Bikes: Past and Present

The first "bike" I ever owned was a Lambretta LD 125 scooter:

I "obtained" it in exchange for an air rifle. It was the most frightening thing to ride. Fortunately, the shaft (yes, it was shaft drive) broke and you couldn't get the them in 1967. So that was that for a year.


Then it was a Honda CB90:




This was an amazing bike. 90cc and rode two up all day long, albeit at 45mph! Then it dropped a valve, broke the piston and, at 17 years old, with no training and a father who could barely change a fuse, I fixed it at home myself!


No bikes for a while. Went to work at Hawker's aicraft factory in Kingston Surrey, had a shotgun marriage and eventually bought a Honda CB250:




Another great bike. Reliable as all hell. Rode it all year round for 4 or 5 years. Only two drops, both due to ice, minor scrapes only.



All this was in the UK. Then I got posted to New York state and had to have a car so I finally got my drivers licence. A year and a half in New York, back to the UK for 2 years and then off to Canada, in 1982, for a year but never returned. Been here ever since!


No more bikes until 2003 when my second wife finally allowed one. I bought an immaculate 1986 Kawasaki Concours from one of my friends:




Way ahead of its time, superb tourer and starkly different from anything I had ever ridden. When I first rode it I wondered what the hell I had done. After a few weeks though it was a part of me. But it was showing its age in reliability and my wife had adapted to riding so...




Then I bought a brand new Triumph Sprint ST:







What a blast. Incredibly quick. It's a sport bike with a Tourer tag and the insurance companies knew that. Very nimble and, having tricked it out with a Corbin seat, comfortable. But, it became hard on my back (bulging disc) so...



Then I got a brand new 2005 Triumph Rocket III:

Mods: Corbin seat, bags; Tuneboy; catbox by-pass & TORs...