History
I was looking at a bikes for my brother, who needed transport to get to work and he could ride a bike at 16 and 9 months, so much sooner than getting his car license.
I found this bike in a shop at Campbelltown and it did not take the guy long to get me to buy it. It looked just wonderful.
I was a uni student and so was away during the week. The bike was delivered home (at Camden) during the week. I arrived home late Friday and there it was in our garage.
This was when I realised I had no idea how the controls worked. My dad had had BSAs back in the 50's but when he was showing me he pointed to lever on the side of the engine and said, " that looks like a gear lever. The brakes should be there."
I looked the offending device and said, "How do you change gears with that?" He told me that you pushed up and down, but he had no idea where 1st gear was.
We played with it a while started the engine a few times and fiddled with everything that looked interesting. My dad went to the house about a 10 pm. I stayed a decided I could work out the gears. I put the bike on the centre stand and started the engine. I pulled in the clutch and pushed the lever down. Releasing the clutch, the wheel began to move. I pulled the clutch and pulled the lever up. The wheel turned faster. I had it sorted. Down was first and he others gears were up.
By about 11 30 I could take it no longer. I opened the garage door started the bike and rode off down our street. It was a short street and a steep down hill to a T intersection. I kept the bike in 1st and descended the hill. At the bottom I turned left and accelerated. Changed gears and accelerated, change again and faster. The air was cold and the bike was noisy. It vibrated everywhere I was touching it. With no helmet, the cold burned my eyes and the wind whistled in my long hair. I was in heaven It was the most exciting thing I had experienced. I was instantly addicted to motorcycles.
Faster and faster I went, until I neared the end of the road, (about 600m). I looked down the see where the hand brake was and as I did I saw the speedo fall past 80 mph. My car would not do 80mph. The bike did it in less than 1 km.
This ride is burned in my memory. The bike was fast and exciting. It was also rather frightening. I needed to respect the power. I still ride today. A little slower now and much more relaxed than in my youth. It never lost that magic. I hope it never does.
