Treasure, 24.   Michael, fettling his motor bike, 1972? by s4sayer

Treasure, 24. Michael, fettling his motor bike, 1972?

Dad died in 1968. Peter was living and working in Edinburgh; Mum, Michael and I moved house. Smaller house and garden, central heating and and although further from town, we were all mobile.

This was M's first bike...and first love. He and l bought a car between us from a mechanic friend: cost £5! M used his motor bike for work, l took the car. On cold Winter mornings it used to stall, reliably at the first Halt...before the word became Stop. I used to get out of the car, throw up the bonnet, tap the battery connectors with my handy hammer and it would ROAR into life. Those behind me weren't impressed. Daily cabaret, free of charge!

On black, sure thing!

Nostalgia is not what it used to be... which is a shame! A Honda CB250 if my memory doesn't deceive me... from the era when they were known - erroneously - as 'Jap Crap'!
April 24th, 2019  
What a super image.
April 24th, 2019  
Lovely image and memories. You were quite the mechanic!
April 24th, 2019  
another wonderfully natural image - I like the mix you are presenting of natural photos and posed snaps.
April 24th, 2019  
@dide
Thank you, Dide, but not me. The 'mechanic' is my younger brother, Michael. My 'stunt' ensured I arrived at work in time. Looking back, am amused by my antics ;-)
April 24th, 2019  
@s4sayer ha yes, I did mean your mechanical skills tapping the battery with your hammer!
April 24th, 2019  
This is a great image with great tones and details. I wasn't as handy as you with my first car which was a '62 Ford Falcon, two-door coupe stick shift :).
April 24th, 2019  
A great nostalgic image. I did a double take here, Michael looks just like John Lennon in this photo.
April 24th, 2019  
I had a butterfly valve that would stick in rainy weather. I got so I didn't want men's help. THey would screw things so tight I wouldn't always be able to get it open.
April 24th, 2019  
Another priceless capture - and story :)
April 25th, 2019  
Fabulous story and memories. I applaud your hammer to battery connectors fix. We had a car whose windscreen wipers which would go faster as the car went faster- not sure why.
April 25th, 2019  
@joysabin
Friction?
April 26th, 2019  
@joysabin @s4sayer On older cars, the windscreen wipers were driven by a suction pump - the faster the car went, the more suction was created. In heavy traffic, they went so slow that you couldn't see a darned thing!
April 26th, 2019  
@onewing
On a wing and a prayer, the John Lennon look might have worked in mono, yet never in colour. Michael had ginger hair, like Grandad Sherlock. He was the only one in 2 Sherlock generations, parents and children to have such.
April 26th, 2019  
Absolutely love this story and memory. Those were the days!
April 27th, 2019  
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