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Saturday, September 26, 2020

LAST OF A LONG LINE

 Over some 63 years I have owned various motorcycles (56 actually) some together, others singly. As life has gone by I have adapted. My first, a small BSA Bantam 150cc, I bought from necessity when doing my National Service to get to and from the army camp. It was the start of a lifelong involvement with and enjoyment in motorcycles of all kinds. you can see most of the story in a previous blog post.

Now I am 81 and neuropathy in my left leg/foot (result of a stroke about 5 years ago) has made it increasingly difficult and painful to operate the left foot gear change on a conventional bike. "Why not get an older machine with a right foot gearchange ?" you ask. Well, that would mean no electric starter and I cannot contemplate jumping up and down on a kick start any more!

I have had a number of "twist and go" automatic scooters (a shame that no motorcycles are made that way) that require no input from the feet at all. It has not been a good year for me (heart attack and hospital-acquired Covid whilst being treated) so I thought about a little treat. 

I already had such a "twist and go" (see a couple of posts back). But it was made in 2011 and had no prop stand so I needed to get off, balance on one foot and lift the scooter onto its centre stand - not easy with a dicky left leg. I tried fitting an after market prop, but to no avail. So I decided to get Honda's latest model SH125 with its updated engine and a prop stand which I could just kick down as I came to a halt. I specified all the bells and whistles - screen, hand guards and heated handlebar grips (I have poor hand circulation so these last will be useful in winter). I did consider the more powerful and faster 300cc model, but the sort of riding I do these days on country main roads and lanes and no motorways did not warrant the extra expense and weight as this 125cc can maintain an easy 60 mph if necessary and only weighs 135 kgs.



The lot came to a trifle under £4000, but the dealer, eager for sales after lockdown, allowed me £1000 on my old one. Being new it comes with a full Honda 2 year warranty, which will probably last me with it until I eventually have to give up motorcycling for good. Then I shall sell it for a good price as a recent model with a very low mileage.

So, my 57th "motorcycle" and last of the line. I would it was still my old BMW 1000cc, but one has to make necessary adjustments for age and health if one needs to keep the glass half full.

(And I will still have and enjoy riding my pedal ebike)

13 comments:

Roderick Robinson said...

Such milestones in one's life are grim. Giving up ski-ing was more than renouncing a sport; it meant I could no longer go happily into high mountain areas (something I've been doing since the mid-fifties) as I would constantly be reminded of what I was missing. Swimming a mile twice a week was the perfect exercise for an octogenarian but I had to stop that for complex reasons. Neither of these involved material possessions - as in your case - but they were activities that defined me.

When it came to vehicles the Lexuses (I had three of them) were easily the best cars (handling, gearbox, reliability) I had owned but something told me it was time to say goodbye to manual gear-changing. My three Skoda Octavias have all had DSG six-speed (now seven-speed) auto-boxes with the clutchless manual option. I have joked about them as "old man's cars" yet they are perfectly at ease doing 80 mph on French autoroutes, the difference being I now share that kind of driving with my younger daughter.

An ironic suggestion - regarding your situation - passed through my mind, but it isn't at all serious. Why not a vintage bike with a manual gear-change on the side of the tank? But I suspect you'd spend more time fettling it than riding it and I know that would bring its own problems.

I owned motor-bikes for about ten years in the fifties. I enjoyed biking but they were at the time my only form of personal transport. It's one thing to ride them for pleasure, it's quite another when they're part of your work. Buying a Bond Minicar and then a Heinkel were steps towards four wheels. But I did try and catch a flavour of my motorbiking past in a truly lousy sonnet:

But in a youthful, optimistic year,
Unfettered by his* cloudy mystery,
I rode astride a source of whining power,
Seeing the corner’s coming trajectory.

Contained, uncertain, in a changing state
Embracing, letting fear accelerate.


* This refers to Aldous Huxley's The Doors of Perception, mentioned in the earlier quatrains.

I've a fair idea of what you've (almost) lost: a sense of immediacy that cars can never provide, of quick responses, and always a whiff of danger. Why not compose a better sonnet than mine?

gz said...

I thought that you might have gone for the three wheeler type à la Tour de France cameramen and Marshall's.
Still, good that you are keeping going.
My compromise so far has been a single freewheel bike with a smaller gear than I rode on fixed wheel on NewForest clubruns fifty years ago!

Tom Stephenson said...

I passed my test on a Honda 50 twist and go. The next bike was a 1938 Triumph Tiger 80. The last was a Velocette Venom. I miss the smell of petrol on a hot afternoon, but I don't miss falling off.

Avus said...

RR:

I agree about the loss of that sense of immediacy. The quick and almost automatic snick down of a gear and the surge that the handful of throttle brought - especially with the BMW which had the torque to pull tree stumps! The gentle easing along of an automatic 125, gently and unnoticeably increasing its speed does not in any way compare. Although the visceral memory remains I would not want to ride the former these days.

I would dearly love a hand change veteran bike - but an electric start was never an option in the 1920's and kick starting a reluctant oldie would be absolutely impossible for this octogenarian. The modern scooter will serve for a while longer. It is odd how this person once held scooters in some contempt, but the Japs have gone towards changing all that with powerful 600cc scoots with larger diameter wheels and modern suspension to improve handling.

I am not a poet, but appreciate poetry and I quite like your effort. Don't know what you were riding at the time but I think "whining" could be a poor description of the noise an average bike makes. Perhaps "instant" to preserve the metre?

Avus said...

gz:

I watched some of the TdF and must confess that my interest was more in the marshals bikes than the actual cyclists (I never raced, preferring touring). I wonder what the point of those three wheelers, with two at the front. I suppose they will stand upright whilst getting off. I did actually carry cameramen for recording some long distance cycle races in the UK. Often they would sit backward on the pillion of the BMW , filming whilst I overtook the pelaton. It was good fun and I actually got paid for it!

Back in the 1950s I rode a Raleigh Record Ace (1948 vintage)on a high fixie, even competing in CTC roughstaff trials on it. I must have been a masochist.

Avus said...

Tom:
I remember my mother passed her test, age 50 on a Honda Cub. You obviously had taste with your choices of Tiger 80 and Velocette Venom. There's nothing like the "canal boat" beat of a big single.

The general idea is to keep them upright. Falling off should not be an option if possible....

Roderick Robinson said...

Avus: Verse does not necessarily describe (that's mainly the job of prose), more often it evokes. When one approaches a corner on a bike one changes down and the exhaust note rises in frequency as well as in amplitude. Many years ago I attended an F1 European Race of Champions at Brands Hatch won by the late and much lamented Gilles Villeneuve in a Ferrari. Admittedly these were high-revving engines but I was struck by the completely unexpected sound as racers changed down rushing up to the apex at Druids - a musical ping, ping, ping.

Another sonic example: when the five red lights switch on before the start of a modern F1 GP the drivers step on the gas. The resultant noise is closer to a human shriek than anything mechanical.

gz said...

On some of the cols on the TdF, the motorbikes could have difficulty going slow enough..they have been sending them up some stupidly steep gradients in all the Grand Tours

Dave said...

It looks good, an appropriate colour and a nice top box for bits and pieces. I often think of getting a small motorbike bike again but the volume of traffic and the speeds put me off. Those bikes with two wheels at the front have an appeal though and I imagine they are very good in city traffic. I'm sure you will have great fun with it.

Avus said...

Dave:

Yes it is a pretty, useful little thing, although I will never be able to sum up the pride of ownership that came with my "proper" motorcycles. Or the mechanical involvement, which I enjoy (ed). I have loved tinkering with engines and bike parts, it has been part of the enjoyment of owning bikes.

These modern scoots have been refined to the point that they are as reliable and anonymous as a modern car. No engine is on view (or even accessible) and it no longer has a conventional speedometer, but a computer screen giving an optical readout of speed, distance covered and current mileage.

But the sensation that comes with riding is preserved and I guess, at 81, it is perhaps an advantage not to have to get "down and dirty"!

Vita said...

What a fun looking new bike you've gotten yourself. I'm pleased you could find something that works for you. Himself says I could drive it, which is true, but the trouble I have is with stopping. Oh, well. But I'm happy for you, and look forward to a post about a ride on it.

Pam said...

Fifty seven?????

Avus said...

Vita:
Yes, the bike is fine, but my trouble at present is actually getting the miles in! What with bad weather and then a new month's "lock-down" due to the Covid virus. But the weather has improved - less rain and more sharp, bright, frosty mornings. We are "set free" again on December 2nd.

What's your stopping prob? This scoot has disk brakes back and front and I can kick down the prop stand as I come to a halt - that last has certainly helped any balance probs I had with the old one.

Pam:
You have been counting! Yes - the 57th bike. I guess it shows that some people are actually reading my blog.