‘I WAS PUSHED INTO SORTING IT MYSELF’

My wife Kath bought me a classic motorbike a few years ago for my birthday – a 1953 122cc James Cadet. I travelled up to the Borders to collect it, then took it to a local classic dealer/mechanic and asked him to powder coat certain parts and chrome others, then restore it. I was given a price for the whole restoration and after a while the pieces had arrived back at the shop, all looking great, but then he hit me with the bombshell that I had only paid for the bits to be painted, etc. I was told that putting the bike together would cost the same again and a bit more. I put all the bits in the van and took them home.

I was happy that I’d been pushed into sorting out the bike myself, which was my deep-down ambition all along. I began the work with my late brother-in-law and best friend, Ian Eaglen, a former mechanic who gave me loads of help and tips.

The bike still needs the electrics sorting and I am not sure whether to paint the original exhaust or buy a new system. I am a novice at restoration, but I have loved the journey. My shed is now a cross between a workshop and a museum to classic bikes and my son Mark loves the James, too – he has a tattoo of the bike on his arm.