Friends reunited…

Remember that old website that was popular about 20 years back? That’s the one, Friends Reunited.

I recall joining it in 2001 and hooking back up with lots of old school and college chums. Apparently, it was also named in a number of divorce proceedings, and eventually was taken over by other social media platforms, despite a peak of almost 24 million members, finally shutting down in 2016 after 16 years of helping to reconnect people.

In our hobby, we love to reconnect to our bikes. I’ve got lots I’d love to get back with: F238 JKN (some chance, KMX125 which was nicked), N690 XTF (Kawasaki ZX-6R), Y174 NLO (929R Fireblade – apparently the gearbox exploded after my ownership), and S528 JJH – my old Kawasaki ZX-9R.

We did around 25,000 miles together in just over a year; I loved that bike. So it was with some trepidation that I rode a mint example of the C-1/C-2 Ninja breed recently. Would it be as good as I recalled and be all I thought it was cracked up to be?

Oh yes – and then some, and best of all I did a trawl and saw how cheap these things are. Bloody hell… then I went on to the DVLA’S version of ‘Friends Reunited’ to find that S258 JJH was SORN’D and last had an MOT in the middle of 2021… Hmmm… I didn’t tell my other bikes, in case they got a bit jealous…

Another great reuniting story comes courtesy of our Pip Higham, where his mate returned to the family home he’d sold, had a cuppa with the new owner and went into the loft to find… his old bike in bits! Can you believe it? That’s well worth a full feature, Pip – so get on it!

So now it’s time for you. We want to hear if you’ve had the same bike for many years or been reunited with an old two-wheeled flame. We want YOUR stories in this, YOUR magazine. So you know where to send them…

And if you like what you see in CMM, simply scan that weird box thing on the ‘Next Month’ page or go to: https://www.classicmagazines. co.uk/issue/preorder or even subscribe (page 68.)