Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

Bloody hell, that’s sort of impressive. Hope the bikes not too badly sprained.

I did the other crank seal last night. It was a right bloody pain, 4.5hrs of skinned knuckles and cursing for what should take a couple of hours. Better bloody work!

Good thinking, ill have a look in glasgow at places.

This was a few years back. He sold it and gave up bikes. Wife not amused. He was always a pompous prick, so he muttered about setting his corporate legal team on Ducati GB, because it was all the bike's fault for not running smooth enough while it was warming up.

Tbf I did something almost as daft with a 2 day old RSV. I'd made a ramp from scaffolding planks so I could ride out of the garden, which was 2 feet lower than the street. The ramp was narrow and not exactly grippy and I fucked up. The following week I left the bike outside my house with the keys in. The local kids then rode it all around their estate, up and down walkways etc, while pursued by the police. The kids were more skilled than me, and didn't drop it, so I got the bike back unharmed, except for the scratches I'd made falling off my ramp.

I know of RDs that were bought from the continent for certain clips or bits that you can't get any more. Then the bikes were sold on minus the bits. It was these bits that made the bike perfect.

Happens alot, because people forget the side stand pops up.

Haha - that's classic.

My mate holds the patent on random carnage - he once did a full on, clutch dump wheelspin launch off the pavement without realizing he was chained to another bike.

To me, it’s a genuine classic. I’m now of an age where RDs, GSXs, CBXs etc were my dream bikes as a youth. The 400-4s were probably before my time although I remember them. The 400-4 is like a vintage bike to me which I haven’t much interest in but the bikes mentioned appeal to me a lot. It’s an age thing!

Did lol.

Have I mentioned the sick wheelie that wasn’t quite intentional the other day?

I keep forgetting not to rev the bike when hitting the starter. I’ve only stalled it maybe twice since buying 2 months ago, so my muscle memory is still on dirt bikes. When it happened last week in Weston Super Mare with another biker behind me was hilarious.

Went to pull away from the lights, missed the biting point and stalled. So I hit the starter, blip throttle like I’m on the DR. Revs climb hard. Slip the clutch fast only to realise the front wheel is hopping sharp into the air, grab clutch again.

Did this three times in quick succession trying to find the point then full dump the clutch, front wheel up in the air, handlebar wiggle and front comes down with a thud as I accelerate down the road.

Splendid work! I miss a good traffic light GP. They were an absolute staple of London riding when I was a yoof. More than two bikes at a light, it was on. Usually accompanied by the signature, courier right leg drag....(which was an oddly terrible bit of technique but seemingly ubiquitous for anyone on circuit.)

It was a little bit like this for a fair few yards.

When we got to the bike-park by the beach, the guy who’d been following me said “you’re a good rider!” I just laughed, thankful the front wheel hit the ground straight.

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400-4 is the fastest bike in the world ever. True fact.

As a small kid, I was taken up and down the road whilst sitting on the 400-4 tank and holding on to the handlebars. Felt like the fastest speed I had ever been.... with the wind in my hair.

Nothing has ever felt that fast since, and loved motorbikes since.

When we got to the bike-park by the beach, the guy who’d been following me said “you’re a good rider!” I just laughed, thankful the front wheel hit the ground straight.

Ha love this. We've all had moments like that I'm sure. Talking of 400s, I often miss my ZXR.

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Would love a little crotch rocket. Like that ZXR <3

That's a cracker. Proper shell suit graphics.

My sis loved the 400s - she had a couple of NC30s, a ZXR and then a series of tuned FZRs. 14k rpm everywhere. Shame they've got so pricey!

Was only £500 a few years ago, I don't even want to look at prices now. Like you say something very satisfying about using all of the power available although I'd argue 400cc can still scare you!

Yours looks absolutely immaculate (I'm sensing a theme here!)

I used to grumble the power delivery was a bit featureless but you could get going bloody quickly. I preferred the two strokes, which really weren't any faster but felt more exciting. It's amazing how little power you need to have fun with a light bike that handles well.

You must be a bit younger than me. I remember seeing a new 400/4 around 1976 ish in yellow. Nice bike. I do not dislike them but, I was trying to say, it’s outside of my ‘want to have’ list which starts early 80’s. Hard to explain what I mean by writing it down.

When I was with Addy Lee we'd have a race after Friday night in the pub. Well, not so much a race as a challenge to do the widest possible mass slalom, weaving across all lanes. Can't think why nobody died. Once we kept it going all the way from Charing Cross to Finsbury Park

Love it. A mate of mine stuck one of their GT550s under the back of a lorry in Shepherds Bush a couple of days after joining. Couriering was so much fun.

Kind of. There were so many crashes that about once a week you could expect to do a pick up at the scene of another rider's accident. Maybe his bike would be there and you'd raid his topbox. Maybe there'd just be some broken glass or a puddle of radiator fluid and you'd pick up from someone who was looking after the package.

And once a day, I kid you not, you'd see the aftermath of some random biker's crash. A commuter or a scooter rider, strapped on to a stretcher with one of those neck stabilising straps. Everyone believed that 3 couriers per week were dying in London. Which sounds impossible, but there were so many of us. This was before email.

When you were waiting at the lights at a big junction there might be 6 or 8 other couriers alongside. At lunchtime the pedestrians would come out in force in the West End and fail to get out of the road before the light went green. So some of us would go down the left and some down the right, trapping the pedestrians in the middle of the road. The best place for that was outside John Lewis.

Sounds about right. So many laughs though and the characters. I remember one epic complaint over the box to a guy we worked with called dirty Mickey, ordering him back to an account near old street that was threatening to close unless he came back to repair the pebble dashing he’d given their bog. Another fella called Andy Attack who claimed to have been declared insane. All the racing…jeez. I crashed so many times, more often than not just showing off.

Dirty Mickey!! The thimg which made me laugh the most was that we had the Issey Miyake account, and the controller would always pronounce it Itchin' My Arsehole. Tears of laughter, every time. And shuttling lobsters between restaurants. The chef just popped them in the topbox. When I stopped at the lights I could hear them trying to get out. And crashing in Trafalgar Square when it had just been washed. I heard cheering and there were 2 other riders sitting there with a coffee, watching. They'd also just crashed. Happy days. Oh, and delivering to Jonathan King. He answered the door in his dressing gown and invited me in. It was very disappointing that only men seemed to have a despatch rider fantasy. I had a nap once on a quiet day and woke up to find Jimmy Somerville standing there staring at me.

Damn, I feel like there’s a book or a series of interviews in what you’re all saying. Unless it’s already been done?

Yours looks absolutely immaculate (I'm sensing a theme here!)

It had 55k miles on the clock, but yeah guilty, I do like fixing my bikes up. I also want to hear more from Courier Corner, these stories are all gold.

The first bike I ever couriered on was a c90 I got from my uncle. At 17 it was, literally the only thing I could afford to get commercial insurance on. In an effort to bolster performance I used to fit the used Dunlop KR364 tyres off my race bike. While the leading link front suspension mandated a somewhat esoteric riding style, in no time I was absolutely earholing it everywhere. Pegs down, hanging off like a chimp.

On a scorching Friday afternoon, I was heading out to W6 from the west end. Bowling down the mall, I flicked left at Buck house, then right, flat in top to head towards Victoria. Mid corner, bouncing and scraping, I spotted a line of diesel, just as a cab drifted left to push me right over it. The front folded completely for a second but much to my amazement, came back. The back, however had other ideas and whipped around so fast the next thing I knew I was way up in the air over the high side and landing on my back in the middle of the road.

As I lay there, completely winded, an armed cop came running over - he was shouting at me to keep still and trying to direct traffic around me. I was trying to tell him, I was fine but it was taking a longer than expected to get my puff back. Eventually we figured out that aside from a gashed knee and sore ribs, I was alright. So he held the bike while I kicked the footrests straight and set off again.

C90s are indeed the cockroaches of the motorcycle kingdom.