The Stable.
My Horsepower History
2025 Honda CRF 300L
I regretted selling my first one from the day I sold it so it was only a matter of time. I love the grey colour scheme and in terms of confidence this bike has literally brought me on leaps and bounds. I never question pointing this bike at anything because I know it will just plough through. I have the bike kitted just the way I want it now and I’m sure we will share many a muddy track in the future.
2025 BMW R 1300 GSA
When this bike was launched it also launched a new breed of haters towards the GS. But not me. I was definitely on the fence about its looks, but when I first cast eyes on one in the flesh, that was it. I had placed a deposit on a 1250GSA in the same showroom, and when I went to do the deal on it, I saw this and cancelled everything.
At the time of writing this paragraph I still believe this bike is the most perfectly designed bike ever to exist, and every time I ride this bike it is an occasion. I don’t think twice about using it in all weathers, and I’ve enjoyed some superb trips to date and hopefully there will be many more.
2024 Triumph Street Triple
Considering the first time I saw the predecessor to this bike I thought it was perhaps the ugliest bike I’d ever seen, I now think this is potentially the most beautiful bike I’ve ever seen, what a turnaround! This striking colour scheme and that triple engine were enough for me to fall head over heels in love. Still to this day I look back at it in the stable when I’m leaving although admittedly I don’t ride it anywhere near enough as I should. The power in this bike is phenominal and the sound of the triple is the icing on the cake. Surprisingly the comfort is perfect for all day long riding and everywhere I go people admire it. It’s what is known in the business as a real headturner.
2007 Honda VFR 800
I was holidaying in Spain and one of these rocked up next to me at a café where I was supping a coffee. I instantly struck up a chat with the owner whose enthusiasm for his bike was infectous. I couldn’t stop thinking about this bike for the rest of the holiday and I was constantly on the buy and sell websites trying to find one as a project bike. I really enjoyed the whole process of getting the bike customised to my liking but once the bike was complete I didn’t want to risk dropping it so it sat too long in my stable unridden. Along came a subscriber to the channel who had fallen in love with it from my videos so it delighted me that she was off to a good home.
2023 Honda CRF 300L
Whilst my confidence was charting off the page with my riding prowess, one style I was very much lacking progress with was off road riding. I foolishly tried this on my R1200GS with road tyres on and of course that didn’t end well. I had read all the reviews about this bike so it was the obvious fit to bring me on the dirt roads. I absolutely loved what this bike was teaching me and in no time at all I was dancing through the back roads of Cavan, Ireland. I still to this day don’t know why I sold it but again I had an offer for the same price as I had paid for it a year earlier so my business brain told me to cash in. I regretted that from the moment I did the deal and a couple of years later bought the updated version….
2022 Aprilia RS660
Every so often a new bike comes along which literally stops me in my tracks and this was it! It had just won bike of the year in MCN and all the reviews were telling me I just had to have one. I’d sold a few bikes from the stable at this stage and thought this would not only be great fun riding the twisties where I live but it would allow me to explore track days, which it did. It was everything it was hyped up to be and even now I’m delighted to have had such an incredible experience with it but as what happened when I first saw this, another bike appeared on my radar and as the saying goes “you can’t keep them all”. Cue the Triumph Street Triple 765RS.
2022 Royal Enfield Continental GT 650
On one of my many visits to a motorbike dealer, I saw one of these in the shop. Its sheer beauty blew me away and I ordered one there and then. I had to have this in my rapidly growing fleet. Unfortunately after a couple of years ownership I realised that I was spending more time looking at it than riding it and I guess it’s because I thought it was too beautiful to risk getting dirty. Crazy really but an offer came in at the same time for it and my head said let it go. I still miss it in the garage if I’m being honest and I still believe it’s the best looking bike I’ve ever owned. I particularly loved the sound of it especially with the end cans on.
2016 BMW R1200GS Triple Black
My adventure bike addiction begins. I had always loved the styling of these bikes but never thought I would fit one. When I learned that this model came in a lowered chassis that was it, I had to have one. I bought this during the pandemic from the dealer website without riding it. When it arrived and I took it for it’s inaugural spin I realised I had found my calling. This style of bike and all day long riding comfort was like nothing I’d ever experienced and led me to my present day GSA but more on that later… One thing was for sure though, I was a total GS convert and my adventure truly began.
2010 Yamaha FJR 1300
This was my first BIG bike and my full on return to biking. It was also the bike that my YouTube was built around and to this day, the very first video I made about this bike on the channel is one of the most watched still. I absolutely loved this bike but it didn’t seem to love me unfortunately. Maybe I was just too inexperienced to expect to ride around on a bike of this size and power for my first bike back and I had quite a few tumbles. It also had weird quirks like a vacuum which would form behind the windscreen when riding at speed and a serious amount of counter steer to get back out of sharp cornering. Saying that, I still to this day have NEVER ridden a bike with this much power. The engine in this bike is sublime and I still haven’t ruled out trying another as a result. If I do, I shall be getting a later model with 6 gears oppose to the 2010 model I had with only 5. It was really missing this.
2006 Yamaha DragStar
At 50 years old, I realized that a 30-year break still wasn’t enough to get motorcycles out of my system. There was only one thing to do: buy another. I wanted something simple for Sunday afternoons, just to wander the country lanes near my home. I thought this bike would be perfect—not too fast, not too aggressive, just a gentle way to become reacquainted with the wind in my face.
Then, the 2020 pandemic hit, and this humble Sunday cruiser became my lifeline. Armed with a media pass to film COVID documentaries, I decided to use this bike to transport a hard drive of footage across a locked-down Ireland to a TV station in Dublin.
I didn't know it when I fired up the engine that morning, but that specific journey would change the entire trajectory of my life. It was the vital stepping stone to my Yamaha FJR1300, the birth of Wheelie Good TV, and my full-throttle return to the biking lifestyle. I will always be deeply grateful to this machine for opening up the world I know today.
1993 Honda CBR 600
This was a bike which I was equally as happy to look at as I was to ride it. Unfortunately neither of these moments lasted too long. The very day I collected this bike was the same day I crashed it. I was on my way to the Post Office to tax it straight from leaving ‘Kens Motorcycles’ on Westgate Hill and I ploughed into the back of a car full of lads who had jammed their brakes on as a prank because I wouldn’t take them up in a road race. These photos were taken after the bike was repaired along with my two legs and I never really had the confidence after that to ride again so cue the 30 year break from motorcycling.
1991 Suzuki RGV 250
My first ever two wheels! I even bought the leathers to match. What an amazing feeling being given the freedom to go and explore the open road and what a bike to do it on. I still remember the smell of the 2 stroke and of course the kick starter was a real old school ritual. I used to ride this bike in all weather and nothing would deter me. Thinking I was the coolest kid on the block it wasn’t going to be long though before I wanted more power…..And an electric starter! However, in hindsight I wish I still owned this as they are selling for ridiculous money but clearly my taste in bikes had started off on the right track.
