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I guess I should start:
I was born in the ’70s and my family did not have a huge income, my mum was training to be a teacher in my young childhood. I was a very innocent kid as most are below 4ys old. My old man had a CB250 that he used to commute to work on, I’d always be waiting at the bottom of the road when he got home and he would sit me on the tank and ride me up the road, I think I was always destined to love motorbikes and when in town the local Harley chapter would ride through on mass with their pipes singing the v-twin song echoing off the buildings, I’d just stop in my tracks and grin as they rode past, transfixed by the noise, smell and chrome.
My parents split when I was 10, life wasn’t that ace and I had issues at school, I started failing everything at school and hardly ever went. My mum wasn’t well and had to stop working so I went to live with my old man and although I wasn’t keen on it my life had a chance of being turned around from the path it was possibly facing. Again, money wasn’t great and my dad even had a paper-round to put some cash in his pocket yet he still blew my mind on my 16th birthday when he told me to go down to the garage to open my birthday present. It was a Honda MT-5, I was utterly in shock.
He couldn’t afford to kit me out as well as get the bike so he lent me his old motorbike lid from when he commuted 12+ years previously, it had a cork lining, didn’t fit and was heavier than my bike lol
he also lent me some fireman’s wellies that were way too big and a pair of massive gauntleted gloves…. I must have looked a right bloody state but I was mobile, I had a motorbike and the most awesome dad in the world!I still utterly flunked school so my old man dragged me off to college to get some basic GCSEs in the hope it would get me a better chance in life, I really didn’t want to go as my only experience of education had been teachers that didn’t care and daily bullying. I went all the same and spent the first day avoiding eye contact and trying to look mean lol, it didn’t fool anyone though and by the end of my first week I had made friends with an awesome bunch of lads, some of which I am still in contact with today. We got up to a fair bit of mischief but on the whole they were a good bunch and we only brushed with the local plod occasionally.
I left college with a couple of passes but still nothing to get me anywhere other than minimum wage. I did work though off and on, mainly when my old man moaned at me or if I needed something doing on my bikes. None of my other mates rode so I only ever went out by myself but I really enjoyed buzzing around and leading the lasses astray taking them pillion in the hope they were impressed…. and most seemed to be…. man, good times! :p Anyhows, I progressed through the bikes and had a job that paid well enough for me to buy a new Ducati 750 Monster as an import (I actually went out to buy a Corsa but came home with the Monster lol) And WOW, what a bike, the lasses seemed to like it too.
After a few years in that job it looked like the place may fold and work became quieter and quieter so I started weighing up my options. I had thought about the Army in the past but it didn’t do anything for me at this point, the RAF would have been cool…. if only I hadn’t flunked school… so the Royal Navy it was. I went to the careers office and told them I liked submarines and engineering…. their eyes lit up and they tested me, I passed all the engineer tests except math which they were really pleased and also surprised as my qualifications didn’t reflect how I’d done in the tests, they were however unable to take me on without some actual qualifications and told me to come back when I had some.
I was working 3 jobs and going to 2 colleges for a year, clearing some debts and sorting my GCSEs, they told me I had to sell the Ducati as I owed too much on it and wouldn’t be able to afford the payments so begrudgingly it got sold.
I joined the RN in 2001 as an Artificer and they streamed me to Weapon Engineering, this had a fast promotion ladder and as I was also drafted to subs meant I had a fair chunk of disposable income so after splitting with a lass (who hated motorbikes) I got myself a new 1050cc Triumph Speedtriple.
I still rode by myself as didn’t have any mates into bikes until one crappy day in a thunderstorm with torrential rain I met a lass up Bury Hill who had a gixer 750. My life has not been the same since!
I wanted to hook up with her but she was never interested in me that way but we still lived out each other’s pockets and were best mates doing (almost) everything together. She was my one constant with being drafted to Cornwall and then to Faslane in Scotland, I always had my best mate to come home to.I turned to sportsbikes and trackdays and even though on my first trackday I ended up breaking my back and pelvis I had never to that point had so much fun in my life…. I considered trying racing but had no delusions to my ability so stuck with trackdays. As with all things though other priorities take over and although I took (my current) bike around Europe and Brands Hatch I found myself riding less and less. The Guzzi and the Ducati barely turned a wheel, I considered selling them and hanging up my leathers for good.
I was still a thrill seeker though and after doing a tandem parachute jump in Australia when visiting a mate I thought that would be my new thing so I went to Spain and learnt to freefall skydive. I passed amy AFF levels 1-8 and was in the process of finishing my consolidation jumps which would have allowed me to get my licence and I had a hard landing which grounded me for the rest of my time there and due to time constraints on completing the jumps I was unable to finish the rest of them. I am still having issues from the last landing and however much I loved the freefall and canopy work I have given myself a fear of the landings.
After having mopped around wanting to but yet not wanting to continue with the sport I turned to my dusty Moto Guzzi V7 towards the end of last summer and set to getting it back on the road and giving it a makeover. It is almost there now and I am well and truly loving being back in the saddle.
I have a youtube channel where I post gaming and airsoft videos and loved editing them even if no one really watched them much so it seemed natural to start doing the same on the bike which is what got me here to this spot in time.
Great piece Pete, wasn’t your old man a star…good to put some meat on the bones of your ‘back-story’. You have shared a lot of your adventures on here over the years and your posts are always popular.
Right best get scribbling on mine!
Great piece Pete, wasn’t your old man a star…good to put some meat on the bones of your ‘back-story’. You have shared a lot of your adventures on here over the years and your posts are always popular.
Right best get scribbling on mine!
My dad did the most amazing self sacrifice and I didn’t even know he was doing it. His act of getting me on 2 wheels shaped me into the (good) man I am today. And yeah that is subjective, but I look around me and yes, compared to the folk even in my street, I am a good man.
Even if sometimes I am not, my dad should be proud of how he brought me up!
Great piece Pete, wasn’t your old man a star…good to put some meat on the bones of your ‘back-story’. You have shared a lot of your adventures on here over the years and your posts are always popular.
Right best get scribbling on mine!
My dad did the most amazing self sacrifice and I didn’t even know he was doing it. His act of getting me on 2 wheels shaped me into the (good) man I am today. And yeah that is subjective, but I look around me and yes, compared to the folk even in my street, I am a good man.
Even if sometimes I am not, my dad should be proud of how he brought me up!I have to agree Pete to be fair.
he also lent me some fireman’s wellies that were way too big and a pair of massive gauntleted gloves…. I must have looked a right bloody state but I was mobile, I had a motorbike and the most awesome dad in the world!
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