A ROCKER’S TALE

TECHNICAL EDITOR, 2004-CURRENT

How CB gave Rick Parkington a quiff plus first-person ton-up recollections

The first issue of Classic Bike that I ever saw was bought by my dad in 1979. However, the one to really catch my interest was the second one he bought, which was June/july 1980. I had just turned 16 and was on the road with my 50cc BSA Beaver.

The magazine was a massive influence. It wasn’t dry or stuffy, and combined snappy lines from the likes of Royce Creasey (‘the Goldie isn’t loud it’s paralysing, it makes cyclists forget to pedal and suggests you’ve caught up a bit of tarmac and are tearing it down the dotted line...’) with the gravitas of senior figures from the past – industry figureheads, designers and engineers, retired racers, and old-school journalists who’d been in the thick of the action. Bike owners featured were obviously older than me, but still young enough to be cool, and the classic scene seemed a huge and exciting world – which it still does.

I was probably most inspired by Mike Nicks’ ‘The Rocker’s Tale’, a biography of former ton-up boy Paul Morin’s café racing exploits in the 1960s. This feature led me to abandon traditional high ’bars and long hair in favour of clip-on ’bars and a quiff. This feature was inspirational to many people I knew – and you can read it on the following pages. There have been many memorable moments in 14 years working on CB. Taking our Project H1 Kawasaki to the Isle of Man and running out of petrol riding from Douglas to Ramsey because it ran so badly. Seeing Manx photographer Dave Collister lying full-length in a streaming gutter waiting to photograph Ben Miller. The Banbury Run where I rode my 1925 BSA and finally mastered it. I was riding with Hugo on my Rex Acme and ‘Badger’ Crichton on Ewan Mcgregor’s similar bike, but we got separated, reuniting in time to all run out of fuel together. The other Banbury Run, where my rusty 1915 Blackburne – which had fired-up the night before for probably the first time since before my dad was born – completed the run without a moment’s trouble. And the Project Rickman Bonnie that brought me into contact with lovely Dorothy Brewis, widow of the bike’s only owner, Peter Brewis. He won this first-ever Street Metisse in an MCN competition, but passed away before completing the restoration. Anxious to see it finished, Dorothy contacted us and I agreed to take it on. After the bike was sold, Dorothy and I stayed in contact and I was – and still am – very sad to learn that she died suddenly last year. Dorothy was a very special person and through the magazine I have met so many great people.

‘WE REUNITED IN TIME TO ALL RUN OUT OF FUEL TOGETHER’