Ireland on a Motorbike

Prelude

“What do you want for your birthday?”

It was early January and we were sitting having dinner. It was to be my 50^th this year and we were discussing arrangements for the party. I’d booked a room, a bar and some live music.

She said, “How about a nice Digital Camera?”

I said, “I’ve always wanted to pass my test on a motorbike”.

(I’d always had the “Harley Dream” – Route 66, Electra Glide in blue, The Eagles blasting out of the CD player.)

Silence……………. And then she said……….

“I’ve never been on the back of a motorcycle, what’s it like?”

The rest, as they say, is history. I booked a Direct Access course, passed a week before my birthday and, by the end of April was the proud owner of a Fazer 600. I had an idea that I would buy a big tourer and head off into the sunset, but during my training I listened to the advice:-

Don’t buy a big tourer straight away – they are heavy and you won’t want to get it out regularly, it will always be a bit of an occasion.
Buy something you can ride to work and have some fun on.
Get some time in. Learn to ride. (I think this means walk before you run).

I bought every mag going for four months and the answer was always the Yamaha 600 Fazer. So I bought this one . It is 2 years old.

First ride:- Nottingham to Skegness – 180 miles – Sore shoulders, sore arse, big grin

Second ride:- Nottingham to Matlock Bath – 60 miles – Just the grin this time.

A few rides later – the next door neighbour and a local mechanic have bikes – and it’s a crash helmet for the wife. She takes to it like a duck to water.

So what is a ‘Born Again Biker’? Well, here’s my definition:- He’s a Lecturer at a local college, vertically challenged (short), Grey haired but still alive, and in some ways the epitome of middle class. What most people don’t know is he was a ‘Rocker’ in the early 70’s with a 650 BSA A10 Gold Flash (sidecar sometimes J) and a HONDA Superdream 250. In the late 70’s he was a Morris 1000 driving ‘Hippy’.

So it’s back to the future then……………………