I've just completed Gloucestershire Police's "Better Biking" course which took place over two consecutive Sundays recently. It was good: the lecturer, PC Martyn Hillier, has 30+ years traffic experience and an amusing delivery style with no concessions to the sole lady in the group, i.e. the occasional bit of Anglo-Saxon slipped out now and again; we got complimentary copies of "The Official Highway Code", "The Police Rider's Handbook to Better Motorcycling" and "Not The Blue Book"; there were nice buffet lunches (burp!) and loads of tea and coffee. The cost was £48.

Sunday 20th April: arrive 8.40am for a 9.00am start. I clock the other bikes on the way in: mostly mid-range sports bikes and one Harley Davidson. Ten blokes - average age about 40-45 - and one lady in one-piece leathers riding an SV650. The instructor arrives on an R1200RT with full hard luggage.

The day is taken up with Powerpoint presentations interspersed with various anecdotes from the instructor, PC Martin Hillier, and several from the students. Most of us have been riding since the early 1970's but a few have passed their tests in the last 5-10 years. Three are returning to biking after a long lay-off.

I was fairly surprised to learn that most of the things we're supposed to do are things I've always done, especially since in my day we just slapped a pair of L-plates on a 250 and rode off into the sunset, often sans helmet (not me of course). We pack up at about 4.00pm with a warning to return the following week with full tanks as we have a 3-4 hour observed ride ahead of us, during which time we will be encouraged to make reasonable progress whilst not exceeding the speed limit, or at least by not very much.

Sunday 27th April: arrive 8.45am for a 9.00am start. Weather forecast for Gloucester: heavy rain. One student fails to show so we split up into five groups of three, two students an an instructor in each group. The instructors are police riders and advanced riders with local IAM/RoSPA groups who give up two Sundays a month to help keep numpties out of hospital. I'm with the secretary of the local RoSPA group, Geoff Brown (BMW F800GS) and student Adrian (Yamaha Fazer 1000), and I lead the ride out of Gloucester, up Crickley Hill and out to Severn Springs. We stop to change leader and Adrian takes us out to Stow on the Wold where we stop for a debrief: I'm staying in the middle of the lane too much - I should be moving around much more to get an early view round bends - and I could be a bit quicker around the bends. The instructor points to the shoulders of my rear tyre which don't appear to have spent very much time in contact with the tarmac. <blush> We stop for a cuppa in Stow and then I lead the way to Cirencester.

We stop in Cirencester and swap positions so that Adrian can lead us to Stroud. He's a lot quicker than me but not excessively so. I'm at the back now and I can see how much the instructor moves from one side of the lane to the other in the normal course of riding, especially compared to Adrian. We come through Cirencester and Stroud then stop for another debrief: no real problems. Geoff and Adrian agree that I was a bit quicker when I lead the second time. I lead back to Gloucester paying particular attention to my road positioning and we get back to the classroom for lunch and a final debrief. The weather has been excellent - I'm glad I removed the quilted lining from my jacket. The group who disappeared off in the opposite direction towards the Forest of Dean have obviously not been so lucky!

Overall impressions of the course? Excellent advice from a massively experienced motorcycle instructor, some useful booklets, a chance to meet loads of like-minded people and talk about big bikes, nice lunches, a 90-mile tour of some of the nicest roads in the Cotswolds and an opportunity to improve your chances of surviving on today's crowded roads. You'll be introduced to your local IAM and RoSPA Groups and learn about the work of the Freewheelers Emergency Voluntary Service. (Links to all of these are available on the Motorcycling Links page.

"Better Biking" courses will be taking place on the following dates: 11th/18th May, 2nd/29th June, 7th/14th September and 5th/12th October. Contact Stephen Lamburn, Road Safety Officer, Gloucestershire County Council, for details: 01452-425557 or email.

A friend has suggested a "Route 66" type ride this summer: Land's End to John O'Groats. So far we have four possible participants: a couple of Harley Davidsons, a Triumph Bonneville and my Teapot. The intention is to take about a week and make sure we see the sights, especially the Scottish Highlands (which I love) rather than complete the 1800-mile round trip in the fastest time. If my Financial Secretary is reading this, this is not just a feeble excuse to buy a set of hard luggage!

If you've ever done this trip before and wish to share any hints and tips about planning or executing the journey, or wish to suggest any waypoints which you believe we should not miss en route, please feel free to email me.

The Suzuki GSX750F "Teapot": apparently "owners love them and their quirky looks" (Motorcycle News). She looked very nice in the showroom of Performance Suzuki in Tewkesbury, had less than 10k on the clock which isn't bad for a five-year-old machine, and came complete with: full service history, DataTool immobiliser; Scott oiler, Givi rack and top box; Oxford tank bag, heated grips and battery optimiser; and a set of full-length waterproofs. Bargain!

Okay, I really (really!) wanted the GSXR750 standing next to her in the showroom but at two grand more, there was no way I'd be able to sneak her past my Financial Secretary. Never mind, I'm still buying lottery tickets and I've asked the guys at Performance Suzuki to keep a GSXR1000 polished and ready for me to collect. In the meantime, I love my Teapot: she's very nippy - the first time I opened her up I came home with the most enormous grin on my face! More pics to follow...

By now I was married and a large chunk of our joint incomes was going straight to the Halifax every month, but we were both earning so it seemed sensible to be (secretly) planning for another bike. The Dolomite Sprint you can see in the picture was a bit thirsty on petrol, especially when driven by me, so with the excuse that it would save money in the long run - I had a thirty-mile round trip to work and back every day - 'we' forked out £360 on a Super Dream.

I knew my mother would be mortified if she found out, so whenever she was due to visit I moved it from the front of the house and parked it out of sight round the corner. Then one day she called in unexpectedly...

I kept the Super Dream for five years: she was boring but reliable, and very easy to ride. The fairing gave loads of protection from the weather but caught the cross-winds on the Golden Valley rather badly, so sometimes I had to use the back road. Then in the winter of 1985-6 I had to leave her out for several months and when spring came round again she threw a hissy fit and point-blank refused to start. We'd just moved house and the mortgage payments were a real drain on a single pay-packet, and with a second baby on the way I couldn't justify spending any more money putting her back on the road or running her. I sold her to a friend for just £50.

I spent the next two years looking at every bike that went past and trying to work out how I could afford to get back on the road. I wasn't interested in cars - they were boring. I was working at a building society in Gloucester at the time and squirrelling away every spare penny. After two years I had nearly £300 burning a hole in my account and I knew the time was right.

I loved those big American cop bikes but I knew I couldn't afford a Harley Davidson so when I found a Suzuki T500 for sale locally with the big screen, high-rise handlebars, back rest, top box, panniers, crash bars, etc, I just had to have her. The photo on the left isn't the actual machine but it's exactly the same colour. A pink cop bike? I can't imagine what I was thinking!

I had to push her home from Matson to Tuffley at night in the rain because the engine was seized - I knew that, obviously - and the following day I pushed her to Barton Street and threw what was left of my savings at Neal Fraser for a couple of new barrels. Suzuki called this bike "a wolf in sheep's clothing". I'm not so sure - she struggled to get up to the ton - but she was fairly lively and very comfortable to ride. I kept her for three years until I fell in love with a girl who didn't seem too keen on riding pillion, and then I had a dreadful decision to make. The Suzuki went and I learned to drive a car. The girl stayed and we're still happily married. Good call, me!

After the summer of '68 I spent two years lusting after a bike of my own. I must have driven my parents nuts! Two weeks before my sixteenth birthday they forked out £80 for a five-year-old Honda C92 Benly with about 2000 miles on the clock. The owner had fallen off it three years previously, injured his hand and never ridden it since. I spent those two weeks polishing it at least twice a day and starting the engine "just to make sure"!

The actual day of my birthday was a school day so I got up at about five o'clock to go for a run. With that hot Italian summer still alive in my memories, I zoomed off into a chilly UK September morning wearing a T-shirt and no gloves. I came back absolutely frozen! The agreement had been that my parents would pay for the machine but I would be reponsible for the insurance, road tax, petrol, etc. Two years later with my savings depleted and the prospect of university looming, I was obliged to sell her. I remember crying. And I never did go to university.

Again, this isn't the actual machine I owned as the family photos from that period aren't immediately to hand, but I shall post some here as soon as I can lay my hands on them.

In 1968 we spent the summer in Italy, a country where a fourteen-year-old was legally allowed to ride a 50cc bike with no licence, MoT, insurance or crash helmet, and with just the equivalent of £1 in road tax. My cousin Manlio taught me how to ride his mother's moped and I was hooked. Within 48 hours my father had secured the loan of a relative's Garelli Rekord for the rest of our stay, and Manlio and I spent most of the summer riding around together. I only fell off once! Manlio, all this is your fault... I can't thank you enough!

This isn't the actual machine - it's a picture I found on the Web - but it gives you an idea of what the Rekord looked like.