OUR BIKES
The TLR protected by the steel frames (phew!) and leopard print riding pants
Firstly, I didn’t have any trials riding buddies
and, secondly, I was so pushed for time
between road racing and magazine editing
that the TLR was simply a project too far. It
got sporadic rides around the garden in
Auckland but never went past the driveway.
Then in 2003 I accepted what was intended
as a temporary post in the UK... and never
returned. The TLR languished in various
Auckland garages until in 2017, having finally
scored enough credits with KR publisher
Vege, and having coerced KR-men Ben and
Todd [mostly the normally proportioned Todd
to be honest... Ed] into the donkey work of
sorting and packing, the TLR was at last
placed in a crate, then a container and
shipped to me in the UK.
Despite the bike being a bit of a scrapper
and already mine for many years, the UK
Customs and Excise unit still managed to find
a way to charge duties, so it was another
£400 ($800) before the bike and I were at
last reunited.
RECOMMISSION MAN
Since 2017 – boy, do I move slow – the plan
has been to recommission the TLR and ride
it regularly in local trials. Of course that
hasn’t quite happened – do you notice
a theme emerging...? Although the TLR
immediately started when I put petrol in
the tank and gave it a kick, since then the
recommissioning has proceeded at a gentile,
almost glacial, pace.
38 KIWI RIDER