A Triumph

I smile every time I look at my new T120 Bonneville, I nod when I read about it being such a great bike, and I do an impersonation of Sid James laughing when I think of how it has out retro’d the latest incarnation of the very bike that kicked its predecessors into touch all those years ago. The Kawasaki Z900rs is a great bike, but it's not the greatest at being what it's supposed to be, not now. After 50 years, that title must surely go back to Triumph. 

Built in India - letter to Motorcycle Sport & Leisure

 

What a great article that was about the Norton Commando 961 in July's MSL. And what a great bike the Norton is. And how great is the whole retro bike scene, allowing as it does the style and feel of those old bikes without the reality of true authenticity. ABS, electric start, oil tight and reliable, what’s not to like?

There are plenty of people like me out there ready to buy them, these new old bikes – except that I won’t be. Well, not one made by an Indian company. And sadly, that means no new Norton me. Why, because it’s not British? Certainly not, Norton's Indian owners are preserving an iconic name in motorcycling, for which we should be very grateful. Because there are yellow upside down forks with orange reflectors stuck on them? Nope, that’s just a sign of the times, and they are there for the simple reason the bike must exist in the now.

It's because I absolutely refuse to do anything that supports the Russian economy. The longer the war in Ukraine goes on, the more we will suffer. The quicker sanctions work, the quicker we can get back to some sort of normality. By importing Russian crude, India is funding Putin’s war, prolonging the agony of Ukraine and threatening life in the West. I know it’s complicated, and I am fully prepared to except that I have little if no understanding of energy markets. But the principle stands – give nothing to Russia other than that which is absolutely necessary. India can source oil elsewhere, as it has in the past, it should continue to do so now. I also appreciate that this might not be the sort of material for a magazine dedicated to the true enjoyment of motorcycling. But these are difficult times, and not just for Europe - we all should be aware of the importance and consequences of the choices we make, and what is ultimately at stake.

So, there won’t be a new Norton in my garage, or a Royal Enfield Continental GT 650, the other modern classic on my ‘must have’ list. Maybe they’ll be sold to someone in Moscow instead. It’ll have to be the Gold Star, on the basis that it’s another iconic classic British motorcycle available for us to buy - Oh, hang on... .

 

Letter to Bike magazine - Oct 2020

 

This is the Z1000ST (FLA 476T) I bought direct from Kawasaki, Slough, a few months after it was tested by Bike back in 1979. It was simply wonderful, and from the sweet spot in bike history between awful and silly; tiny and Tupperware. Comfortable but not unwieldy, uncluttered and with a bulletproof motor – and believe me, like most 23 year-olds, I knew how to fire bullets at an engine – it did everything you could possibly want a bike to do. I can’t deny that motorcycle ABS has probably been the most significant safety feature since the introduction of the front brake but there was nothing like riding one of these uncomplicated superbikes, just you, the road, and the perfect machine.

 

Bike is still as good, though.  Fewer dolly birds advertising nylon over suits or draped over a Ducati 900 and the writing’s still very entertaining and informative.  However, the silencers on the ST were shot within a year and, of course, as an ex-demo there was no warranty. Did you wash it properly when you had it?

 

Letter to The Times

India's Independence

Sir, I wish to announce that in 2022,  to commemorate 75 years since India's Independence, and to celebrate my 66th birthday and the receipt of a state pension, I shall be buying a Royal Enfield Bullet. Once British, this motorcycle is now built in India but has changed little since 1948, except that it now boasts a modern control system and would probably get you to the moon and back.

Letter to the i newspaper (published 10.8.2018)

Although, in her article(the i newspaper 9.8.2018), Sharon George highlighted the need for standardised materials for single use plastic and saw one solution to the plastics problem in consumers taking their own containers to shops so they can be reused, there is another important aspect to single use.

Single use is a term coined by industry, and nothing has to be single use, as Sharon mentioned. If standardisation involved shape as well as material, used food containers could easily be collected and reassigned to become the packets of screws you by at B&Q, or any other non food item that inevitably comes wrapped in plastic. All plastic containers should have many lives before they're considered for recycling.

i newspaper 11.8.2018