What was your best memoury ref bikes.

[Pun]

I was 16 years of age and living in Liverpool, it was the time when no head ware was needed by law , I had an ariel leader bike and a plug in ear piece for my trany/ radio, I was on the Birkenhead side of the river mersey just entering the mersey tunnel as the song hang on snoopy came on the radio, I went like the clappers through the tunnel and just as I was coming out the end the song was finishing, I think the group was the macoys,

Happy days, free days ,not a care in the world days, I sold that bike and bought my first big bike, B.S.A. road rocket, faster, no smoke, and sounded great.

[Bugsy]

I built my first bike from a collection of parts. It was based around the Villiers 'starmaker' 250cc twin. and had alloy tank, seat hump, clip-on's, the business. I proudly rode it to work for the first time and coming round the left turn into work I went over a manhole cover and was instantly deposited on the road. It was bad enough that the bike was damaged, but much worse were the comments from my workmates who witnessed the whole thing.

Also memorable, was the first time I did 100mph, through our village, on the back of a friends new Honda. No helmet and ordinary clothes. It seems quite crazy today, but things were very different in those days. Sadly, I did lose a few friends, though.

[Lizfjr]

Well the best of all for me has to be the man with the notepad who said he was delighted to say I had passed my test. 26 years ago this month.

Oh and first sight of the Millau last year heading South. It literally made me gasp in me lid as it soared through the clouds. Fantastic moment.

[Pun]

Hi  bugbear

Its funny really just look what you spend today on bikes and the cost and effort spent years ago, the thoughts that spring to mind? yester year.

Smashing look back I really enjoyed it, nice to know Im not the only one to come off in front of a crowd of mates and live to tell .

[Bob T]

My best memory was 21st September 1977. At the age of 18 I collected my first new bike, a BMW R75/7. I loved that bike and would love to find a good secondhand one. 50 bhp seemed plenty then.

[Bugsy]

[quote user="Pun"]

Hi  bugbear

Its funny really just look what you spend today on bikes and the cost and effort spent years ago, the thoughts that spring to mind? yester year.

Smashing look back I really enjoyed it, nice to know Im not the only one to come off in front of a crowd of mates and live to tell .

[/quote]

I've got hundreds of memories from biking but no doubt someone will say 'enough' when I've managed to bore the pants off them.

Like a time when in France, eight of us on four big bikes. One guy owned a Yamaha shop in New Milton (no names given). He always turned up with the latest bike, straight out of his showroom and on this occasion it was one of the latest 'turbo' models, remember when they were in fashion. He also had with him one of the latest 'breathable' one-piece waterproofs. Well it's raining so he had on his new waterproofs and bombarded us with comments of how good this new 'stuff was at every opportunity. Then we needed fuel and so we all pulled into a service station and stopped. He then came in at quite at quick pace, stopped at the pump but when he tried to put a foot down, the straps at the bottom of this 'wonderful suit' had snagged around his footpegs. It was almost in slow motion watching him fall over and the joy on his girlfriends face when she managed to jump clear. He was now trapped, with his leg stuck on the very hot turbo. We were laughing so much that non of us could find any strength to lift the bike off him.

We eventually got him out from under and with some skillful use of a roll of 'tank-tape' he repaired his burnt waterproofs. He never mentioned them again for the whole trip.............................[:)]

[Just Katie]

My best memory regarding bikes was the day my son sold his.

[Deauville]

Like you I've got loads of memories but one that springs to mind in the same vein as yours was going to the Island for the first time. Went as a group and B.J. (never knew his name!) turns up on the spur of the moment in a pair of denims, tee shirt and a wooly jumper and clutching a toothbrush - that's all he brought, priceless!

[The-Lovely-Wendy]

Hi Liz..... Wendy here Nomads wife.  Happy New Year to you and yours. Yes i must agree passing your bike test is a great feeling.

I haven't been riding very long but i must say i am hooked. [:)]

[Dog]

Most pefect memory was in Crete. Three of us had hired Yamaha 250 trail bikes. We spent 2 hours climbing a very difficult track up a bumpy rock strewn mountain it was dull and we were in cloud. The landscape was grey.

Nearing the top we were surprised to find a gnarled old shepherd at the side of the track who waved his hands about, so we stopped and though we spoke no Greek and he no English, he made it obvious that he wanted us to accompany him and he climbed onto my brothers bike and we made our way to his concrete one roomed shack further up the mountain.

He gave us some sort of alcohol and some vegetable floating in a basin. He showed us pictures of his three wives and his collection of guns. He was quite happy to sit all day but we made it clear we wanted to move on.

As we were departing he again got on the back of my brothers bike and we carried on up the last bit of the mountain. As we arrived on the top of the mountain we passed through the cloud into bright sunshine and were amazed to see a carpet of beautiful green grass with white flowers dotted throughout it and in the centre a clear blue lake with a white chapel beside it. It was like arriving in heaven - most surreal.

We finally left the shepherd sitting by the lake smoking a roll-up by the lake.

[Pun]

Who said bikers are mad,

While you and your brother enjoyed what you thought was just a day out, a fond memoury was being made.

great to read and thanks for sharing it.

[mark24]

Hi Wendy and Nomad the new home web site looks good http://h1.ripway.com/lonytang/

And I love looking at the  http://www.whereiswendynow.co.uk/  or Tony site it just takes so long to down load the photos on our so slow dial up but it nice to see some of the roads and stop offs that we used to visit .

Hope to see you both soon on this side of the water

All the best shan + Donna

[Pun]

A lot of people give bikers a bad name, they think we all run around in a gang causing all kinds of trouble,

My self, Well let me tell you about a friend I made and all through biking,

I was in H.M.army and Aldershot was at the time my base, but I was sent to instruct at sandhurst, one friday afternoon I was on my way back to aldershot going through a place called camberly, and as I needed some smellies, (soap, toothpaste etc) I thought I.d go to this shopping mal  place,

I was very proud of my bike triumph 650 bonni, I parked it at the side of these shops and went into boots, got my stuff and was walking towards my bike,

now I was wearing light wieghts (thin cotton army trousers, army jumper, stable belt and my berret folded in my shoulder hold, the skid lid was fixed to the side lock of the bike,

As I got nearer to the bike I could see this old lady with a pram and about 10 dogs , some in the pram some smelling my wheels and some had watered the wheels good and proper,

If it hadnt been for the fact that this old dear was doing a good thing by having all these dogs and the fact that they thought the world of her I would have lost it big time and would have said so,

But she looked at me and said did I want to buy a stick-on badge all the money went to caring for the dogs,

She herself looked like she needed caring for, very thin and her rain coat had seen better days, I       purchased a badge and she thanked me and introduced me to every dog, told me all the history and said I was doing a good job being a soldier,

then she looked at the bike and said, you must not judge people by how they look and then she said you thank god your not daft enough to own one of those things, death traps,

I had to walk away and wait until she and the dogs had gone befor I could get on my pride and joy and return to barracks,

I saw camberly kate (the girls in boots told me her name) every week for about 12 month, she never new I was the owner of that bike (still am)

and we became friends, I'd buy her a meat pie from a bikers cafe (virginian) and she'd eat it telling me stories always about animals never herself.

Ive sometimes thought how she ended up, a true honest person and a pleasure to know, if it hadnt been for the bike and parking it close to the shop I may have never met kate and I feel Im a better person for meeting her.

[The-Lovely-Wendy]

Yes i agree we get a bad name...

They should spend a day with some of us .... only to find out we are the same as anyone else, all the friends we know own bikes and some have family's. Great bunch of people, all i can say is they don't know what they are missing [:D]

[Lizfjr]

Hi, there, Wendy. Nice to see you around here. Glad to hear you passed your test. When did you do that then?

This place seems to be becoming a home from home from the 'other' site!. Don't let the mericans know. They'll have it over run before we know it!

[Bugsy]

I think the days of the hordes of bad bikers is well and truly over. Just prior to our move to france we ran a large campsite in southern england and we had, in addition to normal camping, a dedicated area for bikers. In all the time we spent there we never had a single problem from bikers, it's a pity that I can't say that of all the people who used that campsite.

The beauty of france is that the general population actually like bikes, both the powered variety and, of course, the bicycle. I think they actually invented the powered bicycle. You can be parked, having a coffee and an old boy or girl always seem to appear, wanting to talk about your bikes. Wonderful.

Todays trends lean more towards touring and rideouts on machines that can cost the same, or more than a family car. The type of riders you meet tend, in the main, to be pleasure riders who cherish their bikes and enjoy the companionship of like-minded individuals. You will rarely see a biker ride past another who is stuck on the side of the road, and that doesn't usually happen with cars.

Advanced training has also become a way of life for many of todays riders honing their skills to cope with the ever-present dangers found on the roads today. Riders who live here can attend many race circuits in france to be taught, in the comparitive safety of a track, advanced riding skills. Our local Pompiers, also run track days for people with wide ranging skill-levels. If you live near Limousin and want to improve your riding skills look up this guy www.rn20.com 

France, like the UK, has it's share of fools who most will have seen riding at stupid speed for the prevailing conditions but that's a different subject, and the inroduction over the last few years of 'track days' has weaned many a speed-freak, from lunacy on the roads.

 

 

[pogo]

Best memory is leaving Wembley after seeing Pink Floyd perform The Wall,and being on the front line of 100's of bikes at the traffic lights. Police were present,but were very 'understanding' as we all took off, trying to look angelic and innocent[Www],and then opened up once we had passed them (by about 2 foot!!![;-)]).This was on a Suzuki 750

WORST memory ,apart from falling off, is of slipstreaming lorries on the A2 in Kent,pulling out to overtake,getting half way past the lorry,and lacking the power,and having to slowly pull back in behind the lorry.This was a regular occurrance,and very frustrating and embarrassing[:$].This was on a Suzuki 100.At least I can laugh about it now[:@]

[Bugsy]

Hi Wendy............................did you ever go to the Poole Quay bike meets ?

[Bob T]

BMF at Peterborough was quite an event It was only 20 miles up the road from us and that was a place where you could see some bikes. You could have as much fun walking around the bike parks as you could in the show.

The biker weekend at Le Bouge (Dordogne) is also pretty good. The whole town is closed for the bikes. I'll post here when its on this year.

[Bob T]

Had a nice ride this morning, thick fog when I left and sun when I returned.

[IMG]http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q259/bikesindordogne/Sarlat%20ride/100_2453.jpg[/IMG]

[Pun]

Hi Bugbear,

Ive found that a lot of the newer big bikes belong to the older person, (men)  more than ladies, and most who have come back to the bikes after years behind the wheel if honest will tell you its a different ball game now, the bikes are faster ref the take off and the speed and road holding can cause problems,

I did live in mid wales very near a place called BALA, its a bikers meeting place due to the bendy country roads and the lake, now every few weeks you'd see a new sign from the police "accident can you help," and  flowers laying on the ground, a lot of the accidents resulted in death .

 

I was coming back to france in the car last june on the M1 motorway and couldnt help but feel the ruts in the lanes from the h.g.v.'s it must be murder for bikes in the wet,

The french roads are much better, and the service area's again much better, I was going to ask if you've ever been asked to remove your headgear in france?

I was in chester (u.k.) going into a tesco store and the welcome girl on the doors told me I must remove my headgear or I couldnt come in, yet ive been in all kinds of stores in the past and never had this problem, except in the barbers, (joke)

Well  talk to you soon,

regards Pun.

p.s. they've finished the pool today, Im over the moon,

 

 

 

 

[Pun]

Hi BoB,

Nice ,very nice, very very nice.

[Bob T]

Thanks Pun, What do you maen about older men? I am only 48! My wife has an identical bike to mine.

[Bugsy]

I know Bala lake fairly well Pun, but my favourite road in Wales is the one from Dolgellau to Machynlleth. It was a cracker. Just had to watch out for those sheep, you know. It's probably a motorway now, or covered in safety cameras.

Regarding french motorways I think the biggest danger is debri from HGV's. It's bad enough to suddenly be confronted with a whole lorry tyre when you're in a car, but on a bike it can be a 'sphincter tightening' experience. I never follow lorries for just that reason.

[baldeagle]

Hi bugbear, just adding to what you said re debris, one of the worst things I have seen like that was a couple of years ago, here.I was travelling towards the N10 from Sauze- Vaussais .As I approched le Maisons blanche where there is a large lorry park, I was in my camper, early morning in february.Following a number of cars at a safe distance, very cold morning.

An artic curtainsider was coming toward us and suddenly massive chunks of ice dashed all over the place, obviously as he gained speed for the first time since leaving the lorry park the curtains and top started blowing in the wind and the vacuum from a lorry some distance in front of us caused the ice to dislodge.

Two cars in front of me had their screens smashed, one continued but the other driver lost control and skidded into a field, exiting his car with blood pouring down his face!!Horrific, I will never forget the look of shock and fear on his face.

Of course we can imagine the consequences if I had been on the bike.