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A winter night story

 
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sidecarkeith



Joined: 06 Jan 2007
Posts: 336
Location: yorkshire uk

PostPosted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 7:27 pm    Post subject: A winter night story Reply with quote

The Tomato Dip Club
Given that winter is setting in it’s time for old tales of daring do’s and funny anecdotes to be told, saying that if this stuff is boring you to bits say so and I’ll stop.

I was only in my early teens when my older Brother Bobby got his first motorcycles, he soon passed his test, things like that came natural to him. People said he could charm birds out of trees if he wanted to and had the looks to go with it.

He and a couple of mates built a Triton (hence the reason I now have one), and that’s how I was introduced to bikes, as pillion.
On Kirkstall Road Leeds was the Ice rink the local hang out for girls (where Yorkshire TV is now) opposite was the 24/7 Associated Dairies factory (milk), on the corner was a café open 24/7 to get the trade from the dairy’s night shift. This was the “Tomato Dip Cafe”, what is a tomato dip, I hear you ask?
Very health snack – not! Basically, a bread cake dipped in a hot frying pan of bacon and filled with tomatoes, the cheapest sandwich in the café.
So Friday nights was my night to ride pillion a good night at the ice rink in summer or Squires in autumn & spring, afterwards we’d ride back to the café and sit there until the diary’s night shift came in with their orders (funny how it was always the young girls who came with the orders) mmmm!
Someone would tune the radio into Radio Luxenbourg and we’d drink pints of tea and listen to the old rock music, of course once the girls arrived the place lit up especially if a dance song came on it looked like a scene from Grease (the film).
Our girls would wear tight red jumpers or tops (tomatoes) and black skirts, funny how most seemed to have long hair, which I’d have thought impractical (women’s logic) there was about twelve of them with only a couple romantically link to members of the club.
When the Leeds Scooter Club would ride past on their way to their pub somewhere up near Kirkstall Abbey, we would rush out and jeer and shout uncomplimentary comments about using their scooters to mow the lawn with.
In all this time I never once saw a fight between them and us, this myth about Rockers fighting everywhere they went is something of a media hype, hence all the TV bad guys wear black leather jackets (just watch Emmerdale).

I remember one of the last ride outs we had together, we set off for Scarborough at midnight ten of us plus girls.
On the way we spotted a couple of scooters broken down and stopped and fixed it, in those day you had to carry a tool kit, so you could get home. In a way they too were rebels a two wheeled kindred spirit, us against conformist cars, which to us meant wives, kids.
Anyway once in Scarborough we rumbled around looking for somewhere to stay, we ended up in a dark park at the top of the cliffs. Parked the bikes off the road and unrolled our sleeping bag and fell asleep on the benches.
How surreal in the morning when we woke up, we’d parked around a bowling green and the old folk were happily stepping round our bikes playing a game of bowls!
They even proferred a good cheap café to have breakfast, some went to the regular café at the front and we set off to the recommended one, outside we tried to collect our money together to buy our breakfasts.
When a girl (Modette) came to the door and beckoned us in, once inside we found the two scooter lads and their girlfriends sitting inside from the night before. They offered to buy our breakfast which we accepted. Turned out they came from well to do families in Harrogate and money was no problem, we had a good laugh with them most of that morning. Of course when the scooters had their parade along the front that afternoon we jeered them along with the others, maybe not too loud when our two scooters friends came past, well it was Bank Holiday Sunday their day, Monday was ours.

Why did we wear jeans and black leather jackets, easy, oil leaks, breakdowns which British bikes were notorious for in those days, easy to hide the muck and leather is still the best protector for down the road slides. Besides all that sensible stuff, James Dean, Elvis and Marlon Brando wore them.
Well it’s time to leave this section of my biker lifestyle, if it’s okay I’ll continue later with my heydays the 70’s and 80’s, from Donna Summer to Hendrix from BSA 650 to Kawasaki Z1000. I cannot believe I said that in one sentence!
Keith
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bmcsheehy



Joined: 22 Jan 2005
Posts: 991
Location: Massachusetts USA

PostPosted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 11:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very good.

Clapping Clapping Clapping Clapping Clapping Clapping
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Bill
High Performance Sidecaring... ...There is nothing "HACKED" about it.
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Ralph



Joined: 27 Jan 2005
Posts: 603
Location: Lexington, Ky

PostPosted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 2:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Clapping That was great Keith Smile Me thinks I have been there and done that Smile I sure remember repairing a lot of stuff on the side of the road to us back home. Seemed like every trip out. I picked up a girl on a 5 dollar bet at the drive in restaurant and it cost me 14 years of my life. Smile
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zentime



Joined: 22 Jan 2005
Posts: 837
Location: Massachusetts USA

PostPosted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 4:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

some how I missed this Confused

Motorcycle Happy Motorcycle Happy great story!

please continue

Impatient Impatient Impatient
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will August ever come............
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David



Joined: 18 May 2006
Posts: 109
Location: Chelsea Michigan

PostPosted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 1:50 am    Post subject: A winter night story Reply with quote

Good stuff Keith. Going down memory lane Smile

Talked the disco light thing over with my brother , came to the conclusion too many liabilities. One of us old farts might try dancing, and get hurt. Presently working on LED lit curb finder! Laughing

Dave Hutting
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