BIKE OF THE YEAR
Neil Sim had an itch to scratch. That itch was a bike he saw in a film way back in 1985 – a Suzuki GP 125 from the Scottish comedy film ‘Restless Natives’.
Another reader and another special restoration/special for the Bridgestone competition!
If you’re of a certain age and even from a certain part of this glorious Union of ours, you’ll recognise the two characters lovingly emblazoned on this Suzuki GP 125.
Yes, these are the characters Clown and Wolf-man, also known as Ronnie and Will, from the classic 1985 Scottish comedy film ‘Restless Natives’.
Now, with this brilliant film just released on Blu-ray for the first time, we don’t want to give too much away, but these two characters become modern-day highwaymen, stealing from coach parties of tourists who want to see the ‘real’ Scotland. Safe to say this film is a gem, up there with the likes of ‘Local Hero’, ‘Whisky Galore’ and ‘Gregory’s Girl’ as a bona fide, ‘north of the border’ comedy classic.
As well as the two main protagonists, the big star for many a bike-riding bairn on the film’s release would be the red Suzuki GP 125 which the two
heroes ride. CMM reader Neil Sim, from Arbroath, was so struck by the bike he wanted to recreate it, and then go one better. He says: “Why build this bike? Well, I grew up around the time the film came out; I think I was about 12 at the time. I also had a Suzuki A50 in the same red colour for running about in the woods on. I got it from my uncle, who got it from another uncle. Back then I always wanted a GP 125 and Restless Natives is simply my favourite film of all time. The music, by Big Country, is awesome and all the characters just fit. If you’ve not seen it then you really should go and see it, it ticks all the boxes and it’s a real ‘hero’ film for me.”
Bikes were a big part of Neil’s growing up. “That A50 was so good and fast; we called it the ‘nifty 50’ as it was a 50cc bike and it could do 50mph at a push. Of course we would be on fields and be flying over the woods near where we lived. The local farmer allowed us to play on his stubble fields… we’d play ‘tig’ on bikes, no helmet, no gloves… Imagine seeing kids do that now! But this was the way we got into biking back then. Other bikes my mates had included a Honda MT-5. When I first rode it, I remember my mate saying, ‘Let the clutch out!’. Course, he didn’t say S L O W L Y… So up the front popped! We were self-taught back then.
“Then there was a mate who had a Yamaha DT-125LC. I rode it and my friend said, ‘Be careful of the powerband!’. I was just 14 and was thinking, ‘What’s a powerband?’. Of course, I found out very quickly! I also had a go on a pukka GP 125, in blue, which belonged to my mate Gordon. He was older, about 18 at the time.”
Despite riding his mates’ bikes on the fields and in the woods, one bike still stood out: his own A50. “I’ve got such fond memories of that bike. I had it for about three or four years and then sold it to a mate; I was getting closer to legal bike age. I’d have another one tomorrow. I know that particular one is long gone. Eventually I ended up with that mate’s MT-5. Then I didn’t have a road bike for a while as my mum talked me out of it! Eventually I would get back into bikes. I’d sit the extended test and my first road-legal bike was a Honda VFR400 NC24, then a Kawasaki ZXR400, then a ZX-7R – my first new bike, it was a 1998 P3. That was one great, fun bike and the howl of the air getting sucked into those ram-air ducts... At the time one of my best mates had a ZX-6R Ninja and that was like a lot twitchier compared to the 7R but it was also more aggressive, but I liked the 7R. That ZX-7R in corners was rock-solid. Once I hit a large stone going round a corner but the bike kept tracking. I sold the ZX-7R about 10 years ago and regret selling it to be honest, it was the biggest mistake I ever made! After that I had a small break from bikes,
maybe just six months, maybe more.”
For Neil (and many of us) it was the same old story of settling down, so he left supersport bikes and bought a Harley-davidson V-rod. “Well, the Night Rod,” he recalls. “My mate who had the ZX-6R by this time had a V-rod Muscle. I saw this Night Rod and the reg plate was MY 08 NRS, which (for the previous owner, who got it for his 40th) was ‘My 2008 Night Rod Special’. Of course with my initials being Neil Ronald Sim, it fitted me perfectly!” Neil has since added to the V-rod with another Harley (a 48), two CCM Spitfires (a café racer and a scrambler), and a Ducati sports classic. With him often working away from home in Arbroath o(he was stuck in Russia for 18 months following the Covid-19 outbreak) he was often thinking of bikes to add to his collection.
Which brings us neatly to this beauty. “I was away working and thinking that I wanted a GP 125 of around the same age as the one in Restless Natives. It’s now time to talk about two brilliant people who made this creation possible. I didn’t do it! It was Bob Faulkner, a talented painter/air-brush artist, and Ian Robertson from Grieves Engineering & Restoration Services. Bob put me on to Ian, but first to find a bike. On ebay they were like hen’s teeth and thanks to me being away (time distance) I lost a few. Then I won a blue one which wasn’t good. I was away so my friends sorted it out. Ian sent me pics of the original bike and it wasn’t pretty…”
Ian at Grieves would soon set to work. “Ian did the deep intake of breath thing through his teeth and said, ‘This won’t be cheap!’. I knew that. It’s not about getting my money back, I wanted it right. Every so often Ian would send pics of the bike’s progression and then send a bill! He took his time. For Bob, I told him I wanted the chase scene on the tank – I’ve actually got a tattoo on my arm which is the same, courtesy of some talented tattoo artist in Russia! The chase scene always got me – the music and the guys with the masks on, it hit a nerve it is perfect! I then told Bob that the rest was up to him.
Of course I gave him some pictures, but all from the internet and it was like they were either direct from the VHS or taken with a Box Brownie!”
Eventually, travel restrictions were lifted and Neil could return home and see his GP 125. “The bike was just perfect. The only thing was that the day I got it, I was due to fly back to work! So it was a quick MOT, tax, insure it and then I headed out
– only for it to rain! It’s a fun little bike – it will put a smile on your face.
“It still needs a long run-out – maybe up to the west coast, in the Highlands… purely for fun. Of course I’ve hunted high and low for a replica mask! Either of them would be good! And I’d need to get one of those silicon guns from B&Q to make whatever it was the weapon they used…”
Maybe he’d need to hold up a coach-load of rich American tourists to pay for the build... ’ess up Neil! “Okay, maybe it was around £4000: most of that to get it running and restored. But I’m so happy with it – better than I ever imagined. I’ve also got a Morgan three-wheeler and that’s the same sort of thing, people want to talk about it.”