When and why did you develop an interest in riding a motorcycle?
In 2004, My girlfriend at the time was a biker, also Ewan & Charlie with Long way Round, showing that a motorbike was not just transport but away to travel and explore.
How old were you when you first rode a bike?
34, a 2 hour try ride at a Chelmsford training School.
What Bikes do you currently own?
I have a 2023 R1250GSA and a 2019 F750GS
Of the bikes you’ve ever owned which was your favourite if you had one?
A 2018 R1200GSA brought new from Reiten Motorrad (the first new GSA they had sold on opening) before PXing it in 2023 I had covered 43,000 trouble free miles, including an eastern Europe tour 2 up with Nikki. We visited Holand, Germany, Czech republic, Slovakia , Poland, Austria and Hungary. It was this sort of trip that got me into biking. The same bike also took me to the isle of Man for the TT and the chance to ride the mountain course (no speed limit) and a IAM training day at Thruxton, as well at trips to France, Luxembourg, Belgium and various camping trips round the UK.
If you were given the opportunity to own any bike on the market which would it be?
I have an R1250GSA, for me that’s the perfect bike, it does everything I want without the tech such as radar cruise control that I don’t want. Don’t get me started on the monstrosity that is the new R1300GSA , after 2xR1200GSAs and a R1250GSA, I won’t be getting a R1300GSA.
What is your favourite motorcycle gadget?
Satnav, I was an early adopter with a Tom Tom rider, I am now a Garmin man, and of those strange people who likes Garmin Basecamp. My second favorite gadget is my battery powered tire inflater, only £20 to £30 it will pump up all 4 tires on my car no problem, makes adjusting tire pressures a breeze, much easier than the foot pump I used to use. Heated grips are a must but the heated seat on my latest GSA is pure luxury.
Where is your prefered place to ride in the UK?
Anywhere that is not in a city or Kent, I have never had a good ride in Kent.
And Abroad?
Anywhere, for me as its is all about traveling. For a 4/5 day long weekend Luxembourg takes a lot of beating,1 day out and back, lovely country, good riding, you can easily spend 3 days riding around.
When riding and touring to you prefer to ride as part of a group or on your own?
.I am happy to do both, I have toured with groups for 2 weeks and enjoyed it , but I have also gone solo for week long bike camping trips, and have ridden to Switzerland and Prague solo.
How would you describe to a non-rider the attraction of riding a bike as opposed to driving a car?
A car is just transport, it gets you from A to B. Riding a motorcycle is an all-encompassing pastime, to use an analogy “in a car you look out of the car window, and it is like watching a film, on a motorcycle you are in the film”
When do you intend to give up riding ?
At the moment never, as long as I am safe to ride (or drive) I will continue.
Describe your scariest moment on your bike?
I had a off on a small Welsh country road, gravel and mud on a corner, probably only at 10-15mph, I remember seeing my GSA spinning away from me on its cylinder head thinking “crap this is going to be expensive” Once I stopped sliding I brushed myself down, there was no damage to myself or my kit, my GSA ended up standing upright in a small ditch, it took a passing farmer and another biker to help me pull it out but apart from being a bit mucky it was fine, a few scuffs on the engine and hand guards, I had plastic blocks fitted to the engine bars, the off destroyed them but they were only a £10 so I was not that upset. The embarrassing part of the story is I had a tracker fitted on that bike, the location of the crash had no phone signal so the tracker could not send an alert in the form of a text, but it saved it until it reached a phone signal, then sent a text to Nikki saying I had fallen off my bike.
