Honda CD90

The picture to the right shows myself, my sister Debbie, and my brother Alan. It was taken in Perth, Western Australia. I think it must have been taken in 1970. In 1971 I argued with my Dad over the length of my hair and left home (clearly not a problem in this picture).

Note the clothes. Clashing checks were de rigeur in Australia at that time. I have dispensed with the knee-length socks and gone for the more casual, sandalled look. Buddy Holly geek specs were in. Feminism, the Vietnam War, drugs, rock and roll, and Garry Glitter took time to reach Perth, but within two years I looked more like Robert Plant than Buddy Holly.

It was around this time I was drafted to the Australian Army, which had proportionately more soldiers in Vietnam than the Americans. There was a pervasive belief that if South Vietnam fell, it was only a matter of time before the Red Commie Chinese began marching over Sydney Harbour Bridge. I decided to complete my degree, and see whether there was still a war when I finished (there wasn't).

I bought the Honda CD90 late in 1968 to travel to university. I don't know why I decided to buy a bike - my Mum's cousin was killed on a bike when the throttle jammed open, so there wasn't any family encouragement. The CD90 was a motorbike version of the more common C90 step-thru that has sold millions. It had the same engine. It could reach 60 mph, and occasionally did.

The CD90 cost nothing to run, and it was great for practising falling off. It had those early Japanese tyres that lasted forever and had as much grip in the wet as two bars of soap, so I was able to practice 50 yard sideways slides into pedestrian crossings. I was stopped by a policeman for ducking and weaving through the traffic on the Stirling Highway, and he said (in a flattering and memorable turn of phrase) that an officer riding "above and beyond the call of duty" would not have taken the risks I had. It is a fine tradition I have tried to maintain.

After a couple of years a woman driver coming the other way decided to turn right. I hit her car square on and flew over the bonnet. My lawyer was able to convince her insurance company that the scars would prevent me from appearing in Baywatch, and I was able to buy a better bike with the blood money.

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