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[Wilf]

Hi there to all,

After many years of riding only Yamaha's I eventually branched out to other marques, I am happy to say that I am now once again a Yamaha owner again

I started off, as all the greats, did on the humble fizzy, a bike I never crashed! From there, as soon as age allowed I progressed onto my first 250, an RD250E ...which i crashed after 4 days...bloody target fixation! but went on for a good 18 months of happy thrashing till an idiot knocked me off into a telegraph pole breaking my arm and leg, as it was his fault I eventully got a good payout but I don't recommend it as a way of making money, it was a hard painful recovery. 

Whilst being off the road the government changed the law and I was unable to ride my 250 on L plates any more, I borrowed an RD125 twin for a while but was less than impressed so opted for the easier car test and a classic Capri but still yearned for the perfomance of a bike. Except I was unwilling to do the test...too stubborn in that respect!

So, I went for the easy license option... a racing license, you just filled out a form, signed a cheque and they sent it to you, simples!

I bought myself a very tasty RD250LC and that sent me on a 20 year journey racing motorcycles, over those years I raced Yamaha TZR250's, FZ750's, OW01'S, FZR600's, and YZF750SP's.

I also raced non Yamaha's for various sponsors, CBR600's, GSXR600's and GSXR750s, I completed my career on my own RVF400 and ZXR600RR (which I still own and is my road bike)

I raced initially on short circuits but was persuaded to race in the Manx Grand Prix in 1991 which was a bit of a life changer, I thoroughly enjoyed real road racing but it was and still is a very expensive pastime, hence the short circuits took a bit of a back seat and my time and budget was mostly spent racing the TT circuit and Southern 100 with a couple of excursions to the NW200

I also found myself relocating to live on the Isle of Man, somewhere I have lived since 1996.

To bring you all up to date, despite being a very happy and proud owner of a 2003 Kawasaki ZX600RR (itself being a bit of a collectors item) I have recently purchased my first Yamaha for many years. Another TZR250, slightly newer than my 1988 racing steed but a bloody sight more expensive than I paid for my 3 month old original, it also ticks a box I have wanted to tick for a long time, to get back to two strokes, a fond memory of racing which might be a bit clouded with time, but it was a great grounding where racing was fast enough but not inherintly dangerous like todays mini superbikes.

I was proud to say for many years  "I have only ever riden Yamaha's" maybe that was bit blinkered on my part because I have to say the other marques I have ridden have been for the most part very impressive bikes, but, I am glad to be back on a Yamaha and to complete the circle.