I'm trying to deny all responsibility for that little yellow Mini parked up over there

Posted by admin · · Jump to comments

I'm trying to deny all responsibility for that little yellow Mini parked up over there.I'm sitting indoors cooling off, when an kind-faced old chap comes in to pick up his leathers He's talking about his bike He's saying it's no good on the motorway "It was designed for the North Circular," he says "It only wants to go at 55 I can push it up to 80, for overtaking. Hence the demise of the British motorcycle industry.I must admit I'm intimidated at first. What am I doing here, pulling up in a Mini? I know nothing about bikes And bikers always had a certain reputation Well, they just look hard in all that black leather. I quickly get out and cross the forecourt to get a cup of tea, hoping that as few of them as possible have seen the connection.

The other riders call these "plastic rockets" or "plastic missiles" The British bike owners call them "Jap Scrap". Which is ironic given that these bikes always were more efficient - faster and more reliable - than their British equivalents. Harley-Davidsons, with their distinctive, low-slung shape, the epitome of American cool Japanese bikes. These are customised monsters, really cut-down cars with handlebars instead of a steering wheel. Old British bikes - Nortons, Triumphs, BSAs, lovingly restored, gorgeously polished BMWs, all growling efficiency Trikes.

But now, and for the weekends at least, it's the Ace Cafe again, once more a hangout for bikers.Last year saw the highest motorcycle sales for 12 years. In all, 120,416 bikes were sold, a 36 per cent rise over the previous year Biking is back, and in a big way More teenagers are riding bikes More women More young men. And - surprisingly perhaps - more older men too, men in their forties or fifties, greying, balding, going back to biking after all these years, or taking to bikes for the first time, looking for something "out- there" they no longer find in their ordinary lives These are the "born- again" bikers A phenomenon.I pull into the side road next door to the Ace I don't want to risk trying to park up in the car park Too many bikes Rows and rows of them, gleaming in the sunlight Every kind of bike. They drove whatever cars they could afford, to work and back After that the cafe building had a variety of other uses Recently it was a tyre place It still is a tyre place in the week. The few bikers left on the road, the old-fashioned sort - the diehards - were seen as an anachronism, as faintly ludicrous somehow Most of the Lads had settled down They had jobs, wives, mortgages.