Shiny and Dozer ride again!

Alan Davison (May 2020) writes about people quizzing him on how much his classic is worth, saying how annoying it is. I think there's a sub-species of us bikers on clunkers that don't get those comments. It's populated by riders of non-shiny, lightly oozing bikes of the make and year maybe that Matt rides; but there the similarity ends.

Who are these lucky unpestered souls? Well, you can sometimes pick them out in the bacon butty queue by their grubby (but serviceable) waterproofs, seams often reinforced with nonmatching tape and battered open-face helmets.

The chirpy chappy who straightaway asks the value of the shiny classic of its loving owner tends to avoid Mr/Ms taped waterproofs. He casts but a glance on faded paintwork and has no wish to hear the start-up whir of tightly meshing pinions on the Dozer of indeterminate age. Instead he heads straight to pester poor Shiny's owner. Meanwhile Dozer owner gets his/ her sarnie and tea, then fires up the old nail and putt-putts off for the next 100 miles of classicriding joy, smugly wondering if poor polite Shiny's rider will ever be let on his way.