In the beginning.....

Pete buys a bike and takes it to Rod's shed. It was a monday.

In the beginning there was Rod and myself, Pete.

Somewhere around the beginning of December 2005 I received a telephone call from an old school friend. Some 20-odd years ago he bought a number of things from me that I needed to sell including my motorcycle, a 1974 Suzuki T500L two-stroke twin in Candy Apple red, mileage about 20 000. I had a “family moment” like so many bikers before me and foolishly sold the bike and all motorcycle related goods and equipment for much needed money.

The call came from Phil, out of the blue, and he asked me if I wanted my old bike back! Now, this was the type of offer I needed to get back into some sort of motorcycling activity. I hadn’t owned a bike for twenty odd years, although I had taken a number of opportunities to steal a quick shot of various bikes along the way. With barely a millisecond's consideration I agreed to buy it back – but why did he want to get rid of it after so many years of ownership? Well it was the old “family moment” as he had to up sticks to Norway (and subsequently Oman) to work and needed the space in his garage for storage before he let his house out for a few years.

I anticipated some resistance from the current Mrs L but she was remarkably agreeable to the deal. Before she had the chance to reconsider I went over to Phil’s house as soon as I could to see the bike again. To be perfectly honest I didn’t want my old bike out of Phil’s garage, I wanted his wife’s Triumph 650 which sat between the Suzuki and a BMW 1100 twin. Or his father-in-laws Norton that was in there as well! Still if it meant a bit of biking then the Suzuki it would have to be. It came with a huge amount of spare parts as well; a deal was struck and the bike was mine to collect.

Despite lusting after the other bikes I was kind of pleased with my purchase. Phil is a decent lad and it was thoughtful of him to offer me the bike at a good price rather than sell it off to someone who might not care too much about the old Japanese stroker. It now had four owners – and I was two of them! I had met Phil at school when I moved to Dundee in 1973. I had carried with me the enthusiasm for motorcycles I had then, even at the age of sixteen and I was probably at least partially responsible for Phil’s enthusiasm for bikes.

The only trouble was that I had no place to keep it right away and my radical plans to remodel the back yard did meet with a bit of resistance. I would have to keep it outside exposed to the weather (no chance), in a big plastic bag (possible) or find somewhere else to keep it nearby (best option). To solve this dilemma I phoned Rod.

I first met Rod in 1969 when we both went to the same high school, although we lived in different towns. Rod’s father owned the local garage and was a biker in the 50’s, when everyone had bikes as their day-to-day transport as well as their leisure. This interest in motorcycles had rubbed off on Rod and that is where I got the bug. Rod claims however that it was my wife’s brother who lived next door to him in the 60’s who introduced him to the delights of the motorcycle, which rounds it all off rather nicely!

Despite leaving the area in 1973 I always kept in touch on and off with Rod. We both went to Glasgow for further education and met occasionally. We did lose touch through the 80’s but never lost that genuine friendship and to my knowledge we have never fallen out with each other. I returned to my roots along the way and we met up again in the early 90’s and I eventually moved back to Perthshire in 1998 where Rod had already returned.

“Rod, I’ve bought my old bike back and have nowhere to keep it. Can I borrow your shed?” If he did take the time to consider the question, which I doubt, then I missed that pause before he answered. “Of course! When are you getting it?”

“Monday night, if that’s suitable”.

“No problem, mate”.

We went to collect the Suzuki the following monday and went up to Rod’s shed with the bike. I have been there just about every monday night since! Along the way we have made regulars of Rod's brother Alan and another friend, Andy to our monday night mechanical madness. There is also Dave, a true petrolhead, who attends when he is not on an oil rig and Rod's father Jim who is known to be there from time to time.

One embarrassing confession. In the first mondays, perhaps the first 3 or 4, we had a kettle which was boiled for the making of non-alcoholic beverages. I apologise for bringing this shocking news to you.

This website is about our shed nights each monday in life, and nothing really gets in the way. Holidays merely reduces the attendance and does not cancel this vital meeting. Christmas and New Year can hinder progress, but only possibly because of the alcohol consumed on those days.