Most of my Motorcycles & I

By Peter Guala

A short biographical account of my personal motorcycle ownership and riding history from the 1950's to the present day. Including some photos and anecdotal material. A true story with mainly the more interesting and funny accounts of the motorcycling life and experiences that many may relate to and many more will enjoy. Most of the story taking place in England and the latter in Western Australia where the author now resides with his author partner, writer of The Druids' Daughter-Forbidden Magic, a succesful and brilliant book published by Smashwords.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Peter Guala
• Release date: Nov 23, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465862778

Peter Guala

Educated in both UK and the USA, travelled a fair bit of the planet, would love to travel more. Enjoy making harps and classical guitars. Love the sounds of my gongs, crystal & metal singing bowls and other sound instruments. I love the Australian bush and live in a small town 120ks from Perth, capital city of Western Australia. Motorcycles have nearly always been a major part of my life and although I do not own any at present I am sure I will once again be back on 2 wheels, or maybe 3!

Book preview

Most of my Motorcycles & I

Peter A Guala

Copyright © Peter A Guala

Smashwords Edition

Chapter 1

Born in England near Bristol at the tail end of the second world war. My early years are mainly memories of bombed buildings and a rebuilding of lives and families. My own father was a US serviceman who married my mother but then returned to the USA alone when the war ended.

Mother and I then travelled to the States joining my father when I was two years old, returning to England without him when I was four. My earliest memories are vague but I do recollect the sea voyage back to England quite clearly aboard the Queen Mary. By this time, 1948/49, England was well on the road to recovery and I remember the hustle and bustle of Bristol, the cars and in particular the motorcycles. We used to visit my uncle and aunt occasionally in a small Gloucestershire village named Iron Acton. I used to love these visits as he was a mechanic and I used to enjoy being in his shed and playing with all sorts of bits and pieces. I used to constantly ask him questions, no doubt to his amusement and perhaps sometimes annoyance! Over the next eight years I learned a great deal about engines and motor vehicles from these visits.

My fascination towards motorcycles increased and I used to watch the riders on the preponderance of both pre and post war machines to be seen on the roads back then. Living at one time in Downend near Bristol I used to often see a local guy riding a new Harley Davidson. This was a rare sight indeed and I was fascinated by the look, sound and bright colour of this machine. It had a bright blue and white tank with mudguards to match. With its fat 16" whitewall tyres, fishtail silencer, chrome plated flexible exhausts and big semicircular footboards. Plus it sported a bicycle type pedal as a kickstart, which at that time seemed so cool to me. But most of all I just loved the sound of that mighty 1200cc ‘V’ twin engine.

I made a commitment to myself then, as a six year old, that I would one day own one of these machines, complete with whitewalls and leather tassels around the seemingly huge seat that almost looked like a western saddle. Apart from the sound of the engine exhaust I also noticed it made very little engine noise, unlike the clatter and rattle of many other British singles and twins of that era. Plus there was a noticeable lack of oil leaks that seemed to be the norm on most other makes at that time.

I learned much later that Harley, even at that time, used cam ground split skirt slipper pistons with very small clearances, together with hydraulic lifters and roller bearing cam followers. Very advanced for a motorcycle engine and one of the main reasons that it was so mechanically quiet. Something that still applies to most Harley Davidson machines to this day

Moving away from that area I soon forgot my ambition to own a Harley and started to notice the more sporty and classic British made bikes that were now coming back into production. With names starting from pretty much every letter of the alphabet. From buzzing two stroke singles and screaming twins, leaving their tell tale blue oil smoke trail, through to four stroke singles (thumpers), twins and mighty four cylinder machines that just purred with power. It was a great time to be a boy and I used to spend hours visiting motorcycle showrooms, studying every marque in detail and collecting as many brochures as possible to add to my knowledge and ever growing collection of motorcycle bits and pieces. I also spent a lot of time daydreaming about these wondrous machines, in fact I still do!

At ten years old my father came back into our lives and we once more went to live in the USA, again for two years and again we eventually returned to England without him. This time I remembered much more of my time over there. We lived in Long Island and also Manhattan where there were heaps of wonderful ‘yank tanks’ but at that time few motorcycles. So apart from learning a lot about US history at school and watching colour TV for the first time, with 20 odd channels to choose from, my love of motorcycles took a back seat. I spent much of my spare time in a wonderful American Indian shop in the Manhattan bus terminal. I became a blood brother to a close Sioux Indian friend , something that was extremely special and also a very significant event in my wonderful life. As in all lives, much, much more happened, but that is another story.

Now back in England as a twelve year old my interest in the two wheeled machines came back to me with