BLOCKADE BONNIE

Wow! Bonnie Whenin RC151I saw my the heart feature leapt. on Justthe Blockadefor a then secondI rememberedI thought this that was his my was pal’s stolen bike,in 1976. As I read the article, I felt I must have

known Stuart Urquhart in my youth. What he describes about him and his pals so mirrored my own memories of that time. As a youngster I too spent countless hours ogling through Victor Devine’s window at the Beesas and Trumpets, vowing that one would be mine one day. So on 10th June 1975, a few weeks before my 19th birthday, I went with my father to sign for my new T140. With Davie, Bernie, Joe and sometimes others, we too would head out towards Loch Lomond. We rode up to Crianlarich and

stopped at the Ben Mhor tearoom, then went on to Callander and Stirling or Aberfoyle via the Trossachs. It was like our personal playground. Me on my T140, Davie on a TR7 Tiger and Bernie on the purple Bonnie 650; Joe with a T150. What a sight and sound it must have been. The purple Bonnie had the same engine number prefix as my T140V, and mine is also right-foot gearchange; the last of the breed as the next bikes from Meriden were the new left hookers. I was in total agreement with Stuart about the bike’s performance, up until the

paragraph about the gearbox. I have had years of grief over mine. It has never been ‘excellent’ but instead suffers from the lever jamming and false neutrals. As for ‘ just slipping into first with

a click’? Ha! A loud KERLUNK, more like. I will get it fixed one day…

Anyway, that article brought back many fading memories to vivid colour. Thanks. Andy Mcfarlane, member 3740

I too had a blockade Bonnie … and sadly it put me off T140s for years and years. And like you, Andy, I thought Stuart’s story told its tale very well. My gearbox, by the way, was perfect… FrankW