Letters

When I opened my February edition of Old Bike Mart I found a series of articles on readers’ first bikes – hmm, I thought, maybe its nostalgia time to look at the photos of my first bike… On turning the pages I found a four page article on James Captain bikes, so out came the…

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Having just got married in 1969, my new wife Rosemary and I joined Warrington Motorcycle Club which met at Martins Croft, to the east of Warrington. We enjoyed a number of runs out and camping trips. Many of the friends we met back then are still friends to this day, and some of the members…

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Just a brief note to repeat what I’m sure many others of your readers will have noticed, with regards to page 22 of the March issue. The age of the outfit has been incorrectly judged on the passenger’s out-of-date headwear! The registration of the bike reveals that the more obvious dates of March 1932 to…

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A few pics of my first bikes. I was the first generation to be made to ride mopeds at 16. I lived a two-minute walk from four dealers George Wards (Honda and Suzuki), Ron Daleys (Yamaha), Bennetts (Honda and Suzuki) and Thomas Garner (Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki). My mate Ken Green got an apprenticeship at…

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I thought I would tell you the often told tale of when my wife lost me off the back of my Bantam on the way back from the pub in 1971. When I was courting my now wife Pauline – when she was 16 in 1971 – it seemed a good idea that she should…

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I expect you have been inundated with pictures and accounts of first bikes but I thought you might like to see mine. It was a 1952 Bond Minibike Deluxe fitted with a JAP 125cc unit construction three-speed gearbox bought by my father for £15 in 1959 for me to ride, having reached my 16th birthday.…

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You often request pictures of our bikes so, after reading your super four-page history of the James motorcycle, I thought you would like to see my Post Office K7. It was purchased at an auction by my friend, with other machines; I think it was buy one, get one free. It’s now up and running…

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I read in your notes of the request to show us your sheds. The first photo shows the lean-to that I put on my shed. I used the existing neighbour’s fence and put plastic on the side and built a roof also covered in plastic. In October I decided to enclose it using 8 x…

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It was nice to read about ‘Ogri’ on page 10 of the latest OBM. However, he’s older than you suggest: Ogri first appeared in Bike magazine in 1972, which was 47 years ago, not 41. Perhaps someone mistook a ‘7’ for a ‘1’ when compiling your article?… As a skinny 18-year-old in 1974, I couldn’t…

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As you can see, I have enclosed photos of our motorbike and sidecar; my husband Robin thought you might be interested. Forty years ago I passed my test on the motorbike and sidecar. As you see, we used to pull a trailer behind with our camping equipment as we travelled to the Isle of Man.…

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