Some time agao, a video in the XUNICEF blog reminded me of my motorcycle trips before and after my retirement.
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I rode in my youth three motorcycles: (1) an old Gillette motorcycle of 150 cc of around 1949, which still had a hand lever on the side to change the three speeds and no suspension in the back (except small springs in the saddle); (2) then a Honda 175 cc that for the first time was not leaking oil and had modern suspension; and (3) a BMW of 600 cc that was unbreakable and allowed me to ride comfortably for long distances.
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I still have the nostalgia of riding a bike at the age of 80. Maybe, I should make a trip to Taiwan...
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It is essential that you turn the volume full blast and click the play button
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Easy Riding
After my retirement from UNICEF, I got three Harley Davidson motorcycles: one HD Sportster of 1200 cc, one HD Heritage Softail Classic of 1500 cc, and one HD Road king of 1600 cc. With that at least I could make bigger trips with friends such as crossing the south of US (5800 km through Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arizona and California), a trip from Belgium to Scotland of more than 4000 km, a trip from Belgium to Ireland to do the Ring of Kerry, plus several trips to south of France and Switzerland, and smaller week-ends trips. I attach a few pictures from my US trip.
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Across the USA
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Across the USA
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Across the USA
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Easy Riding on the Harley Davidson
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I finally retired (from motorcycling) at the age of 73. I was ejected from my motorcycle in a roundabout that had gravel in Reims (France), and got a broken finger and sprained foot. I was lucky. I had to ride back 200km, which made it very difficult to change gear with a sprained foot and use the front brake with a broken finger. At home I had to support a long litany of complaints from my wife, children and grandchildren concerning my age, that I was still thinking of being a spring chicken, etc, etc...!!
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See you in Taiwan
I rode a Suzuki 500 from Djibouti to Liberia. My fifth and last bike was a Honda 750 in Tenerife. A couple of years ago, my beloved late wife persuaded me to confront reality and sell it. I prefer to say that I retired voluntarily; she would have said that common sense finally caught up with me.
ReplyDeleteIn my last posting for UNICEF, when I took delivery of a new Honda 150cc scooter, I embarrassed myself by not being able to find where the gear shift was. The salesman hooted with laughter and asked me where I had learned to ride a scooter ? Actually, I had learned on a Vespa at university which had had a standard (for those days) clutch. Naturally, the Honda was automatic. It was a dream to ride, comfortable, and I never had a 'slip' as the roads were all high quality tarmac. Best of all, I could park free in the building in which our office was located, and never had trouble with traffic.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your piece. Definitely there was life after UNICEF for you even if you were sometimes asked if you belonged to the Hell's Angels. . . . . .
Ken Gibbs as ever was. . . .
I only ever rode a Honda 125, in Hargeisa, for three years. It was the last survivor of 12 motorbikes provided by UNICEF for its Somalia North-West-Integrated-Social-Development-Programme. The other eleven had rapidly exhausted their useful lives, thanks to the sandy roads and the riders’ frequent contact with the ground, during which clutch levers tended to break. The levers were by far the most frequently replaced spare part, but we could not keep up with demand. Then, riders simply took to changing gears without using the clutch. The drivetrains, unsurprisingly, were dying a fast and definitive death.
ReplyDeleteHello, Philippe. I am so happy to read your account. Even if you have "abandoned" it for now, I am sure your memories will keep you smiling!!!
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