the great comeback.....

[philoldsmobil...]

Well, that may be selling it a little larger than life.

a little background.

My name is Phil, and I'm a life long petrol head, cars bikes boats, you name it, i love it. I had bikes from the second I was old enough to ride a bike (no 50's for me, waited on good advice to get a 125 at age 17) Fortunately supportive parents never once objected to me having a bike, as my father - a life long professional driver of the very highest skill thought it better to take me under his wing and keep things sane, that wait until it was beyond his control and kill myself.

I actually gained my license before either dad or my brother (we all learned on the same Honda 125!) and got a lot of miles under my belt on may bikes. As a kid of the 80's I always loved top gun, and the 'darth vader' style GPz's

Fast forward a couple of year to the late 90's (97 i think) when dad had passed his test a year before, and outgrown his 250 superdream. Out in the town one evening, I stopped by the local dealer (Bob king, in Bedford) and saw the perfect thing - an 87 GPz 550. Dad was looking for a bigger bike, and this sleek, stylish bike fitted the bill perfectly. I duly reported back, and dad went to have a look, promptly falling in love, and buying it there and then.

Fast forward a decade, and dad has had a huge amount of enjoyment from the Kawa, sometimes two up with mum on the back, sometimes an idle Sunday afternoon to nowhere. Dad finally retired from the civil service (he was a driving examiner) and took part time work for a mental care home, driving their minibus ( he also has a PSV license)

This new job involved far more miles, as it was in the country, and he would be doing the trip four times a day (four hour lunch break) The decision was made that a bike would be a perfect summer commuter, but the GPz was by now a little old and tired for the job. An amazingly slick plan diverting dad from the house to set up for his 60th birthday saw him at Keep Biking in Brackley (great guys) where he saw a strategically placed pre reg Bandit 600. he fell in love and duly bought the bike, choosing not to PX the gpz, as it would have bought in very little.

The surprise for me was still to come, the beautiful (if tired) gpz was given to me!!!! Dad knew what a soft spot I had for the ol' Duchess, and knew it would be cherished, and a signature on the reg document later it was mine. In light of this fantastic gift, i stripped the bike, and rebuilt her to show winning standard, and it remained a very personal prized possession.

There were tough times, moving from the parental home coincided with the banking crisis, and a loss of a huge amount of overtime from work - to the tune of £10k per year wiped out of my wages. Despite these tough times, i hung on to the GPz, even though it had to live in the garage in limbo for a couple of years.

Fast forward a little, I changed careers, got back on track, and this spring (well june 1st) had the Ol' Duchess MOT'd taxed and back on the road. the sun was out, the birds were singing, and my house mate was heavily pregnant (not mine I hasten to add)

I stayed at my parents place for a few days while she went into labour to give her and her fiancé some privacy with their new son. That weekend saw clear blue skies, and a lot of miles of truly blissful miles on the GPz, truly it had been worth the pain of seeing her in storage rather than selling her - at this stage the bike was running and looking like new.

Tuesday morning came along, and I was going home on the GPz, back to Milton Keynes. With the sun out, I headed down the A428 towards Milton Keynes, with expectations of a memorable ride down the A422 - i'd done it many times before.

Traffic was moderate, and heading out of Bedford, i had to stop momentarily for a car a couple ahead of me to turn into the golf club.

Then it happened............

There was an explosion, it sounded like a gas explosion from the large houses on the left. I was just about to look to the left to see what had happened when there was a thump the likes of which i will never be able to explain. All I could see was blue sky and tree tops - i'd been hit, and HARD.

I landed, got up and gathered my thoughts. It was obvious from the line of wreckage what had happened - the car behind me had been hit by someone who flat out didn't brake - estimates say he hit the rear of the car behind me at 50 mph. he was thrown into me, bending the GPz frame in three places, and rendering it a cat B write off ( I was thrown over 30 feet down the road) - the car behind me then going on the hit a pickup in front of me hard enough to end up shaped more like a banana. the sickening thing? this was exactly 7 days after she was first put back on the road from storage.

In the blink of an eye, my irreplaceable GPz was gone. As shallow as it sounds, i am forced to admit to an 'unmanly moment' in the car leaving the salvage yard where i viewed the bike - it was obvious puppy wasn't gonna be coming home.

This left a dilemma. I saw a lovely FZR 600 on ebay at Padgetts, stunning condition, and a model I had always loved, but after some deep thought it was decided it was too similar to the GPz - the next bike had to be different.

As an ardent Alfa Romeo fan, and loving my Alfa 166 to the very core, I decided to go with something I have lusted after for years, a Ducati.

Ebay soon yielded fruit - a 98 900SS i.e. for a bargain price, the flaw? it was in Oban, Scotland, well over 500 miles away. The sellers loss was my gain, he got no bids, and it was obvious he needed to sell. £1400 later she was mine.

Long story (slightly) shorter, the ride home was an experience, but torrential rain, an extreme riding position and butt ache later saw her at home, 529 miles later, not missing a beat. (slightly dodgy starter button aside)

So there we are, the Duke is sensational, and puts a slightly comforting end to the tale of the one that got away.The GPz will never be replaceable, as it holds too many memories, but we have a new toy, and I'm loving every minuet of it.https://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m91/philoldsmobile/IMAG0015.jpg

https://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m91/philoldsmobile/IMAG0121.jpg?t=1307620045

https://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m91/philoldsmobile/IMAG0012.jpg

https://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m91/philoldsmobile/IMAG0171.jpg

[The Artist]

Hi there,

no need to press submit more than once though.

[philoldsmobil...]

oops... not sure what happened there, it took forever to load...

[sulphur]

That was actually quite a decent read.

My wifes step brother lives in Oban, bloody lovely place. You must've had some incredible views on pick up.

IMO, that's gutsy buying a bike that far away and riding it straight home. Alot of faith in an old duke.

Bloody nice bike though.

[philoldsmobil...]

[sulphur]

Sounds like that day was quite a test. Glad everything's ok though. I miss Scotland, but I will go back alot once I get a bike sorted out. Moved down to Manchester 8yr ago, so alot of my 'first time' touring is going to be back home. =)

How was the duke for such a journey? Did you do it straight or have half hour breaks on each fill up? Curiously, what mpg did you get coming back?

[Frost]

Sorry but i'm too drunk to read all that, but i've got to say that's a heart breaking end to a beautiful beautiful bike.

[philoldsmobil...]

[philoldsmobil...]

[Frost]

To be honest the numbers on that site are pretty dubious.

[chris-red]

[philoldsmobil...]

I did wonder......

I know the GPz was rare though, I never did see another on the road. Parking it at the ace cafe always got a lot of attention.

[Chalky.]

Great write up bud.

[philoldsmobil...]

[philoldsmobil...]

[CHR15]

[philoldsmobil...]

my landlords cars...

on the left, 1958 caddy sedan de ville, on the right, 83 Chevy Camaro (i used to have one too, mine was an 86, though pretty much the same)

I walked away from yank cars after a disastrous 96 mustang with just 23,000 miles on the clock. the biggest automotive turd the world had ever seen. pretty, but appalling..

[Fairies attack]

Tef, won't be happy with the length of that post.

[Freaky_1]

Good read!

Sad to see such a thing of beauty gone to the world. That's one bike I've been trying to corral into my personal bike stable for years. I've yet to get close enough to break the whip

[garth]

I used to have a 900ss i.e.

Lose a tooth off the front sprocket.

Worst town bike ever, but a brilliant sweeping A road bike.
____________________
You ain't a has been if you never was

[Frost]

[philoldsmobil...]