Killa's biking history *part 1*

[killa]

I thought I’d do this not just for you guys but also something for me to look back onto in the future.
I don’t write many posts about biking, but I'm hoping this will interest some of you.
Oh and I’ve done this in parts, so if I don’t get much response or you don’t like it, I won’t post anymore.

Take from it what you will, this is…

Killa’s biking history

August 1999, year 8, Cleeve School, Bishops Cleeve. UK.

My folks had just moved into a larger house, although a bit of an upgrade for them, I lost my neighbourhood pals and was now out in the sticks with only a bus to get me to and from the town. My Dad was the one who suggested getting me mobile and having been a childhood fan of TV shows like A-Team, Knight Rider, Dukes of Hazard and the like, I was pretty obsessed with American cars. I hadn't considered bikes before but his suggestion got me hooked on the idea.

One could only dream at the age of 15 about owning motorbikes, it did seem back then that bikes were a secondary mode of transport and literally only dreams of the poor and toys for the rich.
In class we’d look for bikes on the internet and talk about what we were going to buy when we were old enough and what we would modify when we do.
My dream bike at the time was the red/black NC30 with the red wheels and top speed of 130mph, for me it was absolutely stunning, I thought I’d never own something so iconic.

https://www.bikechatforums.com/files/haynes-3496-cover.jpg

I had my eye on off road bikes, they seemed like the affordable machine for a teenager and had a very bad boy look about them. Influenced by the film Terminator 2 and John Conners bike, the CR80

https://www.bikechatforums.com/files/b41f2e275fca749da5110ef7286472ac.jpg

One of the pupils in my year appeared on a SFX50, short, stocky, with sotrage space and a cool crusing speed. You could stick your helmet under the seat from memory, with enough space in there for a drink and some cigarettes
Now pretty much all of us were legal to do anything we wanted to, I loved the idea of the independence, so I consulted the parents.
My mum was understandably worried, she told me about the dangers, the costs etc, my mum was not overly happy but persistence paid off (or naivety) and I got my old man looking for bikes.

About a month on and my dad hears of a little enduro 50 that isn’t being used much, the chaps looking for about £600 and it is used. But my love for the off road looking bikes made me want to snatch it up quickly, so I didn’t have to own a moped.

The bike was about an hours drive over in Bath. At around 8:30pm, it was a cold October night, and the guy who owned the bike came out of the house when we pulled up. At a guess I’d say he was around 18-19 years old.
Turns out he is a student who had the bike on the road legally but took the thing off road for a bit of fun, I remember a strange mix of feelings, butterflies. Not sure what to make of the guy, not sure what to say either, but I felt alright because my dad was there.

He opened the garage door after some random banter, and there she was, the 1987 Suzuki TS50X, at 16 this bike looked the bollox.
Tall, yellow, rugged, it looked as it was up for anything

https://www.bikechatforums.com/files/640px-suzuki_ts50_yellow.jpg

When I think back, it was a little rough but at £600 you get what you pay for. The indicators were a little wonky, the rubbers were worn, the seat and plastics faded. It just so happens the exact style is the one shown on the Wiki page, complete with camo seat.

The deal was made without much fuss, I didn’t have much to say to the guy except thanks, but I could hardly speak anyway, I had knots in my stomach. All thoughts now were about what happens next...what’s the CBT like? How long will it take?

I was sat in the back of my dads van during the journey home, the street lights were the only thing that allowed me see the outlines of the bike and the details on it. The smell of fuel and two stroke was something I would become familiar with.
I sat there, not saying a word, just staring at it, imagining all the fun I was going to have in the next few weeks.
I got her home and showed it off to my mum who wasn’t best pleased with me having the bike still, but was happy that I was getting some independence.

The next few weeks were spent getting used to the gears, the speed, the power and the alien feel of biking for the first time. The practising paid off, and soon I was pulling away and taking corners around the little estate pretty well. I asked for further funding so I could get some gloves in case I fell off, £20 all in and I was ready for the CBT

Gloucester, 28th November 1999, 9:30am, the location was an industrial park car park with a porta cabin for an office. As I loaded the TS off of the van with my old man, a large, stern looking chap was waiting for me, I was very nervous.

The two guys came to have a look at my bike as not many people my age would have their bike before the CBT and I was one of the first to arrive.
One of the bolts on the engine was shot and was weeping a little oil...it had to be replaced in situ. They were giving me a bit of a ribbing about the bike but thankfully they had a spare bolt or two and helped me out. There were a few jokes here and there about the condition of my machine, but I didn’t care, it was better than the shite they had for the other students.

I got through the day without fault, I did feel confident in my riding from the practice I had and now I was starting to bond a little with my retro Suzuki.
The days training was a long and cold one, I think the adrenaline got me through, my hands were blue and my trainers starting to give up to the cold.
The girl who was riding as well made me look like I had done this before, I was happy stopping and starting because she kept getting a bit flustered on the road. I made an effort to talk to the instructor which was nice because he had noticed I wasn't a danger to other road users. We stopped off at a MacDonald’s for a coffee and a chat about biking, after the re-fuel we went back to the industrial estate.

I remember it as clear as day, he said to me “Right, there you go…” Handing me the certificate…”Off you go then”.

I was on my own, my bike, my own transport, I was ready, or was I?
Some of the junctions in Gloucester are terrible for new road users, I tried my best to follow the guy’s instructions he gave but I came across a three lane roundabout with traffic lights which I couldn’t get off for shit.
After 5 minutes or so, I was on my way…down the M5 motorway, at 32 mph

I stopped at the services because I was getting a little freaked out by the speed of the other vehicles on the road, I was directed to the right place by a couple of older dudes smoking out the back of a bowling ally, they had a good laugh at me when I told them the top speed and the cc of my bike.

So, I was on the road, the problem was, it just hit December and we had some rough weather. What an experience though, I got through ice, rain, snow everything, the cold weather was something I knew i'd have to go through and I think for my first season of riding I did pretty well.
The weather gradually got better and soon I had a lot of the lads asking me about the bike and how they could get on the road, it didn’t take very long before at least 4 friends got bikes.
Summer was awesome, totally illegal at times, blacked out visors, no L plates, speeding (if you could) burnouts just general misbehaving.

One thing was very apparent though, these bikes were getting us lot meeting up and meeting new people, defiantly a good way to spend those long hot summer days smoking fags and drinking pop in various strange locations you found.

All good things…as they say…

https://www.bikechatforums.com/files/brm1he.jpg

Yes, the late nineties saw a huge rise in the number of modified cars and bikes doing laps around the Cheltenham "inner ring" recently altered to make it less enjoyable, but back then ped boys, car fanatics and the like cruised around the ring till the early hours, showing off their pride and joys.

The local plod descended on us, big time.

I remember nights spent doing burn outs and wheelies in PC world car park, slags and chavs pumping tunes out louder than a Dreamscape rave and fast food bags thrown all over the place.

https://www.bikechatforums.com/files/images_743.jpg

Our group at the time was anything up to ten bikes, some 125’s mostly 50’s. I remember one night a mate of ours brought a Yamaha 125 custom down, we had about 5 people holding her down whilst he ripped up a rear tyre.

Unfortunately we also experienced our first penalties for our shenanigans, one time about 5 of us were stopped, checked and fined for various offences. One officer told me to take my lid off, he ripped my blacked out visor out and threw it on the floor, and I remember putting it back in and lighting up a fag.
We were rebels without much of a cause, just doing our thing and having fun.

But it wasn’t all fun and games, the more you enjoy yourself it seems, the more likely you are going to be the target of someone else’s misfortune.

https://www.bikechatforums.com/files/e734bcb33c56075b6765650255708777.jpg

Chavs, or just any pikey scum thieving f***s basically…excuse my French.

I was young naïve and I guess didn’t take into consideration that someone would love to have my bike, even if it meant taking it from you.
It was mothers day and I popped into town, the sun was out and I wasn’t in school.
I parked up my little Suzuki in a car park, in not the most desirable location in town, I put the steering lock on and ran over the road to choose a card.
Five minutes later, I came back to the parking spot, my brain couldn’t comprehend the open space, the little yellow Suzuki was gone.

I had my helmet in one hand and my mothers day card in the other, if you had a photo of me stood there then you’d have more sympathy for me than a starving, pot bellied child in Africa.
I called my mum and explained what had happened, I think she was overacting TBH, I couldn’t really get any sense out of her, she told me to call the police, so I did.

My stomach was twisting, what a nasty thing to happen I thought.
I hope the cops will find it.

This is part 1 of the Killa’s biking history, if you enjoyed this I’ll get on with part 2!

Part 2

Thanks for reading.
____________________
Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult.
Bike:- Yamaha TRX850 | Killas Biking History | Killas Gaming History | Killas autmotive history

[lee125]

cool good write up
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cbt passed 01/07/2006 bike:92 dt 125 and 96 honda cr 250
theory:PASSED! A2 test:PASSED 08/11/2006 restricted to 33bhp for 2 years

[Makaveli_Rydah]

Excellent mate - onto read the rest
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Bike History:- Vision / Phantom 100 / Aerox 100 / Runner VX125 / Honda VFR400 NC24 / Kwak ZX9R B3 / Honda CBR600 F / ZZR400 & K2 GSXR 750 / Suzuki VZ800

[MRX Steve]

good write up gona read the rest now
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Rieju MRX 50 Castrol Edition

[Gazdaman]

[chalky143]

good read
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Current bike :: sv650 minitwin race bike
Previous bikes::cbr600 steelie race bike, 1989 Honda vfr750f, 2013 Honda fireblade, 2013 Ducati multistrata 1200s, 2012 Triumph street triple R, 1999 yamaha r6, vfr 800, ducati 600ss, vfr 400x2, ntv 650, bandit 600, cagiva mito 125, aprilia rs 50, honda c90x2, honda hornet 600x2, cbr 600, aprilia rx50, suzuki katana
My bike pics: https://www.bikepics.com/members/chalky143/

[colin1]

nice little cliffhanger
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[killa]

Apologise as part 5 and 6 were not linked in part 4. Sorted now. Enjoy
____________________
Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult.
Bike:- Yamaha TRX850 | Killas Biking History | Killas Gaming History | Killas autmotive history