet was my location, do you remember Squires Coffee bar ?
