utterly random picture thread.

[David]

Chain? What chain?

[Sunny]

Me, at a steam rally (Walton Hall), age 12, on the back of my mate's dad's classic BSA
It's 1991, so not quite the '80s, but the fashion may suggest otherwise - the matching floral number, the 'I'm poor giveaway' no-name trainers.
I also note that despite the fact my mum has clearly convinced me to brush my hair and put on my nicest outfit, I'm sporting my standard issue tomboy skinned knees

(I'd gone pillion on it before, so I'm not sure if this is the first bike I ever went on, or if that award goes to the 80cc scrambler that belonged to my brother's mate, that I had a go on aged 11 in our back garden . Either way, it was definitely an early influence!)

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[KungFooBob]

Looks like a D14 Bantam.

[Sunny]

Looks like a D14 Bantam.

I'm pretty sure it was a Bantam , but any other details I may have known are lost in the mists of time.
(The owner's name is Bill Shotton, according to my parents, and I'm pretty sure his daughter/my mate was called Cathy. They had a caravan on the same site as ours, so were holiday friends.)

[Pirahna]

Me, at a steam rally (Walton Hall), age 12, on the back of my mate's dad's classic BSA
It's 1991, so not quite the '80s, but the fashion may suggest otherwise - the matching floral number, the 'I'm poor giveaway' no-name trainers.
I also note that despite the fact my mum has clearly convinced me to brush my hair and put on my nicest outfit, I'm sporting my standard issue tomboy skinned knees

(I'd gone pillion on it before, so I'm not sure if this is the first bike I ever went on, or if that award goes to the 80cc scrambler that belonged to my brother's mate, that I had a go on aged 11 in our back garden . Either way, it was definitely an early influence!)

1991-12=bugger, I left school in 1979.

A tax check shows it's a 1970, 175cc BSA. The last log book change was in 2020, so I would assume the bike is still around and changed hands or address then.

[KungFooBob]

1991-12=bugger, I left school in 1979.

I left the womb in 1978.

[Sunny]

Me, at a steam rally (Walton Hall), age 12, on the back of my mate's dad's classic BSA
It's 1991, so not quite the '80s, but the fashion may suggest otherwise - the matching floral number, the 'I'm poor giveaway' no-name trainers.
I also note that despite the fact my mum has clearly convinced me to brush my hair and put on my nicest outfit, I'm sporting my standard issue tomboy skinned knees

(I'd gone pillion on it before, so I'm not sure if this is the first bike I ever went on, or if that award goes to the 80cc scrambler that belonged to my brother's mate, that I had a go on aged 11 in our back garden . Either way, it was definitely an early influence!)

1991-12=bugger, I left school in 1979.

A tax check shows it's a 1970, 175cc BSA. The last log book change was in 2020, so I would assume the bike is still around and changed hands or address then.

I can confirm your maths skills are accurate

Maybe he's not around any more then. Not unlikely. I wonder where it went.

Also, if it was 21 years old at the time, that doesn't feel like it should be counted as a classic, or is that cos I'm now old and 21 year old bikes still feel modern-ish?

[ChrisW]

Also, if it was 21 years old at the time, that doesn't feel like it should be counted as a classic, or is that cos I'm now old and 21 year old bikes still feel modern-ish?

I'm not even *that* much older and I used to get driven to school in a Rover P4... Mainly in the winter because it had the best heater.

[mangocrazy]

Me, at a steam rally (Walton Hall), age 12, on the back of my mate's dad's classic BSA
It's 1991, so not quite the '80s, but the fashion may suggest otherwise - the matching floral number, the 'I'm poor giveaway' no-name trainers.
I also note that despite the fact my mum has clearly convinced me to brush my hair and put on my nicest outfit, I'm sporting my standard issue tomboy skinned knees

(I'd gone pillion on it before, so I'm not sure if this is the first bike I ever went on, or if that award goes to the 80cc scrambler that belonged to my brother's mate, that I had a go on aged 11 in our back garden . Either way, it was definitely an early influence!)

A tax check shows it's a 1970, 175cc BSA. The last log book change was in 2020, so I would assume the bike is still around and changed hands or address then.

It's definitely a 175cc Bantam, as in the 60s I was pondering the merits of a Bantam vs. an equivalent Japanese 2T of the era, A Suzuki B100P (forever known as a 'bloop'). The Suzuki won hands down. But in the end I went with a CD175 Honda.

That must be one of the very last of the line Bantams. By 1970 the British motorcycle industry was deep into its rigor mortis phase..

[Sunny]

Also, if it was 21 years old at the time, that doesn't feel like it should be counted as a classic, or is that cos I'm now old and 21 year old bikes still feel modern-ish?

I'm not even *that* much older and I used to get driven to school in a Rover P4... Mainly in the winter because it had the best heater.

Driven to school?! Never mind what car we had, I walked

[Wossname]

My school transport was often on the carrier of my dad’s NSU Quickly, sitting on my school bag, with my legs sticking out because if you didn’t, things went wrong.
Formative experiences - look at me now!

[Ian]

Me, at a steam rally (Walton Hall), age 12, on the back of my mate's dad's classic BSA
It's 1991, so not quite the '80s, but the fashion may suggest otherwise - the matching floral number, the 'I'm poor giveaway' no-name trainers.
I also note that despite the fact my mum has clearly convinced me to brush my hair and put on my nicest outfit, I'm sporting my standard issue tomboy skinned knees

(I'd gone pillion on it before, so I'm not sure if this is the first bike I ever went on, or if that award goes to the 80cc scrambler that belonged to my brother's mate, that I had a go on aged 11 in our back garden . Either way, it was definitely an early influence!)

A tax check shows it's a 1970, 175cc BSA. The last log book change was in 2020, so I would assume the bike is still around and changed hands or address then.

It's definitely a 175cc Bantam, as in the 60s I was pondering the merits of a Bantam vs. an equivalent Japanese 2T of the era, A Suzuki B100P (forever known as a 'bloop'). The Suzuki won hands down. But in the end I went with a CD175 Honda.

That must be one of the very last of the line Bantams. By 1970 the British motorcycle industry was deep into its rigor mortis phase..

B175, the bantams last hurrah. Seperate headlight (D14 had a nacelle) gaiters instead of shrouds. That's a sporty as it got with a big bore header and a 4 speed gearbox too.
Nice

[ChrisW]

Driven to school?! Never mind what car we had, I walked

I know, spoiled!

In fairness I think it was around 7 miles away.

[Sunny]

Driven to school?! Never mind what car we had, I walked

I know, spoiled!

In fairness I think it was around 7 miles away.

I'll let you off then

[KungFooBob]

When I was 17 and had spent all my money on pound a pint Hoffmeister in Karisma night club, I used to walk home at kicking out time (2am) it was a good seven miles... it was nothing after a dozen pints of cheap pilsner.

[ChrisW]

When I was 17 and had spent all my money on pound a pint Hoffmeister in Karisma night club, I used to walk home at kicking out time (2am) it was a good seven miles... it was nothing after a dozen pints of cheap pilsner.

That sounds really horrible, but then you're further north than I was. I expect you were fine

[KungFooBob]

When I was 17 and had spent all my money on pound a pint Hoffmeister in Karisma night club, I used to walk home at kicking out time (2am) it was a good seven miles... it was nothing after a dozen pints of cheap pilsner.

That sounds really horrible, but then you're further north than I was. I expect you were fine

I have such fond memories of Karisma, albeit a lot earlier than when I first started attending, this text ripped from a Doncaster Freepress article did make me giggle...

...In later years, it became Romeo and Juliets, then Seventh Heaven and then Karisma - and it was from that venue motor racing champ James Hunt was famously denied entry for being drunk.

The fast-living, party hard playboy, who won the F1 World Championship in 1976 always liked a drink or two - and one night in Doncaster in 1989 proved no exception.

By then with his glittering career far behind him, a worse for wear Hunt, in town after winning two rosettes as a bird breeder at the World Budgerigar Championships, arrived at the door of Karisma.

Wearing jeans, he fell foul of the club's dress code and became involved in an altercation with bouncer Ian Butterfield. Furious at being denied entry, the F1 ace knocked a cup of coffee Butterfield was holding into his face, causing scalding for which was later treated at Doncaster Royal Infirmary.

Hunt was wrestled to the ground by fellow bouncers and frogmarched to a nearby police car where he was promptly arrested. The incident made headline news - and came just a few years before his death in 1993.

[Yorick]

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[Horse]

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[ZRX61]

Not too shabby. Patio is covered with astro-turf, has a loading ramp behind the rear axle to load dirt bikes through the gate, has another gate on the other side. Outdoor bbq/grill at the back of the trailer.