Monday 14 November 2011

My Motorbikes

James Captain, James Colonel, BSA M20 500cc, Ariel Huntsmaster 750cc twin, Honda 50, Honda 95


The James Captain was actually my brother's. This is the James Colonel with Francis Barnett designed 225cc two-stroke engine. Anything under 250cc could be ridden on a provisional licence in those days. I rode a motorbike to school and my friend rode a scooter. We got them as soon as we were allowed to by law at 16. He was the mod and I was the rocker (not really) but we did take them up to the Lake District for a holiday and managed to get around the Fylde area. I later bought the BSA M20 which was a single cylinder 500cc four stroke machine. It had a door in place of the sidecar and I fitted handles so that friends could hold on as we rode around. After sixth form I spent a year in Derby at Rolls-Royce who sponsored me. My brother and I shared a mini van by then but I bought the 750cc twin Ariel Hunstsmaster with two adult sidecar. That meant that I could take three passengers. I was able to cruise at 70mph between Derby and Poulton but the drag on the sidecar was such that I rode along the motorway with one foot on the left handle bar because my arms were too tired to hold the bike in a straight line. The Ariel had twin footbrakes on the left. Operate both to slow in a straight line, operate sidecar only to help round left hand corners.

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