PETE ’ S PEOPLE
A Honda Superdream 250 was the start of Chris ’ life on two weels
the early 2000s . He can ’ t remember why , but it seemed like a good idea at the time . More on this later . The man has experience , and history . Not to mention cojones the size of melons . He prefaced this smattering of stories with a fairly ‘ tongue in cheek ’ proviso , “ I wasn ’ t always this clever ...”. I suspect he means that he ’ s a bit more rational these days , and has had some time to reflect . Bring it on Chris , reflect away !
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN Chris passed his motorcycle licence test in the UK on the second attempt in 1991 . ( ahem ). Eventually he graduated to the dizzy heights of owning a Honda Superdream 250 . The Honda was twice as heavy , and less than half as powerful as a modern 250 today . But it was perfect . So perfect in fact , that it got painted in three or four different guises . At one point it was neon pink with black tiger stripes , then later it was painted in Vivienne Westwood urban camo .
Incredibly , this bike is still going . It lives with one of Chris ’ s lifetime mates in the UK , James , ( known as Grimmy ) and he is currently the 28th owner . This amazing piece of motorcycling memorabilia / boat anchor has endured through mateship and hardship for decades ( well , it ’ s a Honda innit ?). This longevity of ownership is because every time one owner ran out of money , they would sell it back to the other . The price was always fixed though . It was only ever £ 50 UK , but Chris says , “ that was normally enough to take a girl out for the night , and buy a kebab on the way home .”
TWO BIGGEST CRASHES Even though he can be found on most Sunday ’ s going round and round in circles on a race track , two of Chris ’ s biggest crashes didn ’ t happen there . Both incidents were on the road , and were basically caused by being young , inexperienced , “ and generally just a bit shit ”. One was caused by not checking his blindspot before turning right into Staines Hospital , ( now
KIWI RIDER 81