FALKLANDS VET GETS SPECIAL BIKE
FALKLANDS veteran Simon Weston has taken to the road on a bespoke £25,000 Triumph trike – and said he was “living my dream”.
Simon was presented with the machine days before his 60th birthday by former Triumph engineer and world sidecar speed record holder Norman Hyde, who initiated the project two years ago.
Hinckley-based Triumph Motorcycles donated a 2020 T120 Bonneville to be the base of the design and Hyde selected Trike Design in Simon’s home town of Caerphilly, South Wales, to convert it.
Crowdfunding brought in the remainder of the build cost.
Simon said: “I’m living my dream. When I was young, my late mother made me promise never to have a motorbike, but I had wanted a trike for years.
“I cannot thank Norman and the many people who donated for their kindness and generosity and turn my dream into reality.”
Serving as a 20-year-old with the Welsh Guards during the 1982 conflict in the South Atlantic, Simon suffered 46 per cent burns when the ship he was on was bombed. He lost fingers from both hands.
Norman said: “When I met Simon two years ago, he told me of his passion to ride a trike.
“Knowing the sacrifices and bravery Simon had shown to our country, combined with the good and willing people in the British biking community, I immediately thought about trying to help make Simon’s dream happen.” Simon took readily to the trike after a couple of lessons and, once fully confident, hopes to entice his wife Lucy on to the pillion seat.
He said: “I have never ridden a two-wheeler, so I didn’t have any preconceptions. I soon worked out how to ride it – I didn’t want to stop.”