1987 – 1990
Suzuki GS550L
My first 4 cylinder bike, this one came from Two Wheel Services too. I don’t know why I bought it, it must have been 6 years old at the time, from memory it was a 1981 W reg bike. I was working for CBSL in Cardiff during my ownership of this one so it became my daily commuter, it never missed a beat.
The receptionist there commented on my riding style one day telling me how upright I sat and asked whether that posture was due to my time in the Army. Nope. It was just down to the style of bike.
Linda, the receptionist, worked on an old fashioned exchange where she would manually patch cables into the switchboard to connect the caller to the internal connection. Old technology but it worked.
The premise of the business before I arrived was that they were a bureau service entering payroll details into the Burroughs Mainframe computer for other companies, apparently there was a round the clock shift system inputting data, it was a really forward thinking plan when you look back, founded in 1965 and offering computer services, there probably weren’t more than 50 Mainframe computers in the UK at that point.
There was also a printing works on site where they would manufacture and print the payslips to use onsite and eventually to also sell on to others.
When the Burroughs finally reached the end of life it was pulled out of the server room by a winch on the back of the scrappy’s lorry, its only value was its weight in scrap and the gold content.
Anyway, my job there was to install the cables and servers into clients premises which would eventually replacing the bureau service.
It was on this one that I had my second crash, 50m from the first…. I was filtering down the outside of traffic waiting at Park Street traffic lights when a car decided to turn right, I glanced off the driver’s door and smashed into the opposite curb, I was unhurt but the engine casing got damaged and needed to be replaced.
I took this one to France for my first camping holiday to France, my cousin Terry was on his GS250L, we both arrived fully kitted up for a weeks camping in Northern Brittany, not a clue about France at all. I don’t remember eating for the whole time we were there,
I do remember getting some booze from the local supermarket though, we picked up a couple of bottles of cider vinegar each and trogged back to the tents ready for a good drunken night. It was horrible, if that is what the French drink I don’t ever want to go back there, yuk!
I now know what cider vinegar is…
We finished it though…
One day riding up the dual carriage way past Bridgend Ind Est. I got pulled over by pc plod. He pointed out my bald back tyre, which I knew about but I was part ex’ing the bike in a couple of days. Well he gave me umpteem chances to say “Yes Officer, I’ll get it changed straight away”, but I didn’t take the hint and kept insisting I was selling it so what’s the point…
Another 3 points…
I did sell it, I think I part ex’d it for my MG Metro Turbo.