THE ROYAL ROAD TO BRAIDWOOD
“The only Zen you can find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.”
ROBERT M. PIRSIG
AT THE SYDNEY Motorcycle Show last year, I noticed that retro bikes seemed to be drawing large crowds. Kawasaki’s Z900RS and W800, Yamaha’s SR400 and the Triumph Bonneville all had crowds milling around admiring the sleek lines, chrome and classic looks.
The ones that really struck me for some unknown reason were the Royal Enfield Classic and Continental. There was something about the raw style of them that captures the imagination. DKW, Ariel, BMW, BSA: these are the sorts of bikes my Dad used to ride in Poland after the war. The bikes were built to look like a piece of art; they made you feel that you were part of the machine and not just a passenger being taken on a joy ride. They were built mechanically simple but enjoyable to ride on both country and city roads. I can understand why my Dad was so fond of them and still gets excited when he
