One of the voluntary jobs I currently do is restoration/enhancement of old photos for our local museum using AI-based software, often going back into the 1800's. I know what's good for me as Jennie is the current museum president. Getting back on track, there are inevitably interesting stories which go with the photos, adding to the history of the region. Having a similar "sense of time and place" also applies to families down the generations, particularly in our case where family and lifelong friends are scattered round the world. During Covid lock-down, I scanned over 2000 prints, negatives and slides. Recently, more were scanned to add to the digital family record. As there were quite a number of them involving motorcycles, I thought I'd share a few of them, particularly with the back stories. There are also a small number of photos which have previously appeared on the blog but past posts have generally been about the bikes themselves (Especially here) rather than the back stories. I hope that some of them are of interest.
I grew up in Northamptonshire (UK). Back in the day, Dad had a 197cc 2 stroke bike and a side valve Morris Minor. He used to take me for short rides on the bike which must have planted the bug. Unfortunately, he had quite a serious accident on it and any future discussion about bikes was met with a frosty reception from Mum. She finally relented when I was 16 as my grandparents bought me a Suzuki 50, partially for passing my national school exams and I suspect to give me a bit more freedom, bless them. A primary requirement is for grandparents to be subversive when it really matters and we try to continue that tradition!
Mick (L) and me (R), aged 5 (1952)
The early days have been previously covered in the blog but it's worth posting a photo on my 1955 Tiger 100, aged 19 or 20 around 1966/67. The raised bars came off it pretty quickly as we were more influenced by road racing than Marlon Brando. By modern standards, we think of bikes like this as crude and unreliable but over the 5-odd years of ownership, it was pretty bulletproof despite being thrashed everywhere in all weathers, including multiple laps of the Isle of Man on non-race days in 1969. Most of the riding was done in the company of my best mate Rick and we still stay in touch to talk about bikes and cars, past and present. A lifelong friendship is a precious thing, despite not having seen each other since 2003!
Carefree and independent - 1955 Tiger 100, circa 1967
Building a drag bike really complemented my my mechanical engineering training, covering both engineering theory and practice. It also demonstrated that failures in our endeavours are as equally important as successes with respect to a learning opportunity. Wrecking the motor several times was certainly character-building. However, the short stroke motor showed massive promise and was highly competitive over the 1/4 mile. It was world class over the standing start mile but there were limited opportunities to run it over this distance. The cost of campaigning a competitive drag bike and a new position at Cranfield University curtailed further development and 1970 saw competing come to a close.
Icarus - short stroke supercharged 350cc drag bike - 1969
Bikes took a back seat for a number of years because of marriage, career development and ultimately moving to New Zealand but they were never forgotten. A trip to Auckland in 1987 to buy a yacht sail also saw me strolling into a bike showroom next door to the sail maker. The full story is elsewhere in the blog. Jennie was less than happy with the purchase but I ended up with a Honda GB 400 TT which was loosely based on the classic single cylinder race bikes of yesteryear. Hooked again! There are photos of the GB 400 elsewhere on the blog but the photo below was taken not long after purchase and before I fitted an aftermarket fairing. I went out for an evening ride with one of my fellow engineers from work. He'd recently purchased a brand new Suzuki GSX-R 1100 superbike and insisted that I ride it. I will freely admit to being terrified, thanks to years away from bikes and never having ridden such a brutal road bike. At the end of the ride, I was very glad to get off it. The thrill came the next day when I'd fully recovered.
A teensy problem arose not long after I'd bought the GB400. I'd overlooked the fact that my UK bike license had expired which meant that I was riding illegally. Armed with supporting documentation from the UK, but not admitting to owning a 400cc bike; I went along to the local authorities for a bit of grovelling. They were very helpful, telling me that I would have to sit both practical and theory tests, but would not need any waiting time between each stage as per learner requirements.
The first step after the theory paper was to assess handling skills on a closed course. I could hardly turn up on my bike which was not learner compliant and the only bike I could borrow was a Yamaha 50 step-through shopping basket which belonged to the wife of one of my workmates. I think the assessor smelt a rat but I passed just fine. Here I am on the cone-weaving part of the assessment.
Oh, the shame of it - 1987
Another surprise was to come at my full road test. I explained the position to the motorcycle cop taking me for the test, minus any mention of the Honda tucked up at home. A quick circuit of the town centre was made to prove that I did have prior experience and he stopped the test early and passed me - result! How things have changed in the intervening years.
Around this time, a 90% complete 50cc race bike was offered to me by one of my direct reports at work which had been built as an exercise by the apprentices. The "owner" was the apprentice training manager who was ex-UK SAS and known for his innovative and sometimes questionable approach to problem solving. He was typically vague about the provenance of the race engine which he must have "accidentally" stumbled on during his career. I completed it to a rideable state and illegally rode it on local back country roads but the noise from the expansion chamber was horrendous and attracted unwelcome attention. It was bound to lead to trouble so it mainly stayed in the shed and was eventually given away. It wasn't the bike which provides the memories but of the remarkable man and workmate I had the honour to call a friend. His escapades and what Len achieved with our apprentices would fill a book by themselves. The full story is HERE.
50 cc Yamaha-powered bucket racer
In the late 80's, our eldest son was interested in riding bikes and to appease Jennie, I bought a couple of old off-roaders to avoid tar seal and traffic. Our company owned substantial production forests with fire breaks which were an ideal location for learning. Lyndon had a Suzuki TF100 and I had a Yamaha IT 175. It was a massive amount of fun riding together although a 40+ year old body didn't respond well to hitting the deck on multiple occasions in the really tricky stuff. When Lyndon started university, both bikes were sold; mainly to avoid significant injury in my case. Riding to remote, interesting places were the real memories of off-roading for the few short years we owned them.
The TF100 and IT175 - late 80's
The GB400TT was replaced by a BMW K100RS in 1993, mainly because it was a great deal that was impossible to refuse by a chap working overseas and wanting it off his hands quickly. It was a lardy old tub, but really reliable and pretty quick. Ownership spanned 10 years and there were 2 enduring memories. The first was successfully completing my first "Rusty Nuts" 1000 miles/1600 km in under 24 hours endurance ride on it. The back roads course coupled with terrible weather absolutely wrecked me and I'll remember the pain forever. The other memory was of my one and only runner from the law but we'll leave it at that. Suffice to say that the bollocking received from Jennie and our daughter (who takes after her mother in that respect) remains particularly memorable. So much for absolution after confessing! Around the same time, we bought an 80's Suzuki X7 250 for Lyndon. Those first generation sport 250 2 strokes were great fun on local back roads and in all honesty, more pleasurable to ride than the BMW.
Suzuki X7 and BMW K100RS - late 1990's
As a slight departure from 2 wheels, in 2001; Jennie and I toured the South Island of NZ for a month in her MX5 Miata when the last of our kids started university. I fancied an ATV trip into the foothills of the Remarkables mountain range and persuaded Jennie to give it a go, albeit with some reluctance on her part. A bit of panic when I saw that the ATV's weren't docile farm bikes, but sporting 2 strokes. Wisely kept my mouth shut and fingers crossed. After some basic familiarisation by the instructor/guide, Jennie handled it like a total pro. My lasting memory is of her leaving me for dead on a steep rock-strewn downhill section. Total admiration and she still dines out on it!
The Remarkables mountain range - 2001
2003 saw a wedding anniversary trip to Auckland and the discovery of a Honda Blackbird sitting in a dealer's window. Executive Permission was granted for the purchase and I was the proud owner of an absolute missile which was light years ahead of the BMW in every respect. The photo immediately below was taken not long after purchase when a friend from the UK visited NZ and he was able to use the BMW before it was sold.
Overlooking Lake Taupo - 2003
The 'bird created numerous memories during its 6 year ownership. Taking part in the round NZ Southern Cross checkpointed endurance ride, covering around 4500 km in 5 days on the edge of winter was pretty special.
The outstanding memory was of a tour of the South Island in 2007 in the company of 3 other identically coloured Blackbirds belonging to great mates. Jennie and the partner of one of the other riders came along in a people-mover and it worked out brilliantly. The arty shot below was when we all booked onto a whale watching excursion at Kaikoura.
4 near-identical Blackbirds attracted quite a bit of attention - Kaikoura 2007
Wanaka Transport Museum - 2007 (courtesy Martin Blandford)
One other memory is worth mentioning with a certain amount of embarrassment. A day trip with workmates was undertaken to scout out a holiday caravan site for one of them. One of them borrowed the Suzuki 150 belonging to his daughter. Because of the speed mismatch with the other bikes, we would give him a few minutes start to the next destination then chase him down. Here we are parked up outside the bakery in Coromandel Town.
Dave, Lance, Richard, Kelvin and John
On the way home, we did the normal trick of sending Dave off early on the little Suzuki. We spotted him halfway along a long straight and Lance on the Gixxer 1000, John on the 'busa and I decided to rip past him at warp speed. Unfortunately for us, there were some substantial ripples in the road right where we passed him. Dave was treated to the sight of 3 bikes flying through the air. Time slowed down and I was certain that tomorrow wasn't going to come. However, the 'bird landed absolutely straight as did the Hayabusa. Lance on the Gixxer got a good tank slapper on landing but managed to stay on. The rest of the ride was at a very subdued pace and we were lucky to live through what had been a monumental act of stupidity.
An appropriate Blackbird advertisement of that era
Retirement in 2008 and a permanent move to our holiday place on the Coromandel Peninsula saw the Blackbird sold as it wasn't totally suitable for the region's twisty roads. After trying out several bikes, a Street Triple graced the garage. To be honest, it wasn't my first choice on paper but the test ride was so good that there was no doubt about the purchase.
There are tons of previous blog posts about the Triple so I've just chosen some photos which have a story attached. The photo below was taken in Coromandel Town with a local boat called the Kia Toa (Be Brave) in the background. When the French were still testing nuclear weapons in the Pacific in the 60's to 90's, a protest fleet sailed from NZ to a test site. The Kia Toa was one of the fleet. Not a big vessel for sailing to French Polynesia and took a fair bit of courage.
Kia Toa awaiting restoration
It was in this period that I had the absolute pleasure of meeting fellow moto-blogger Sonja of Find me on the Road fame. She was visiting NZ on business from Canada and had time for us to host her over a weekend, in company with my good mate, IAM member and fellow blogger at that time, Roger Fleming. We all got on sensationally well and Sonja got to ride the Triple, as well as drive Jennie's hotted up MX5.
Sonja and Roger in Coromandel
The blog was also responsible for meeting an eminent New Zealander under unexpected circumstances. At the time of meeting, Dr. Andrew West was Vice-Chancellor of Lincoln University in NZ. He's a lifetime bike enthusiast and had a Triumph 675 Daytona and two older classic Triumphs. He had seen my Street Triple review on the blog and asked if he could drop in and chat about it as he was thinking of one for his wife.
Andy had lunch with us and then we swapped bikes and went for a decent ride together, sharing impressions en route. Despite his illustrious career in both business and academia, he was one of the nicest and down to earth people you could wish to meet. Motorcycle enthusiasts always seem to get on well, no matter who they are.
Swapping bikes with Dr. Andy West
In 2013, Jennie and I had a winter break on the Pacific island of Rarotonga. It only takes about 45 minutes to circumnavigate the main coast road in a vehicle and you can hire either a car or scooter to get around. On this particular trip, we hired a step-through bike. The normal form is that you present a valid motorcycle licence to the police and in return, you receive a temporary Rarotongan licence. In reality, it provides some lucrative revenue to the island. Having done it on a previous visit, it was a straightforward exercise. There was an elderly American at the adjacent counter wanting to complete the same transaction. Unfortunately, he was unable to provide proof of licence. The official politely said that he would need to demonstrate competence with a simple practical test in the area at the back of the police station. Talk about an insult to his manhood! Shouting and cussing about having ridden goddam Harleys all his goddam life and his word ought to be goddam good enough. He did his countrymen no favours at all with a performance like that and unfortunately, I left before seeing what the outcome was. I was still laughing when Jennie took the photo below.
Rarotongan bike licence valid for 6 months
Scooters are everywhere in Asia as a cheap form of transport. Whilst we were holidaying in Vietnam, I took the photo below on one of the freeways near Halong Bay. This was one of the lighter loads we saw being carried whilst we were there. The owner was riding a Honda. According to our guide, the Chinese copies were much cheaper but broke down regularly.
Livestock transporter
As a quick diversion from "real" bikes, building model bikes from the Tamiya plastic kit range was done to occupy winter evenings a couple of decades ago.
My first attempt was a classic Ducati 900 and being a bike tragic (Jennie is more colourful in her use of language on this topic), I painted the exhaust pipes to show heat colouring.
Tamiya Ducati 900SS
When I sold the BMW K100, the new owner who was also a workmate; gave me a K100 kit which was a lovely gesture. It was the unfaired version of the K100 and here it is. It took forever to paint and required the purchase of some microscopically small paintbrushes. Happy with the result though.
Tamiya BMW K100
After the marathon effort with the BMW, I'd just about gone nuts but discovered that a Honda Blackbird was available. The temptation was too great. I have to admit that the obsession with detail just about broke me and the temptation to chuck the bike against the wall was pretty strong at one stage. Even with a magnifying glass, my eyes were in quite a state after painting and assembly but the result was pretty good. However, it put me off further model building for life!
Tamiya Honda Blackbird
Back in 2015, a good friend and fellow drag bike racer from the UK were touring NZ in a camper van and came to stay for a few days. We hadn't seen Pete and Jane since emigrating in 1975 so it was a great reunion. In 1972, Pete held the official FIM world record for the standing quarter mile in the 500cc class and if I remember correctly, also the flying quarter mile. Pete still had a couple of road bikes so I took him to meet local Coromandel mate Paul, who was secretary of the NZ Norton Owner's Club at the time. A wonderful day talking about classic British bikes, thereby officially confirming Old Fart status!
Pete (L) and Paul (R) in Paul's bike shed
Back in 2015, the Triple had racked up 70,000 trouble-free km. With the substantial distances being covered with my voluntary IAM advanced riding mentoring role, it was time to look at a replacement bike. I ended up with a Suzuki GSX-S 1000 which had performance to burn but was surprisingly bland and uninvolving during normal road use. However, it was a real weapon on the track and a lot of fun. The photo below was taken coming into the pits after a track session at Hampton Downs circuit.
Nicely matching leathers! (Courtesy: Barry Holland)
Dave Moss tweaking the preload on the front end
Lunchtime in Coromandel. Steve is 3rd from left
The final photo of the Suzuki was taken in amusing circumstances. I'd ridden to Auckland to conduct some coaching and on the way home, stopped to meet the needs of nature at a remote toilet block on the coast. I heard a bunch of bikes pulling up outside and when I stepped out, there were half a dozen police bikes on a training run. Sgt Steve Butler-Jones was leading the group and I knew him well from the Institute of Advanced Motorists. The photo shows me being "arrested" for loitering at a men's toilet! Steve is now policing back in Devon, UK.
Arrested for loitering or owning a Suzuki?
In 2019, I was into my 70's and knew that retirement from riding wasn't many years away. The Suzuki didn't exactly thrill me and I wanted something to do exactly that for what would be my final bike. There's plenty of history and photos on the blog but I ended up with a KTM 790 Duke which was a real hooligan of a bike - a perfect end to a near-60 year riding career.
I've chosen 3 photos of memories with the Duke 790. The first is definitely quirky. Some IAM mates and I rode to just north of Wellington in 2020 to attend the Institute of Advanced Motorists annual conference. We turned it into a 6 day trip around some of the North Island's best motorcycling roads. Around the East Cape, we were confronted by a landslip across the road. It wasn't deep but wet clay slurry made it an absolute skating rink. A big truck had already slid off the road trying to cross it but we thought that narrow bike tyres might stand a better chance. Big mistake! I drew the short straw which saw me laying the KTM down within a metre or so. No damage to anything other than my dignity. Even standing up in it was a tricky proposition. No-one else was game to try and pushing the bikes for about 50 metres across the slip gave the best result, albeit with the assistance of a roading crew who had just arrived. The photo shows me at the roadside cleaning the tyre grooves with a stick whilst Tony pushes his Yamaha MT10 SP a bit further up the road. Extreme caution was required until we cleaned the bikes properly at a gas station about half an hour north.
Tony and Geoff on Tiniroto Road (Courtesy: Lloyd Hollis)
The photo below is quite an emotional one. Some Institute of Advanced Motorists members from the Auckland and Central North Island chapters were meeting for a social ride. What I didn't know was that it was to farewell me as I was retiring from my role as regional mentor/Examiner. An incredible surprise, particularly as I'd mentored or examined most of them in previous years. Very difficult to keep it together on that wonderful occasion.
Coromandel Town wharf, with the IAM team
The final KTM photo taken in March 2022 is the start of my last ride on a motorcycle. The dealer I originally bought it from in Hamilton was very keen to add it to his stock and offered a very good price. Maybe because the eventual exit from motorcycling had been planned over a long period and having other interests in its place, the delivery run to the dealer was surprisingly unemotional. It was a hot, sunny day and the 160 km trip mainly on country roads couldn't have been better. Jennie trailed me down in the car, we did the business and that was that.
Bye, bye hooligan machine
We visited daughter Victoria in Melbourne over the 2022/23 Christmas period. It was the perfect time to catch up with fellow moto blogger Jules Pearce (Tarsnakes). Jules and I had corresponded for years and catching up in person for lunch on Geelong's waterfront was a wonderful occasion. Just like old friends meeting, but for the very first time. It certainly didn't seem that way. Another great example of motorcycles drawing people together.
Jules and Geoff on the Geelong waterfront
As a postscript to selling the KTM, I'd intended to put all my riding gear up for sale. Four years later, it hasn't actually happened! Just like the bikes, riding gear carries memories of specific rides and circumstances and they get triggered when I open the cupboard in the garage. It's all about staying connected. Recently, I saw an advert and test report on the latest KTM Duke 390 which got the pulse racing a wee bit. It would be a great machine for Coromandel's twisty roads. Unfortunately, there will almost certainly be a "disturbance in the force" in our household if I pursue it. Perhaps not, for my own well-being from several angles. I'll still hang on to the riding gear though.
I always found that Shoei helmets were the most comfortable brand for my head shape and their graphics were always pretty cool too. I bought the blue RF1000 at a sale in Melbourne and when it was 5 or 6 years old, replaced it with the green detailed GT Air with an internal tinted flip visor. In both cases, I fitted reflective main visors as these allow better vision in twilight or marginal conditions than a full tint. I loved the look of both these helmets so have just had a dabble with AI to combine a couple of photographs of them into one. I told the AI program to delete the backgrounds of the original photos and provide an arty shared alternative. The photo below is the result, which I'm really happy with. If you look closely, the visors show different reflections. This is because the original photos were taken at different locations outside the house!
My favourite helmets
I'll leave the last word on helmets to Jennie. I was kitting up for a ride and she was chatting to me whilst I pulled on my silver/black leathers and helmet. I thought that I looked pretty cool so said, "Chick Magnet". Without changing her expression or tone, her response was, "Until you take your helmet off". She sure knows how to bring a guy back to earth!
I hope that you have enjoyed some of the bike reminiscing. Photos are a great trigger for digging out old memories.
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