How Did It Start

Like many it was a FS1E followed by a A100 first “big” bike was a CB550F

 

Had one too electric start luxury

 

My first bike was nearly a BSA 250cc scooter but after riding it just felt wrong...so bought a Hond 90 sports back in 1967 just to get to work and that was £70 and on the drip...probably earned about £15 a week back then.

Soon after a sold it an bought a Royal oilfield 250 Crusader sports and then realised i would have to become a mechanic in order to survive.

 

My first road legal 'bike was a 1957 250 AJS, similar to the one below.



When I acquired it, it was 8 years old, well used, cheap and tatty but it was (just) road legal. It was also fearsomely unreliable and I had to borrow a friend's Lambretta TV175 scooter to take my bike test in 1966 ...... and that's were it all began.

My first big bike HAD to be a 650 Triumph and had to be cheap .... and so I ended up with a very well worn 1958 T110, with a slick shift 'box! It had, at some point prior to my ownership, looked a little bit like this, but mine had lived a very hard life - not that I made it any easier - and, although it was reliable and dependable enough, the cosmetic challenges and its lack of performance compared to the emerging Japanese 2 stroke twins of the mid sixties meant it was replaced by the inevitable '68 Bonneville. I think we ALL know what that looked like!




Like many others, I have never been without a motorcycle since - so 54 years, now - and have ridden a 'bike at some point in every one of those years. Motorcycles have been my life's passion - Triumphs have been my life's blood!

 

1972 RD350. That was back in 1976.
Ported, shaved heads, .30 over Wiseco pistons, Jardine pipes and automotive ignition coils. A real screamer!

 

'84 Honda VT500 Ascot

 

I bought a lovely CB400/4 from Nigel Birkett in Broughton before he moved his shop

 

where is he at now DCS??

 

Tuned eh bet it blew up every 100 miles

 

ditto, 1974 model, had it in 76 whilst too young to ride it legally....

 

Didn't last long but it was eating KZ900's when they first hit the streets! Well, up thru 3rd gear anyway - just enough for a good laugh!

 

Guess I'm a geezer. First bike was in '66 and it was a Honda Cub.l forget what year. Never had to push it. The damn thing always ran.

Third bike was a 1959 Triumph Tiger Cub. POS that seldom ran and required lots of pushing.

 

He’s at Broughton, but not in town in a little shop where he was, more of a mini industrial estate (old Woodyard) on the edge of town...

https://birkettmotosport.com/

 

Can we do our second bike?
This is what I rode while stationed at RAF Bentwaters. My girlfriend and I went to a bike race of some sort. I was parked out in the grass and when we came back to the bike there was a circle of 20+ people standing there looking at it! It was a POS really..Bent a shifter fork, electrical problems, etc.. I love it cause it was so beautiful - and my first 3 cylinder bike!

 

OK Sorry, I'm pushing it here, but about those three cylinders - here's my third bike, which nearly got me killed and ruined me for a time

I'll stop now -

 

My first bike was a 1947 BSA C10 which I bought for £15.00. I'd like to pick one up now for fifteen quid. The photo is not mine as I don't think I owned a camera in 1959.

 

BSA C15
Used more oil than petrol - threw a lot over one foot and back wheel. Ruined my dad's drive.
Left hand footrest wouldn't stay tight, so it pressed on brake lever. As a result, I always rode it with left foot on the pillion peg. First time I rode it, it got slower and slower - took a while to realise rear brake was applied.
No suppressor cap on spark plug, so learned to keep right knee well out of the way or suffer shocking experience
Caught fire once, but still ran (but only if it wanted to)
Some days it didn't want to start. Other days it started but stopped out on a run and had to be pushed home
Fell off once on ice - no injury or damage
Knocked of by Austin A40 once - driver had borrowed it from his neighbour so not insured. Said he'd pay for repair to bike. Cost 10/- (50p) to straighten forks. Phoned driver to claim it back and he told me to fuck off. Had big hole in knee of jeans before it was fashionable.
Apart from that it was a great bike.
Sold it. It got dumped (apparently). Police made me move it. Then I got arrested and cautioned for stealing it when owner reported it missing.

 

Still like those ricecookers!

 

Yes, and the Suzuki was a smooth running machine, which surprised me after riding the RD350. It wasn't a "Widow Maker" like the Kawasaki H2 either.

 

The old H2's were lethal...