THE One TO Have
'I want to buy my first British bike; says the chap . He seems sound in mind and body, and in possession of a most excellently trimmed beard, so I take his enquiry seriously. He's younger than me, somewhere between five or ten years my junior. Therefore he's only known motorcycles since 1990 or so. His life has been full of high-revving water-cooled Japanese hyperbikes, or maybe chic Continental twins. I can't help wondering why he'd want to experiment with an old Brit clunker. Is he having a midlife crisis? Should I send him to the Samaritans?
'My dad rode a British bike’.
Ah. All is explained.
'It was a Vincent, I think. Maybe a Brough Superior. I don't know, really, he sold it when they got married in 1970 and bought a Mini. I've got a photo ... '
Cue blurry pie on a phone screen of a skinny chap in flares astride what might possibly be a Francis-Barnett or maybe a Bantam. Moving swiftly on, I enquire whether our prospective purchaser wants to do
