Past Bikes - 1959 BSA Bantam D7 175cc

Spring seems reluctant to make an appearance this year so I don't have many "Tales from the Road" for you. So I'll take the time to recall the bikes I've had in the past.

In the summer of 1974 I was 17 and working in a local factory between leaving school and starting university. A fellow worker gave me a lift home every evening on his Honda CB125 and that began my interest in bikes.

I asked a neighbour for advice and he offered me his Bantam free. It had been unused for 5 years and the engine had seized. I freed it off and got it running but I lacked the knowledge to make it roadworthy. But the Bantam confirmed that I was going to be a biker.

I don't really count the Bantam as my first bike because I only had it for a month and didn't ride it on the road. With the money earned in the factory I bought another bike and the Bantam was flung into a skip.

D7 Bantam (not mine)