Greetings. I'm David Moore and I'm the editor of this website.My first ever bike was far from the high tech models we have today. It was one that I put together from bits and pieces I scavenged from our local rubbish dump in South Manchester.
This was the early 1950 and post-war austerity was something we had all got used to. We kids had no money for expensive gatgets so we built what we called 'raggers'; what the Americans called soap-box cars. They mainly ran on old pram wheels and had rudimentary steering and no brakes at all. We raced them on the local recreation ground which had a steep hill leading down to an old wire fence and the trick was to jump off the contraption just before hitting the fence. Most of we kids had permanently scraped knees and one of my father's favourite occupations was cleaning mine with surgical spirts whilst he pulled out the bits of grit - and heaven help me if he noticed a wince, let alone a cry of pain!
My second - and first real - bike was one I inherited from an aunt who was getting married to a man who was wealthy enough to actually own a car! It was a Ford Popular with rust holes in the floor but that didn't matter because it drove OK and there was no MOT in those days. I loved that bike, even though I got into lots of scraps when people called me nasty feminine names for riding a bicycle with a lady's frame - political correctness was again far off into the distant future!
By the age of 16 I was working and earning decent money. I wanted a motorbike but my father wouldn't allow it. I gor round that by being given a G5 Matchless in liew of wages from a Saturday job on a local farm; the farmer had already let me learn to ride a motorbike on an ancient Triumph 3T that I rode rond this land most evenings. I couldn't afford much petrol but parrafin was cheaper and it ran OK on that provided that I first filled the carb with petrol before kicking it over! The exhaust stubs used to glow white hot after a while but it still kept going. They don't build them like that any more!
I grew up and graduated to owning a series of motorbikes but I gave up motorcycling when I rode home from work one February evening through a shower of sleet and, literally, broke off a icycle that had frozen on my nose! I got a job as a sales rep shortly afterwards and I accepted it purely because there was a company car on offer. I still kept a bicycle in the shed though!
I've staying a regular weekend cyclist ever since. I'm now well into my three score and ten years and I'm as fit as a flea. I put that down to a loving wife, good food, regular sleep - and a lifelong love of two wheels.
If you fancy a chat I'm always happy to discuss anything bike related whether it's about pusbikes or motorbikes and you can contact me on
