The born again biker

Rather looking forward to tomorrow. Will be spending the day on two wheels rather than four, refreshing my rather rusty motorcycling skills on a rider training course for a feature in the Honda customer magazine Honda Dream. It’s about people coming back to bikes after a number of years away, and it’s about 20 years since I last owned one. These people – dubbed ‘born-again bikers’ – are making up a sizeable chunk of purchasers at the moment, driven by a desire to relive something they enjoyed in their youth, but also the fact that running a motorbike instead of a second car – perhaps to do the daily commute on – is a practical and cost-effective way to get around. Sadly, they’re also a big accident statistic. The attitude is “I had a 600cc back in the day so I’ll get the same again”, not appreciating it’s a very different machine; lighter, faster and with much better brakes. The refresher course I’m taking tomorrow is offered by www.camrider.com through Honda bike dealerships in the East Anglia region and I can’t wait.