Gunner and Jill

I passed my motorbike test quite late in life, it was during my career break from the job when I went to Bosnia with the TA back in September 1998 in fact, as you can see we were equipped with the 350cc Harley-Davidson's they were not bad once you got them going, the road holding was adequate but they came into their own across country, they pulled very well through sticky mud and deep puddles.........great fun. The panniers at the front were for all types of kit, a good bike better than the 500 Armstrong that the H-D replaced. passing my test on the 350cc meant that I had a restricted licence for 2 years but that was not a problem at all.

Jill knew what she wanted..............she ordered and obtained her first Harley, she had the 'Anniversary' model 883 Sportster, this is the bike she cut her teeth on, taking it abroad to France and Germany, Belgium and Holland on Blue Knight Rallies and other week-ends away.

After getting back from Bosnia I cut my teeth on a Honda CB500 this was a great bike, I found it very 'user friendly' to the novice biker, I went from stationary in second gear when you mess the gears up and robust when you drop it!! It was good two up for short blasts around the County too

After the CB500 I wanted something with a little more protection when touring, I went for the Honda Deauville, I know they are not popular with some folks but for what I wanted it for it was superb albeit under powered for overtakes, it took us abroad many times and with the extended pannier lids held more that enough clothing for a week away. I think Honda have listened to the Deauville riders well, and I look forward to seeing the new pumped up version at the bike show.

Jill passed her test back in Oct 2000 she went to the local riding school in Hinckley who meet at Westfield School, they are a great bunch, as we joined biking later on in life we opted for a the restricted licence route to learn the skills required slow time.

Jills first bike after passing her test was a Kawasaki GPZ500s, it was a great little bike in 'brand new' condition, it went and handled well but Jill found that it was not that comfortable on long runs..................she knew what she wanted...........

These are our current 'steeds' I have a 2002 ST1300 and Jill has a 2004 1200 Sportster Custom with stage 1 tuning, we have done over 10000 miles on them this year this picture was taken in the 'Glencoe Pass' in Scotland both bike are superb in all aspects of riding
and handling.