A picture a day... biker banter (Vol 6)
Discussion
I just found a pic online of my very own nemesis, Johnson ( spelt B A S T A R D in his own words ) the bike copper from Westgate Hill. I mentioned ( possibly in another thread somewhere ) that despite his deserved reputation with many at the time, he and I were on very good terms, despite my unending provocations, and remained friends after I gave up bikes. I've no idea why he and I got on so well.
Heaveho said:
I just found a pic online of my very own nemesis, Johnson ( spelt B A S T A R D in his own words ) the bike copper from Westgate Hill. I mentioned ( possibly in another thread somewhere ) that despite his deserved reputation with many at the time, he and I were on very good terms, despite my unending provocations, and remained friends after I gave up bikes. I've no idea why he and I got on so well.
Yep, he loved all the Boo's he got as he rode up or down Westgate Road.Biker's Nemesis said:
Yep, he loved all the Boo's he got as he rode up or down Westgate Road.
I was working at Pattersons the Ford dealer on Scotswood Rd when I binned my 600. I passed my car test while working there and after a vanilla Fiesta and an Ecort Ghia, I bought an XR2. I had packed bikes in completely by this time and was living with the girl that would later became my first wife. She was on the back of the 600 when it became part of the scenery, but unlike me walked away with barely a scratch.One day she and I were in the XR2 driving down the southbound slip road from the West Road onto the A1 to go to my dentist at the Metrocentre. I was typicaly late and doing about a ton as I got onto the bridge across the Tyne. To my horror, a bike copper appeared alongside me, not looking, but pointing to the hard shoulder and I pulled in with him now stopped in front. I got out and heard him burst out laughing as he was walking towards me. Of course, it's Johnson. I hadn't seen him for ages. He asked why the hurry, I told him I had an abscess that I was late to have treated. " Hurt? " he says. I nod " Bad? " he says. Again, I nod. "Ok, well now you've missed your appointment, so that's your punishment for 97 on the bridge!"
Somehow he knew I was soon to be married. No idea how, and when I asked him all he said were that his spies were everywhere and where was his invitation after all he's done for me!
My reply that if he was there, none of my mates would turn up made him laugh.To be fair, I would have nicked me for driving this.
Heaveho said:
I was working at Pattersons the Ford dealer on Scotswood Rd when I binned my 600. I passed my car test while working there and after a vanilla Fiesta and an Ecort Ghia, I bought an XR2. I had packed bikes in completely by this time and was living with the girl that would later became my first wife. She was on the back of the 600 when it became part of the scenery, but unlike me walked away with barely a scratch.
One day she and I were in the XR2 driving down the southbound slip road from the West Road onto the A1 to go to my dentist at the Metrocentre. I was typicaly late and doing about a ton as I got onto the bridge across the Tyne. To my horror, a bike copper appeared alongside me, not looking, but pointing to the hard shoulder and I pulled in with him now stopped in front. I got out and heard him burst out laughing as he was walking towards me. Of course, it's Johnson. I hadn't seen him for ages. He asked why the hurry, I told him I had an abscess that I was late to have treated. " Hurt? " he says. I nod " Bad? " he says. Again, I nod. "Ok, well now you've missed your appointment, so that's your punishment for 97 on the bridge!"
Somehow he knew I was soon to be married. No idea how, and when I asked him all he said were that his spies were everywhere and where was his invitation after all he's done for me! My reply that if he was there, none of my mates would turn up made him laugh.
To be fair, I would have nicked me for driving this.
There were some rough Estates beside Scotswood Road back then, I sort of recognise that area where your car is parked but can't pin point it in my head.One day she and I were in the XR2 driving down the southbound slip road from the West Road onto the A1 to go to my dentist at the Metrocentre. I was typicaly late and doing about a ton as I got onto the bridge across the Tyne. To my horror, a bike copper appeared alongside me, not looking, but pointing to the hard shoulder and I pulled in with him now stopped in front. I got out and heard him burst out laughing as he was walking towards me. Of course, it's Johnson. I hadn't seen him for ages. He asked why the hurry, I told him I had an abscess that I was late to have treated. " Hurt? " he says. I nod " Bad? " he says. Again, I nod. "Ok, well now you've missed your appointment, so that's your punishment for 97 on the bridge!"
Somehow he knew I was soon to be married. No idea how, and when I asked him all he said were that his spies were everywhere and where was his invitation after all he's done for me!
My reply that if he was there, none of my mates would turn up made him laugh.To be fair, I would have nicked me for driving this.
That Copper on the bike I'm sure he lived in Cramlington, he used to keep the bike at home and I used to see him washing it or it was parked on his drive. (It might not be home though)
Biker's Nemesis said:
There were some rough Estates beside Scotswood Road back then, I sort of recognise that area where your car is parked but can't pin point it in my head.
That Copper on the bike I'm sure he lived in Cramlington, he used to keep the bike at home and I used to see him washing it or it was parked on his drive. (It might not be home though)
That pic was taken outside my girlfriends granny's place in Washington, but I lived on an estate just off the A1 called Dumpling Hall estate, between the A69 and Scotswood Road. It wasn't easy hanging on to stuff then, and I ended up getting charged with serious assault when I caught 2 car thieves attempting to take the car below at 4am one morning.That Copper on the bike I'm sure he lived in Cramlington, he used to keep the bike at home and I used to see him washing it or it was parked on his drive. (It might not be home though)
Yeah, I believe Johnson did live in Cramlington iirc. There was another bike copper that used to live on Dumpling Hall, opposite the Vallum pub, at the same time as all of this, same thing, bike at home, washed on the driveway. He used to be on the hill sometimes, called Spratt. I went to school with his son. He was ok considering I used to beam in past his house at 2am after the valley on Saturday nights, usually on something with Microns!
Heaveho said:
That pic was taken outside my girlfriends granny's place in Washington, but I lived on an estate just off the A1 called Dumpling Hall estate, between the A69 and Scotswood Road. It wasn't easy hanging on to stuff then, and I ended up getting charged with serious assault when I caught 2 car thieves attempting to take the car below at 4am one morning.
Yeah, I believe Johnson did live in Cramlington iirc. There was another bike copper that used to live on Dumpling Hall, opposite the Vallum pub, at the same time as all of this, same thing, bike at home, washed on the driveway. He used to be on the hill sometimes, called Spratt. I went to school with his son. He was ok considering I used to beam in past his house at 2am after the valley on Saturday nights, usually on something with Microns!
Your Grannys place was reminding me of Killingworth, just down from Benton.Yeah, I believe Johnson did live in Cramlington iirc. There was another bike copper that used to live on Dumpling Hall, opposite the Vallum pub, at the same time as all of this, same thing, bike at home, washed on the driveway. He used to be on the hill sometimes, called Spratt. I went to school with his son. He was ok considering I used to beam in past his house at 2am after the valley on Saturday nights, usually on something with Microns!
I got slashed across the cheek with a Stanley knife in 1983 when I confronted the lad who stole my GT250, I also got a slash across the hand. I did get the better of him and he ended up getting a good old kicking.
Happy days.
I got a couple of photos of my old LC from a friend a few years back that I crashed, blew up, crashed and crashed some more until it sunk in I was doing it all wrong.
I'll post them up, they're on my phone. (pics were taken by him from his upstairs flat)
Ooooh, knives are knarly. Proper b
ds trick pulling that stunt, I hope you beat the living st out of him for that. I got stabbed in the shoulder with a screwdriver the thief was using to break into a car, on the pitch at the Toyota dealer I worked at on the West Road, Vardys. He got away. We caught his mate and I took it out on him.
Whereabouts is that pic of the LC? Not sure it really did sink in given the story about the 500 and the car?
I remember bike and car crime being totally out of control during those years locally and consider myself extremely fortunate not to have actually suffered from a loss, although I came close with my first 350 when it was on the hill. And the XR3i, obviously. They came with a truck for the car! The trick with them then was to try and short the alarm out by fusing the indicator, then getting better access by pulling the whole indicator unit out to get to the bonnet cable. I araldited razor blades in behind mine in the hope they would tear their hands to shreds when they did that. Not great when I was working on the car and forgot.
It's left me with a visceral hatred of thieves in general. I ended up in the RVI over the road when I caught some pillock messing about with my work van in January this year. His teeth went through a vein in my hand when I was punching him, claret ( and teeth! ) everywhere. The police were threatening to charge me for that as well, but that didn't happen. Still getting physio for that.
The only 350 I ever fell off was the black YPVS, on Pottery lane off Forth Banks. M&S started out there I think, in one of the units in the arches. I had them fit a rear tyre, and it threw me off on the cobbles as I was leaving. I was so incensed that I stood the front wheel against the wall, burnt the brand new tyre right through to the canvas, and got them to fit another tyre straight after! Total fking idiot.
ds trick pulling that stunt, I hope you beat the living st out of him for that. I got stabbed in the shoulder with a screwdriver the thief was using to break into a car, on the pitch at the Toyota dealer I worked at on the West Road, Vardys. He got away. We caught his mate and I took it out on him. Whereabouts is that pic of the LC? Not sure it really did sink in given the story about the 500 and the car?
I remember bike and car crime being totally out of control during those years locally and consider myself extremely fortunate not to have actually suffered from a loss, although I came close with my first 350 when it was on the hill. And the XR3i, obviously. They came with a truck for the car! The trick with them then was to try and short the alarm out by fusing the indicator, then getting better access by pulling the whole indicator unit out to get to the bonnet cable. I araldited razor blades in behind mine in the hope they would tear their hands to shreds when they did that. Not great when I was working on the car and forgot.
It's left me with a visceral hatred of thieves in general. I ended up in the RVI over the road when I caught some pillock messing about with my work van in January this year. His teeth went through a vein in my hand when I was punching him, claret ( and teeth!
) everywhere. The police were threatening to charge me for that as well, but that didn't happen. Still getting physio for that. The only 350 I ever fell off was the black YPVS, on Pottery lane off Forth Banks. M&S started out there I think, in one of the units in the arches. I had them fit a rear tyre, and it threw me off on the cobbles as I was leaving. I was so incensed that I stood the front wheel against the wall, burnt the brand new tyre right through to the canvas, and got them to fit another tyre straight after! Total f
king idiot.Edited by Heaveho on Thursday 4th July 18:46
Heaveho said:
...I remember bike and car crime being totally out of control during those years locally and consider myself extremely fortunate not to have actually suffered from a loss, although I came close with my first 350 when it was on the hill.
I had my KL250 trailie stolen from outside Kawasaki Newcastle in 1985. I'd parked it on the lane outside (before they moved around the corner) and went to look at a guitar amplifier at a music shop down the road. When I came back, no bike! This was the days before mobile phones (obvs!) so I went into Kawasaki Newcastle to use their phone; one of the salesmen helpfully said "Oh yeah - I saw them kicking at the front wheel - I wondered what they were doing!"
Heaveho said:
Ooooh, knives are knarly. Proper bds trick pulling that stunt, I hope you beat the living st out of him for that. I got stabbed in the shoulder with a screwdriver the thief was using to break into a car, on the pitch at the Toyota dealer I worked at on the West Road, Vardys. He got away. We caught his mate and I took it out on him.
Whereabouts is that pic of the LC? Not sure it really did sink in given the story about the 500 and the car?
I remember bike and car crime being totally out of control during those years locally and consider myself extremely fortunate not to have actually suffered from a loss, although I came close with my first 350 when it was on the hill. And the XR3i, obviously. They came with a truck for the car! The trick with them then was to try and short the alarm out by fusing the indicator, then getting better access by pulling the whole indicator unit out to get to the bonnet cable. I araldited razor blades in behind mine in the hope they would tear their hands to shreds when they did that. Not great when I was working on the car and forgot.
It's left me with a visceral hatred of thieves in general. I ended up in the RVI over the road when I caught some pillock messing about with my work van in January this year. His teeth went through a vein in my hand when I was punching him, claret ( and teeth! ) everywhere. The police were threatening to charge me for that as well, but that didn't happen. Still getting physio for that.
The only 350 I ever fell off was the black YPVS, on Pottery lane off Forth Banks. M&S started out there I think, in one of the units in the arches. I had them fit a rear tyre, and it threw me off on the cobbles as I was leaving. I was so incensed that I stood the front wheel against the wall, burnt the brand new tyre right through to the canvas, and got them to fit another tyre straight after! Total fking idiot.
The Lc photo's are at Bedlington Station, turn off the spine road for Bedlington and if you're at the traffic lights, look left and you'll see the alley in that photo. As I mentioned earlier, that was at my mates place, up stairs flat. (It doesn't look as rough as that now)ds trick pulling that stunt, I hope you beat the living st out of him for that. I got stabbed in the shoulder with a screwdriver the thief was using to break into a car, on the pitch at the Toyota dealer I worked at on the West Road, Vardys. He got away. We caught his mate and I took it out on him. Whereabouts is that pic of the LC? Not sure it really did sink in given the story about the 500 and the car?
I remember bike and car crime being totally out of control during those years locally and consider myself extremely fortunate not to have actually suffered from a loss, although I came close with my first 350 when it was on the hill. And the XR3i, obviously. They came with a truck for the car! The trick with them then was to try and short the alarm out by fusing the indicator, then getting better access by pulling the whole indicator unit out to get to the bonnet cable. I araldited razor blades in behind mine in the hope they would tear their hands to shreds when they did that. Not great when I was working on the car and forgot.
It's left me with a visceral hatred of thieves in general. I ended up in the RVI over the road when I caught some pillock messing about with my work van in January this year. His teeth went through a vein in my hand when I was punching him, claret ( and teeth!
) everywhere. The police were threatening to charge me for that as well, but that didn't happen. Still getting physio for that. The only 350 I ever fell off was the black YPVS, on Pottery lane off Forth Banks. M&S started out there I think, in one of the units in the arches. I had them fit a rear tyre, and it threw me off on the cobbles as I was leaving. I was so incensed that I stood the front wheel against the wall, burnt the brand new tyre right through to the canvas, and got them to fit another tyre straight after! Total f
king idiot.I was going to say I'm glad the violent days are over. Moving on.
I bought the engine for my work bike from Ian Myers when he was in the Arches at Pottery Lane, he did well for himself, he ended up owning half of Westgate Road. (I have a photo of us both at Croft a few years back)
Me on No38.
littleredrooster said:
I had my KL250 trailie stolen from outside Kawasaki Newcastle in 1985. I'd parked it on the lane outside (before they moved around the corner) and went to look at a guitar amplifier at a music shop down the road.
When I came back, no bike! This was the days before mobile phones (obvs!) so I went into Kawasaki Newcastle to use their phone; one of the salesmen helpfully said "Oh yeah - I saw them kicking at the front wheel - I wondered what they were doing!"
Kawasaki Newcastle was directly behind this lad. Davey W doing a burnout, 1980/81 I think.When I came back, no bike! This was the days before mobile phones (obvs!) so I went into Kawasaki Newcastle to use their phone; one of the salesmen helpfully said "Oh yeah - I saw them kicking at the front wheel - I wondered what they were doing!"
Biker's Nemesis said:
The Lc photo's are at Bedlington Station, turn off the spine road for Bedlington and if you're at the traffic lights, look left and you'll see the alley in that photo. As I mentioned earlier, that was at my mates place, up stairs flat. (It doesn't look as rough as that now)
I was going to say I'm glad the violent days are over. Moving on.
I bought the engine for my work bike from Ian Myers when he was in the Arches at Pottery Lane, he did well for himself, he ended up owning half of Westgate Road. (I have a photo of us both at Croft a few years back)
Me on No38.
Great pic. I can recognise Ian from that! I was going to say I'm glad the violent days are over. Moving on.
I bought the engine for my work bike from Ian Myers when he was in the Arches at Pottery Lane, he did well for himself, he ended up owning half of Westgate Road. (I have a photo of us both at Croft a few years back)
Me on No38.
I went off at Croft in the rain in this in 2016. I was asking for it to be fair.
I get up to Millies the diner at Bedlington station on a Wednesday night in that car usually if the weather's ok, so I'll have a look for that place next time.
I live in the city centre. It's very unusual in my experience to get bother these days. There's occasional opportunist theft, but it's rare. January was the first time I've had bother of any kind in almost 30 years.
What's that bike you're on in the pic, I'm not really up to speed with recognising stuff any more?
Heaveho said:
Great pic. I can recognise Ian from that!
I went off at Croft in the rain in this in 2016. I was asking for it to be fair.
I get up to Millies the diner at Bedlington station on a Wednesday night in that car usually if the weather's ok, so I'll have a look for that place next time.
I live in the city centre. It's very unusual in my experience to get bother these days. There's occasional opportunist theft, but it's rare. January was the first time I've had bother of any kind in almost 30 years.
What's that bike you're on in the pic, I'm not really up to speed with recognising stuff any more?
Its going to be your lucky night this Wednesday if you're there, I live less than 10 minutes away.I went off at Croft in the rain in this in 2016. I was asking for it to be fair.
I get up to Millies the diner at Bedlington station on a Wednesday night in that car usually if the weather's ok, so I'll have a look for that place next time.
I live in the city centre. It's very unusual in my experience to get bother these days. There's occasional opportunist theft, but it's rare. January was the first time I've had bother of any kind in almost 30 years.
What's that bike you're on in the pic, I'm not really up to speed with recognising stuff any more?
The Bike in the photo is a 2013 Fireblade, picture was taken in 2015. I got shot of it at the end of the year as I didn't get on with it.
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