Motorcycles

Ariel 250cc 1957

I think this bike was about 15 years old when I acquired it. So the photo is the closest I could find.

This was my first bike and was bought with a sidecar attached, which I then removed. As I was under the legal age to ride it on the highway my dad got permission for me to push it from home to the local beach where I rode it.

We lived in Barrow in Furness and my dad and I spent many hours stripping it and rebuilding it.

AJS 350cc 1959

The first bike I could legally ride on the highway and on which I passed my test.

Triumph 350cc T90 1962

My first new bike.

Triumph 650cc Bonneville 1964 -1966

Now the first “real” bike and the last for 7 years as I moved over to cars and in 1969 got married.

Honda 250cc Dream 1974

Then my brother-in-law, John Gray, got interested in bikes and asked if I would join him in buying a bike to learn on. So I started back on bikes, although I quickly got bored with this one and John passed his test so we could buy a bigger bike.

Norton 750cc Commando 1975

So back to bike hairy bikes at last! But I think John bought my share of this bike and I moved on to bigger things.

Moto Guzzi 850cc T3 1976 – 1979

A lovely and unusual bike from Italy that was a lot of fun. But in 1979 I had to sell it as I needed to put money into my company and the children were taking up more time.

Honda VF500 F2 1987

Then 7 years later my dad lent me the money to buy a new bike. My first V-four engine and the start of my love affair with this type of engine.

Honda VFR750 F 1989

Having paid off my dad’s loan, and with our finances improving, I was able to buy my favourite of all my bikes.

BMW K100RS 1991

Time to try a bike with a bigger engine and a very different style. But boy was it heavy and I was in constant fear of dropping it.

BMW K1100RS 1993

I don’t like heavy bikes, so let’s try an even heavier one!

Honda 700cc Magna 1994 – 2000

Back to my first love of a V-four engines and a bike where I could actually reach the ground. This was an import from America and I kept it as a second bike for 6 years. The longest I have ever kept a bike.

Honda VFR750R 1995

Bought a second bike to keep the Magna company.

Honda VTR1000 1997

I decided to try a parallel twin engine for a change. But this bike I crashed one Sunday morning, damaging my thumb.

Honda VFR800FI 1998

Having written off the VTR1000 I returned to a VFR, but this time I had it custom painted.

Suzuki 1200cc Bandit 2000

I then traded in both the Magna and the VFR for a four cylinder Suzuki. Another heavy bike!

Yamaha FJR1300 2001 – 2003

I decided that more long distance riding was needed and hence this bike which I kept until we moved to Australia.

BMW F650GS 2005 – 2007

Now living in Australia a different type of bike was required as there were no swoopy roads near Mindarie. This was another parallel twin that was actually 790cc not the 650 indicated in the model name. It had a nice low seat height.

Honda CBF1000 2009

After a two year break from bikes I bought this four cylinder bike which was ideal for the Western Australian roads.

Honda ST1300ABS 2010 – 2012

A bigger and better touring bike that I used until we moved back to the UK.

Honda VF750C 2013

Back in the UK and settled in Cam it was time to buy another bike. This time it was back to that lovely V-four engine and a nice low seat.

BMW F800GT 2015 – 2017

This was my final bike and was another parallel twin designed for touring. At age 72 it was time to retire from bikes and just use cars for both fun and convenience.