Donald - the canny Scot
I've known Don since 1977 when he and his (then young) family lived near one of my regular watering holes
and we've been great friends since then. At the time I had a Suzuki GT250M (the Ram Air model) and he had
a Honda 400/4, which greatly influenced my next choice of bike - his was an F2 in metalic red while mine
was an F1 in non-metalic blue.
Don - photo taken at his 60th birthday party.
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Don's GL1500 Goldwing at rest.
The Goldwing shown here his second, the first being one of the early unfaired 1100s but he has had this one for over a decade now and it's been over the UK and across Europe, the mileage being kept down (and the bike's condition up) by his running a second bike as a "ride to work" commuter - currently a Guzzi Breva 1100. |
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Don's GL1500 Goldwing at the coast, Isle Of White.
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The trusty Honda 600 Transalp.
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Don's bikes have always been ridden, often as his "ride to work" commuter. Even the 1100 Goldwing was his
commuter machine until one morning when the righthand cylinder head got taken off by the bucket of a JCB
digger coming the other way - a close call if ever there was one and one from which he emerged virtually
unmarked. That bike sat in his garage for years until sold off as another man's restoration project.
A more suitable commuter was found in the form of a 600 Transalp which had stood the test of time before, in turn, being replaced by a Suzuki DL650 V-Strom. While the V-Strom was an excellent bike it didn't match up to the old Tranny and was in turn quickly replaced by the Moto Guzzi Breva 1100. Don had hankered for a Guzzi for years after riding a friends M1 Le Mans and this only disappoints in it's eratic starting - temporarily sorted with a bodged on found on the Guzzi owners' web site, before finally being laid to rest with the fitting of a new battery. |
The "ride to work" Suzuki DL650 V-Strom - replaced by the Breva 1100.
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The Breva 1100 that replaced the V-Strom.
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The Breva from rear quarter.
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A later shot of the Breva with screen and topbox fitted.
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Goldwing and Breva 1100 side by side.
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 Don's BMW RT1200, replacement for the Breva. |
 Don's BMW RT1200. |
 One of Don's earlier bikes - a Honda KZ750 with fairing. |
Don's KZ750 and Alan's Yamaha 750 Seca. These 2 photos are scanned from pre-digital 35mm photos.
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 Don's 750 F2 Honda with fairing. |
Don's 7500 with his wife Liz posing onboard.
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 Don & Liz on their 1500 GoldWing. |
This picture of Don and his Goldwing shows that (unlike my Suzie) his wife Liz does ride with him. She has been known to fall asleep on the back between their home in Essex and Stranraer - the ancestral home town. The photo below proves I have both a sense of humour and no shame....  Don said I wouldn't load this photo of me taken c1977. |
 Don's 1980 GL1100 Goldwing that is still somewhere in Essex. |
 Andy and Mark on Don's Goldwing circa 1993/4. |
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