In the beginning - God said, 'Let there be bikes!'

These things all begin with a silly idea and maybe a couple of beers.

The talk of track days was a constant theme both with my neighbour, the owner of an agency I work with and my sisters boyfriend. I have never done one and as much as I would like to my Moto Guzzi is not a motorcycle for getting your knee down - much more of a country lane muncher.

I have harboured dreams of building a cafe style bike, ever since visiting Bikeshed at Tobacco Dock, though I lack the mechanical experience currently it has been a bit of a pipe dream.

Something like this!

So when it became evident that there was a racing class for the CB500, a cheap commuter bike used by bike messengers and the like - a plan started to form in my mind.

It started so innocently...

What began as an occasional look on eBay turned into something that started to consume me. I realised that these little bikes actually are quite sought after - probably as donor bikes for the Thundersport class and would go for much higher than I would value a bike that old and with that high a mileage. Time went on and started putting a little money aside, rounding up a purchase here and holding back on a beer there.

This gave me the opportunity to actually bid on a bike if one turned up, though I was yet to find any that ticked all the boxes.

Always check the location

And so it came to pass one evening that I saw a nice little blue CB500, decent miles, looked in good nick and with a Friday evening of beer in me I put a cheeky bid in.

I woke up to an email saying I had been the lucky winner.. a moment of excitement and the concern washed over me - I hadn't even discussed this with my wife and the shed was currently full of rubbish. This anxiety was compounded when I looked closer and realised where the bike was located...

I would walk 500 miles

I definitely wasn't going to walk there, and my initial idea of getting the train up and riding the bike faded as the realistic voice in my head reminded me I hadn't even seen the bike so a 300 mile journey might not be the best first encounter.

I decided to hire a van and just get up super early and tough it out, so after letting Heidi know I was nipping out in the morning to pick up a bike (it was much more protracted than that) I got up at about 3am to start my mission.

In reality it was a real pleasure as a '19 plate automatic Transit is lovely to drive and after all I was going to pick up the item that would hopefully tick off two bucket list items in my life.

5 hours later I arrived and after a lovely chat with the gentleman selling the bike we got it loaded up.

The drive home through the borders was pleasant enough, though my 3am start was taking it's toll a little and I eventually pulled up at home around 4pm, jaded but excited.

You have been where??!

Turns out my neighbour had explained exactly where I had been during the day which really pleased my wife but she could see how me and my neighbour were like kids, looking over the bike and discussing its merits.

Turns out I had lucked out, the bike was mechanically sound and started fine. I just needed to get on Amazon and pick up a Haynes Manual and the fun could begin. :)

Next post.. The Strip Down!