Chapter Eight
The Long Ride.
1949-1950
I see this advertisement in the daily newspaper.
Motorcycle for sale, $60. A.J.S. Special, 350cc Good order and condition.
I put $60 in my pocket and travel over to Devon port. There the motorbike man shows me all the good features but I don't really know what he is showing me. I say, I'll take it. He then tells me that the kick-starter is broken and the bike needs to be push-started. I say, I'll take it. He then explains that the gear lever is a bit unreliable. I just say, I'll take it. Then he says that he advertised it for $60 but was expecting to be talked down to $40. As the bike needs a few things doing to it, I can have it for $40. I say, I'll take it and hand him $40.
He asks me if I can ride a motorbike and I say that I can't but will work it out as I go. The only experience I've had is driving the tractor and riding my bike. I get on the A.J.S. and he gives me a push, the motor starts and away I go. I ride in first gear, slowly down to the Devonport Vehicular Ferry. I stop the engine and turn off the petrol, like he told me, and wheel it onto the ferry boat. Reaching the city side, I push it up the ramp. The ferryman asks me why I don't ride it off and I reply that I don't know how to, yet.
Once on the flat, I give it a push and jump on. I ride to the bottom of Parnell Rise where the engine cuts out. I'm pushing it up and down the road but it won't start. Then one of the lads from the boarding house comes along and gives me a push. It still won't start so we push it up Parnell Rise. At the top, we realized that I had forgotten to turn the petrol back on. It starts, and I ride home slowly.
Some of the lads at the boarding house help me work on it over the next few days. Then I get a free motorcycle book from an oil company, in the mail. This tells me how 4 and 2 stroke engines work and is of tremendous help.
Then I start practicing to learn how to ride. I'm riding along Great South Road and have just managed to get into 2nd gear, when I realized there is another rider alongside me. It is a traffic c