A painfull twist of fate
brought a motor bike into my life
I found out later in life that my father was a great deal wiser and knowledgeable than I first thought. His way of keeping me out of trouble, was to present me with a 125 BSA Bantam.
The Bike that started everything.
Yes, I know what your thinking. Mix a 13-year-old with a motorbike is like smoking while filling your car with petrol. Extremely dangerous, you’ll either get badly hurt or something is going to explode.
That brings me very nicely to the painfull twist of fate, that brought my first bike into my life. You see I was at boarding school another dangerous place for a boy to be, especially when you’re dyslexic. Because you get pushed to one side and earmarked as being slow or stupid, as dyslexia hadn’t been invented yet.
It was the hat with the big D, and the cane for you my boy.
So to compensate for not being able to achieve very much through my lessons, I started to tinker with whatever I could find in the science lab and as you probably know, items in lab’s either eat through your clothing or go off bang. My favorite was the explosions.
This led me on to making primitive guns that fired sharpened nails and progressed to bombs. But soft human tissue and exploding materials don’t really go together. And the hand injury I sustained from the exploding device was not a pritty sight.
Many months later my father contrived that a motorbike would lure me away for practicing to become a terrorist. And it worked.
(Note:- I’d like to thank Ian Berry, and Rollo of Panther Publishing for allowing me to use extracts of their book ‘Out Front’.
Ian is the author of a fabulous motocross book that was launched at the Telford motorbike show. The book covers all the Motocross Champions from 1960 t0 1974. It is a great read and contains some wonderful photos from that period. The detail Ian has gleaned from the former Champions make this a must-have book for anyone remotely interested in off-road riding. If you’re unable to find the book, here’s their website.) www.panther-publishing.com
