I’ve known this bike for almost as long as I’ve known its owner Andy Jones. For longer than either of us care to remember the Honda V65, known by close associates as Red Molly, was variously a pile of parts, a semi-completed build and perennially work-in-progress.
When he wasn’t spannering on customers’ bikes, Molly would receive some TLC and the pair of us often pondered just what 1098ccs of cruiser-style Honda V4 might be like to actually ride. We concluded that ‘bloody dangerous’ might be just one of the phrases called into play and ‘downright scary’ could very well go on to cover most, if not every base; it is something of ‘a unit’ after all.
When Andy and Molly decamped to rural Lincolnshire the bike finally had been sorted and after years of enforced stasis the beast was carefully goaded with a long, pointed, stick before finally awoken with a cautious press of the ‘go button’. Subsequently, Andy’s summation as to the bike’s attitude was (to be read in a broad Norfolk accent): “That goo-like stink booy! But yer don’t wanna be taking liberties with’er cos I think she might turn round and bite yer!” One evening after his first full ride, he dropped the following into the conversation: “Do yer wanna ride her for CMM?” Hell, why not? In for a penny in for a pound as they say.
Fast-forward to some decent weather simply because you really don’t want to
