“Who do you think you are then – Barry Sheene?” – To be honest I think I probably did have visions of the then British World Champion somewhere in the back of my mind as the local bike cop pulled me over for a cursory glance at my bike and a friendly chat.
Riding a recently acquired but well used Suzuki GT250, the significance of Suzuki’s racing heritage wasn’t lost on this motorcycle racing mad teenager. Now more than thirty years on, it seems strange to think that back in the seventies any British 17 year old could throw an ‘L’ plate on the back of a 250cc motorbike with near 100mph capability and take to the street with little or no training. In fact, before the UK ‘learner laws’ were passed that is exactly what many of us did. Indeed, most of us couldn’t wait to ditch the moped (pedals included) and move onwards and upwards to bigger, better (and faster) things. (more…)