KIWI RIDERS
ago to pancreatic cancer and he was only 57 . For the last eight years , after I got my licence , we ’ d go on family rides together with mum on the back of dad ’ s bike , and me and my brother on our bikes . No one knows how much time they ’ ve got but I look at it and think I could have had more weekend rides with the old man .” wear . Our whole backyard was a mud pit with no grass or gardens , just me tearing around causing a nuisance . It was so much fun and definitely sprouted my love for motorbikes .” “ After the quad bike we had different dirt bikes over the years but when I was about 18 I stopped riding . I didn ’ t have much money back then because what I did have I spent on cars and trying to impress girls , and I didn ’ t really have a desire or need to ride bikes . I never actually got my licence until eight years ago , and looking back it ’ s something I regret .”
Why do you regret it ? “ I missed out on riding . I lost my Dad six months
What bikes have you had ? “ At 26 I started to get a bit more money and I ’ d settled down with a girl . Dad was always keen to get us out so I finally bit the bullet and bought a Suzuki Savage LS650 custom bobber . I had it for a couple of years and it looked cool but after a while I wanted to get into some longer rides and it wasn ’ t the best bike for that . I rode from Auckland to Whangarei and back and it just about killed me , because it was a look-cool-ride-to-the-cafe bike rather than a comfortable long distance tourer . “ I sold that and bought a Yamaha XVS650 V Star . When I was thinking about my next bike I wanted a big jump , and I ’ d always wanted to get a Harley Davidson Street Glide . I still do , but when dad passed away I didn ’ t want mum to sell his Honda Pan European ST1300 as it was the last bike he rode . We ’ d done lots of family
48 KIWI RIDER