Neale Bayly

Resurrecting A Laverda, Part 1

Posted by Neale Bayly | Jan 13, 2025 | Legendary Bikes, Ride Life | 1

In early 1981 I rolled into the town of Colchester on a well-worn Yamaha XT 500, flat broke wearing a leather jacket, a pair of thread bare jeans, and just a bag of clothes on my back. As I pulled over in the high street to get my bearings, it happened. A bright orange Laverda Jota fired up a few hundred yards away, filling the high street with the most blood-curdling roar as the owner blipped the throttle to warm the engine. Watching transfixed as he then climbed on, clicked the snarling beast into gear, before dropping the clutch, and taking off with the most intoxicating cacophony of sound I had ever heard. Winding the big triple up close to red line in first gear before letting off to slow for the traffic light, the noise the big Laverda made on the overrun was as equally stunning as it snorted and backfired in the quiet English afternoon.

Neale Bayly’s Moto Flashbacks: Back to Sunny Florida

Posted by Neale Bayly | Jan 2, 2025 | Ride Life | 0

As the minor character in this horrendous drama, the fact that my bones were mending and my dependence on narcotics was waning, apart from when Wibbly came to visit, and I was beginning to get my strength back was all positive. Walks around the garden were extending to the end of the drive, the end of the road and even down to the local chippie (fish and chip shop in English). My thoughts began now to focus on Florida, specifically the sun, beaches and girls in bikinis. Not that there’s anything wrong with living with your mother in freezing, cold, damp weather with seven hours of murky daylight.

Neale Bayly’s Moto Flashbacks: Broken Bikes and Bones

Posted by Neale Bayly | Dec 4, 2024 | Ride Life | 0

Life has a way of sorting itself out and somehow, we all made it back to England. My mother got back to her usual high-pitched soprano from the wedding-induced contralto, and life carried on. Dickie loaned me his Honda CBX550 so I could get around, and just when things were beginning to pick up another little faux pas was about to happen…

Neale Bayly Rides: Yamaha 360 Getaway Bike

Posted by Neale Bayly | Nov 5, 2024 | Ride Life | 8

The work was dirty and laborious, but there on the dock sat the reward for my day of toil- a rather ratty Yamaha XS360 four stroke parallel twin. Once the day was over, I would have the pleasure of riding it across town to the duplex where I was staying, in what could be described as a slightly dodgy part of town. My Landlord Jimmy owned the bike, and a Triumph chopper, which is actually how we met, although thinking about it his sister Debbie was the reason we met. I guess she thought we’d get along because we were both into motorcycles. Debbie was actually married to Crazy Laughing Dave Wainright, who was Jimmy’s best friend, and he had a Honda 550 chopper so we all got along swimmingly.

Neale Bayly Rides: A Fire-Breathing Yamaha

Posted by Neale Bayly | Oct 2, 2024 | Ride Life | 0

With the tuned motor, lowered gearing and motocross bars, the RD400 wheelied through the first three gears, and immediately began jacking adrenaline through a system going through intense motorcycle withdrawal at an alarming rate. Thankfully, the RD quickly ran onto reserve (the method used before fuel lights) and I flicked the petrol switch and carefully burbled back to the storage area to hide it while attempting to come down off the high. Wow! If you’ve never twisted the Go Handle of a tuned up two-stroke twin on a narrow English street, I would advise going straight out and giving it a go. It’s shocking!

Neale Bayly Rides: Mishaps & Second Chances

Posted by Neale Bayly | Sep 5, 2024 | Legendary Bikes, Ride Life | 0

‘Where ignorance is bliss tis folly to be wise,’ should have been stamped on my birth certificate. Spinning down into my hometown on a beautiful late summer’s morn, around the crack of eleven, on a new 1983 Honda CBX550, all in the world was well. August in South Devon, England is charming, and my friend was waiting at our local café on the terrace to share his latest horse racing system that was going to make us rich. Having found the joy of credit, credit cards, bank loans and financing, we were basking in the joy of fast motorcycles, pockets full of drugs, and the other accoutrements of our newfound wealth.
We just hadn’t figured out how to pay it back yet.

Neale Bayly Rides: Grand Plans, Harsh Realities

Posted by Neale Bayly | Aug 7, 2024 | Ride Life | 0

Riding my 1973 Honda SL125 onto the ferry back to mainland England from the Island of Jersey with the hangover from hades, just seven days after arriving, the prophetic words of the not-so-friendly policeman we had met were ringing embarrassingly true. Accompanied by my Nit Wit Mate Wibbly, on a slightly newer Honda XL125, our only mission now was figuring out how we could sneak back into town unnoticed: Especially after the fanfare of the local newspaper announcing our “round-the-world” motorcycle trip just two weeks earlier.

Goodbye Wedgie, My Old Friend

Posted by Neale Bayly | Jun 30, 2024 | Ride Life | 3

Recently a message on social media brought me the sad news that my dear friend Steven O’Brien, affectionately known as “Wedgie,” had passed away. Having been in my orbit for close to 40 years, and a major part of my formative motorcycle and travel years, it was a huge personal loss. Memories of racing to London on our Japanese 550cc four-cylinder sport bikes, strafing the lanes of England, he in the saddle of his big Ducati V-twin and me on my Laverda triple will be always be there to remind me of my fun loving, gregarious friend. With his laugh, demeanor, his zest and love for life, Wedgie was, without a doubt, one of the largest personalities you could ever hope to meet.

Neale Bayly Rides: Cheap Fun On Two Wheels

Posted by Neale Bayly | Jun 3, 2024 | Ride Life | 0

That little Yamaha TT-R125L proved to be absolutely bullet proof, and apart from oil changes, air filter cleaning, chain lubing and adjusting, the only time it needed any wrenches turned was when something got too bent to ride. My son Luke had a unique ability to provide not only the most spectacular laps, but also more bent parts than the rest of us put together. So it was no surprise that the TT-R ended up on the ground in a pile of dust and limbs more times than any of us could remember while thankfully always surviving to ride another day.