Youthful enthusiasm

In the summer of 1949, Frank came up with an idea – Aberdeen to Genoa and return by motorbike. Ray and I found this proposal on the wild side but Frank’s persistence and enthusiasm won us over. All three of us had recently acquired motorcycles – Frank a BSA, Ray a Triumph twin and I myself an Ariel Red Hunter: all three 350cc models. None of us knew much about bikes and engines. Indeed, I never did, moving on to cars a few years later.

In advance of our departure I failed my driving test – I had been given bad advice about making the emergency stop. Failing the test, the examiner told me I had performed perfectly well – except for the disastrous,