Testing times

Regarding the letter in the January OBM from Peter Biles – this got me thinking about my own test. I did my National Service in the RAF and got my driving licence, but it didn’t cover motorcycles. I spent my service at RAF Wahn in Germany where my job was to look after the motorcycles, Triumph TRWs, so I had a licence in Germany but that didn’t cover me in Britain.

When I was demobbed in 1957 I bought a BSA Sloper 600 for £10. I had been riding it around what was then the small town of Whitstable for some time with no L plates. So, on the test day, I put L plates on. But then, when I kick-started it, it backfired, breaking the kick-start lever where it joined the gearbox shaft.

My boss said: “Jump-start it, you need the licence to work here. If you don’t pass, don’t come back.”

No problem, I had jump-started lots of bikes. I rode the eight miles to Canterbury Test Centre in New Dover Road and explained the problem to the tester. He said okay and to carry on.

The test run went well. When I got back to the office the tester spent some time with the paperwork before he looked up and said: “Who taught you to ride, Geoff Duke? You’ve passed, but just take it easy.”

I did also work with Derek Minter at Marcel Hallets, Canterbury, when I left school at 15, but that’s another story… Ben Crouch, Herne Bay, Kent