Motorcycles

Motorcycles have been a major obsession since my twenties. I remember being terrified of them but finally bought one and learned to ride. Been riding them since then without a major accident, I'm happy to say. It's been a happy relationship, though there have been a few foul ups (mainly spark plugs). It was economic necessity which changed me from a sedate, complacent middle class type driving a car to an often happier, occasionally frightened (close calls) and a more romantic type of road user on two wheels. All I can say is -- happy riding!

The bright smiles on the faces of this advertisement for a fast little Kawasaki two-stroke roadster of the 1970s says it all for the hopes and dreams of the young. There was an infinite variety of Japanese two-stroke motorcycles those days and it looked as if they’d never end, but they did. In Sri Lanka, it’s mostly Indian and Chinese motorcycles on the roads now, and they are four-strokes. The era of two-stroke road motorcycles has almost come to an end.