Bikes entered my life when I was about 10. My dad had a mint Z900 and we used to go everywhere on it together. He bought me an old motocross bike and I was hooked. I enjoyed riding it, but as much as riding it, I just enjoyed owning a bike. I raced a bit of schoolboy motocross, did okay but not great. I didn’t care though, there was just something about owning a bike, knowing that I had my own bike tucked away in the garage that I really liked. I used to spend hours sitting outside my parents house waiting for bikes to go by.
When I left school I didn’t want to ride a scooter or some weedy 50cc bike on the road, I was so used to riding and racing properly quick motocross bikes that it was too frustrating being stuck at 30mph, so I just kept the crosser and got on with learning a trade. Friends of mine that rode 50cc bikes seemed to get bored of biking within a year or so, then they would buy a car whereas I didn’t bother riding for the sake of riding. If I wanted to ride I would take my 250 two-stroke up the woods and get a fix.
Before I knew it I was 20, I’d owned a string of off-road bikes but had developed a fairly unhealthy obsession with roadbikes. I had stacks of magazines, knew the tech spec of pretty much everybike on the road but still hadn’t got round to passing my test. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t one of those guys that would arrive at a bike show in a car and then pull a jacket and helmet from the boot to wear while they walked round. I was, and am, a biker, I just don’t have a licence.
My serial bike buying habit started when I spotted a clean Bandit 6 for sale on eBay, I knew that it was going cheap and that I could sell it for a profit. I stuck a set of Renthal bars on it and made £250 on that bike in two days. Problem was I didn’t really want to sell it once I bought it. I kept the next bike I bought for nearly a year, It was a ‘T’ plate ZX-6R that I bought off a mate for £500. It had failed an MOT and was looking tired so I sorted all the bits on it, and then just left it covered in the garden. Whenever I had a chance I would get it out and start it up, check it was okay then put it away again. In the end I sold it on for £1,200.
It is really hard not to ride the bikes, but for the most part I have managed not to. The thought of getting pulled before I have even tried to pass my test is enough to keep me in check, though I have had the odd mad ride after watching Superbikes on a Sunday. Sometimes I just can’t help myself, but even then I van them to a local industrial estate where I know there won’t be any traffic. My mates thought I was nuts, the way I saw it was the money I would waste on a test could be better spent on a bike, there are so many bargains knocking around I hate the thought of missing out on them!
I had to downsize my motocross bikes as my roadbike fascination grew. I have a Speed Triple, I paid £2,000 for that to a guy in Wales. I also have the B1H ZX-6R 636. I wanted one the first time I saw them but couldn’t afford to buy one. I saw a guy filling this one up at a petrol station, left him my number when he said he didn’t want to sell it and left it at that. Two months later he called and I bought it for three grand. I love the feeling I get when I stumble across a bargain, from the moment I phone up to see if the bike is still for sale, I don’t feel satisfied until I am staring at it in my garage. I am going to keep the ZX-6R until I pass my test, whenever that is. I have already spent a small fortune on the dyno getting it set up.
If you tried to define what a biker is the simplest answer would be someone that rides bikes. I do ride bikes so I class myself as a biker. People that think I am a bit strange are welcome to their opinion, I already know I’m a bit strange so thanks for the confirmation.
Am I addicted to buying bikes? Of course I am, aren’t we all! I know I will pass my test one day, I’m just not in a rush, it’s money that could be spent on another bike, and it won’t prove that I love them any more than I do right now.
