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Devious behaviour can, at times, be justified by the end. As in the end justifying the means. Sometimes you crave something so badly that selling your wife, your soul; your LP’s of Bob Dylan seems a mere trifle - just to satisfy that craving….. 

I was 17 years old and had just been side-swiped by a doddering octogenarian, resulting in my Honda MB5 being written off. Not having wheels drove me crazy, which in turn drove my parents crazy and soon we were tyre-kicking at bike shops across town. Having dwarfed my 50cc Honda my parents agreed that a bigger motorcycle would be in order, up to a maximum of 500cc. 

At the second shop we visited there were only two potential purchases. A Honda CB400N and a Yamaha RZ350LC. Needless to say I was immediately infatuated with the LC, and I hatched The PLAN! 

Appearing almost hesitant at the prospect of so much power I cringed away from the 400, on the quiet whispering to my mom that I would rather be prudent and choose the smaller of the two. She had no idea and commended me on my mature and responsible attitude, missing the manic gleam in my eyes. The bemused look of the salesperson was lost in the scramble to buy the LC and soon it was mine, the precious was mine!!!!! 

I vividly recall the first ride home from the bike shop- the fat grip of the throttle slowly being twisted, the bike hitting the power band and lofting the front wheel into the air, me almost dying of a heart attack. It was awesome. 

As I became more attuned to riding the LC I found out that it only revved out at 11000 rpm, while tests of standard LC’s mentioned a limit of 9500 rpm. I later found out it was an ex-race bike and that it had achieved 133mph down the straight of the historic East London GP circuit. 

It was a magnificent motorcycle.

And my mother still thinks a CB400N is more frightening than a LC…………