My first new motorbike!

I bought this from Pride and Clarke (in Stockwell Road, Brixton, IIRC) for about £600 on HP (that my parents kindly signed guarantor for, me being a young student ‘n all). I thought it was (and still is) a beautiful bike in black with gold striping. It was a three cylinder two-stroke motorbike with auto-lube (no messy pre-mix like my previous bike) and a disc brake!! Compared with the old drum brakes this was brilliant. But lethal in the wet until the wet film was wiped away; this meant that in the rain the first pull on the brake had no effect – so you pulled a bit harder – then a lot harder – then it suddenly dried out and – WHAM – brakes full on, on a wet road with Japanese ‘no grip’ tyres. You can guess the rest… 🙁

Anyway, it was a very smooth bike, very reliable (once the ‘auto short out in the damp’ spark plug covers were removed), and took me and Anne around the UK very nicely, thank you. Once, after we fitted a top box and were well loaded with a double sleeping bag on top as well, Anne surprised me buy nearly literally dropping off! It was so smooth…

Plus points – good looks, smooth, brakes (mostly), comfortable, fast enough, gear position indicator, cool flip up fuel cap, very little servicing required. Minus points – brakes in the wet, rubbish original tyres.

When I stupidly decided to trade it in for my next new bike (DT400MX), the Pride and Clarke mechanic tried to tell me that it had knackered main bearings – rubbish! Just to get a better trade in for them. But, do you know, I can’t remember what happened next – did I sell it privately or not? Anyway, LYE759P may still exist somewhere in someone’s ‘best bike’ collection, and, you know, it was so good that I wouldn’t mind having it back again!

Update
Saw one from the same year in Mote Park yesterday – what a pleasant surprise!! I wanted to talk to the owner who was nearby, but he seemed to engaged in a deep conversation, and, being the polite person I am, I decided not to interrupt.