I started riding motorcycles when I was 16 (youngest age for a licence in the UK at the time) and have been on a motorcycle ever since. My main interests are in road riding and speedway (as a spectator not as a competitor).
During the 60s I was what was know as a 'Rocker', though we only ever called ourselves 'The Lads', and spent most of my spare time with my mates either at Chelsea Bridge in London, or Box Hill in Surrey. In the winter we tended to hibernate in one of the many transport cafes that studded England at that time. Time was divided between racing the bikes, chatting up the 'birds' or just telling tall stories. Many thought that we were a danger to ourselves, but in all honesty the biggest danger to our health came from the noxious fluid that the cafe owners sold to us as tea. I did not meet my wife at a bike hang-out, but she had been brought up correctly and was one of the 'Sydcup Bypass' mob, spending a lot of her time at Johnsons cafe near Brands Hatch in Kent. Interestingly, even in NZ I can spot one of the Lads at a motorcycle rally: even if he no longer wears a studded black leather jacket, he will still have white sea socks over the top of his jack boots!
I have written a semi-autobiographical novel about my years as a Rocker called, 'Just for Kicks'. Click here for extracts and details of how to order it.
I have owned many different motorcycles, my current machines are a 2006 Daytona 675 Triumph and a 1993 Triumph Trident with a sidecar. One of my sons owns a Moto Guzzi . The other two sons ride Jappers, which I did too for many years, but they are bland uninteresting buzz-boxes really.
The following are some good motorcycle links:
Jack Lilley, the world's top Triumph retailer
NZ - Home of Britten Motorcycles 