THE BIKES



Judy's new Kawasaki ER5 - 500cc Twin.
Notice the slinky biker-chick armoured outfit - and black leather tank cover - to match that tough-as-nails stare!
Bob just keeps a meek-'n-low profile nowadays 'cos Judy's obviously the boss!


 
 

Here's little Judy - first learning to ride on a nice little Kawasaki 125 2-stroke, puttering around in the grounds
of the power station. She took all of 4 whole minutes to get the hang of gearchanging using your foot, then
she was away! The duty cops used to come out to cheer her on. Bob wondered what he'd done!



 


...and here she is at the bike-riding school near Bangor with her chum Christine, the Owner/Instructor.
In the photograph below, you'll note that Judy has just developed a headache, while the gormless chap on the
other bike's trying to work out what them handlebar wotsits are for.... this is test day.


And her first-time bike test pass! (She was completely unbearable after this of course -
"Bob, clean my bike will you?" "Bob, can you get the bikes out. I think we'll go for a spin"
"Bob, you've left your indicators on ... again"  
Aaarghh .... women!
(Amazingly, mister gormless passed too. That test must've been really hard then)



 

  But this was where it all really started to go horribly wrong - when the instructor
 let  Madame have a 'quick go' on one of the school's powerful 500cc machines.

That was it - herself was hooked. You can keep the weedy little 125cc
two stroke. Judy wants a proper bike.

Note the manic grin! (right)

Hence the photograph of the new Kawasaki at the top of this page. (sigh)

The dratted thing's (sadly) a lot quicker than Bob's geriatric museum
piece - which is probably why Bob 'borrows' it a lot when he needs
to pop out to get spares............ 

As our Transatlantic cousins say, "Go Figure!" <grin>

 

 

Bob's restored '84 Honda Silver Wing GL Interstate
Ok, so maybe it's not a Norton Dominator or a Triumph Bonneville - but hey! I'm looking at the blunt end
of sixty in a few year's time. This Honda has electric start, heated handlebars and a handy shed bolted
on the front for when it's chilly (which is most of the time nowadays).

 
Bob found this bike on the internet, languishing in a bike graveyard near Birmingham - (The bike, that is - not Bob)

This kicked off a year of hunting obsolete bike parts, joining the owner's club and spending hours with his snout buried in the E-Bay website for obscure engine bits.
 
After a year of taking it apart, rebuilding it, re-chroming the flaky bits, respraying the tatty bits and hours of polishing the alloy, its nearly back to its former glory.
Note the nice sensible handlebars and the comfy
windscreen. It's known locally as "Bob's wheelchair". Hmph! The cheek of some folks, eh?
   
Finally, back on the road, and the local lanes echo (apparently) to "the forgotten sound of this big loping vee-twin". Beautiful.
All Bob needs now is somewhere to stash his slippers ..............

 

 

STOP PRESS!

 

New Toy Alert ....

'94 660cc Skorpion

Click here to return to the homepage