WIN S-doc cleaning kit!

As a long time buyer of Motorcycle Mechanics (even before the ‘Classic’ was added to the title) I am a current subscriber and I thought it was about time I tried to contribute a little. I seem to have hit the type/age of bike you currently focus on. So, I started riding in 1976 and have never stopped. So far I’ve had 34 bikes and I have learned to enjoy all sorts of bikes. Currently, I have a 2002 Fazer 1000, I bought it new and have been around France a few times, plus many ride outs to Wales: it’s a fantastic all-round bike and it has now done 22,000 miles. I guess that is just inside the scope of the magazine now and it does have a 1998 R1 engine! The 1998 ZX-9R C2 I bought in 2015 and is in great condition with just 16k miles. I did have a 2003 Aprilia RSV1000R – one of the last Mark 1 Milles, with all of the bling – but just could not get on with it, so I went back to the ZX-9R (I had a new one in 1998) to prove to myself that I was still capable of riding a sports bike – I love it! The 1997 Triumph Thunderbird is a different ball game: it is just great for a sunny ride out around the Cotswold villages and just encourages you to take it easy. It has an Ohlins shock! Please don’t ask me why: it was on it when I bought it a couple of years ago and the louder pipes sound amazing, but not too anti-social. It has done just 6000 miles. The 1991 Yamaha FZR1000 EXUP is ‘work in progress’. I bought it in 2014 and fitted it with a better (second hand) set of downpipes, I also found a NOS Micron carbon can, I then balanced the carbs, rebuilt the cam-chain tensioner, sorted the EXUP valve, fitted a Hagon shock, EBC pads etc. and It has 23,000 miles. It’s a really nice ride and bit by bit, it gets better. I also have a Sherco 290 Trials bike that I enjoy playing in the woods with, plus indulging in the occasional trial: the last one I entered had Bradley Smith as an entrant. Both my sons ride, one has a Diverson 600 the other a 2003 R1. The sad old git that I am, I have every bike mag I have ever bought (and I started in the early 1970s.) I clearly have a very tolerant wife!