By I fasten my helmet I am the only one inside Nobody else is in here Ignition on, the fuel pump whines Stab the red starter button Electrical current wakes the moving parts. Liquids circulate The cacophony and vibration commences together There is a violence and a softness to the audio
Planning ahead and making choices
I’m a bit of a planner and a bit of a do-it-now hybrid type of person, and the former planner in me has nailed a few milestone events to the calendar already. Incidentally, my calendar requires a mention here because it has been produced locally and in aid of charity.
How to knit something a bit ‘Yamaha Special’
In around 1972, a man named Rollin ‘Molly’ Sanders in the USA came up with the famous Yamaha black and yellow strobe stripe design that we all now know as the Yamaha speed block design. Whilst the American Yamaha Factory riders and bikes of the 1970s were bedecked in bright
The Mick Grant Replica Helmet
Two things got me thinking about this post. The first was Valentino Rossi retiring recently and the images in his last race of all of his VR46 Academy riders wearing just a few of his replica helmet designs from of his previous 26 seasons. The second trigger for this post
Yes. I really have bought a Cannondale MX400. Surprised?
Firstly, as an update from this first post, and after 3 years of MX400 ownership, things have moved on a bit, so don’t forget to click the Cannondale MX400 tab in the menu to enjoy my full journey to date when you’ve read this first one below👍 Back to 2020
It might get loud
Have you seen the film that bears the same title as this post? Yes? No? If not, you should. It has three of the most iconic guitar players ever; Jimmy Page, The Edge & Jack White, and it travels through their respective guitar times and lives. Whilst they’re all amazing
F@@k Me Pumps
The title to this post maybe familiar because it’s the title of a great Amy Winehouse track. It’s a song that walks through the possibilities of what happens when our shoes lead us down dark alleys and into shady dives. I’m taking a different approach to the title, one that
Scooters, and Hull, and Switzerland, and Thorngumbald.
I walk into the pub through the side door and am faced by a busy, but not packed bar room. This pub doesn’t have side rooms called things like ‘The Snug bar’ or ‘The Pool Room’, it is just one big room with a horseshoe shaped bar giving easy access
Heaven & Hell. My local bike shop.
This story starts and ends with the dirt on the ground. This dirt is special. It captures everything that goes on in this soulful place. Get on your knees and smell this dirt, because it smells of a blend of oil, aluminium, steel, iron, welding, fibreglass and maybe a hint
Introducing Bessie
Bessie was born in 1948, in Coventry, UK. She has a 2 litre petrol engine that can also run on TVO (Tractor Vapourising Oil), which is a mix of petrol and paraffin, and she is just one of the many innovations that her Father-designer, Harry Ferguson, came up with during
Tri-Duro; Not just another crap marketing term.
Starting Note: Definition of a trials bike: A specialized, lightweight motorcycle used in slow speed, observed (i.e. somebody is watching for your mistakes) off-road competitions, requiring great machine control, balance and judgement. It is most popular in the UK (nearly always wet and windy) and Spain (nearly always sunny and
Oliver’s Mount – A cure for insomnia. Really?
If you read my previous post about my connection with the Oliver’s Mount race circuit, you’ll know what a special place it is for me. If you haven’t read it, then I suggest you should. In the meantime, let me explain how the place helps me sleep. I do not
Moto relationships
We have different types of relationships with different motorcycles, just like we do with people and animals, and cars, and gardens, and vintage French cast iron cooking pots. OK, so maybe I went too far with the last one, but hey, we’re all into different stuff. Once upon a time,
My Olivers Mount Racing circuit story.
There are places in the world that remain iconic in our minds and souls. It could be the first shop that you bought your first motorcycle from, or record (vinyl to be clear), or fish and chips, or Dr Martins boots. It could be the place on a wild
For HeadBangers only
When you put your helmet on and go out for a ride or your daily commute, do you ever think about the history of the thing that you’ve just wrapped around your head? Probably not. I bought something sometime ago that does regularly make me think about the history and
My most favourite smells in life, which weirdly, includes my Bultaco.
This post was triggered by the smell of a motorcycle, a special motorcycle, and one which then got me thinking about my most favourite smells in life. However, the first words hit the iPad screen whilst I was on an aeroplane and someone sitting in the vicinity of my seat
A Summer Romance in Barcelona
In case my wife is reading this, it isn’t a one-night-stand type of romance with somebody. Honest. This romance reference is different. I walk down the steps of my personal jet and onto the hot tarmac of the Barcelona International airport. When I say ‘my personal jet’, what I actually
The Tour de Bultaco – Part 1, Stage 1……..maybe
How many times have you read motorcycle or other types of adventure books where the writer started with; I needed to escape from etc etc, I needed space to be myself etc etc, I needed to see the world etc etc, I needed to get out of the rat
How to ‘not buy’ an old Moto Guzzi and be pleased about it.
Like a lot of bikers, I’m always on the look out for the next interesting or unusual moto-opportunity to either sell on, or alternatively keep for a while, ride it and then sell it, maybe. Anyway, I had spotted an unusual Moto Guzzi in my local Swiss, free selling e-site
Motorcycling – “You can check out, but you can never leave”
Using a sentence from the brilliant, Eagles ‘Hotel California’ track in the title to this post is both a privilege and an inspiration. So, I’ll keep going with the theme………”On a dark desert highway, Cool wind in my hair”…….I rode a Harley for the first time in my life, and