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Hi, my name’s Graham Rusby.
I live near Barnsley, in South Yorkshire, the centre of the sceptred isle and the gateway to the Yorkshire Pudding mines.
I’ve had this romance with the Queen’s highway in it’s many forms since it belonged to her Dad, the King, so you might guess I’m about the same age as Mick Jagger. I’d been forced to have cars to keep the family mobile, you know, the in-laws, the out-laws, the shopping, and on and on, but I’ve always leaned towards the bikes, and when the finances allowed I’ve had one. In fact I’ve had a good few over the years and enjoyed them all.
As the new millennium dawned, I was riding a 1984 450cc Kawasaki; it was a nice enough bike, but it wasn’t quite what I wanted. What I really wanted was a Harley! That’s right, I wanted a Hog and what I got was a dog.
That’s it then, nothing else for it, hit the piggy bank with my favourite 2lb hammer and get down to the shop. I was disappointed to find out that my little piggy wasn’t worth a Harley, so I went looking for an alternative. I found this very tasty 1 year old Yamaha 1100cc Dragstar, all shiny with the balance of the warranty and a few coppers in the piggy bank. It was a 2000 model on a “W”.
I was really pleased with this and rode it at every opportunity. Until, one day in April 2001, when I clipped a badly parked van. Of course, I fell off and badly damaged myself, breaking my leg both above and below the knee and busting my kneecap for good measure.
I was carted off to hospital where they operated on me and strung bits of wire from and through my leg and attached weights to my feet. As if this wasn’t bad enough, the doctors then considered amputating my leg. I was having none of that and escaped to a specialist hospital for three months, while they stretched my leg and what-not. Anyway, they did the best they could with what they’d got. After that it was just a case of learning to walk again, no big deal except for the terrible pain, but once I was upright, I began to think about riding again. If I couldn’t ride two wheels (as I couldn’t support the weight of a bike with my injured leg) then I’d solve the problem and have three wheels.
So, problem solved, the Dragstar would become a ‘Tridragstar’. Take out the back wheel, add two more, pinch a couple of prop shafts from two Reliants, hook it all up, two mudguards, and Bob’s your Mum’s sister’s husband. Or so I thought!
A good friend, Alan, told me he would ‘help’. What happened was that he did the work and I made the tea and phone calls. Phone calls for builders, phone calls for parts, phone calls for pizzas; I found this phoning was a full time job.
While I was phoning, I was pointed in the direction of NABD. What a relief to find someone who understood exactly what I was talking about. Billy explained in detail and obtained for me the Kliktronic gear changer I needed, as I couldn’t operate the foot change.
Thanks for that Billy; the whole project would have stalled if it hadn’t been for the help of the NABD.
Dan Hatton at ‘Two Four’ workshops in Kilnhurst fabricated a swinging arm for me and joined two prop shafts. Then Alan did the rest of the work while I watched on as foreman and gofer. Thanks Alan, I couldn’t have done it without you. What patience, what a Star!
Well it was better cobbled together than a huntsman’s riding boot and shinier too. The maiden voyage was in January 2003 and I found only a few teething troubles with it that were soon put right. The Kliktronic works a treat. Then it was off into the wide blue yonder.
I’ve been a member of Barnsley Bikers for a few years and I’ve had lots of runs with them this last year. I also joined the Virago Star Owners Club, who I’ve had the pleasure of riding with as well. The Trike’s also taken me to foreign shores, with a few friends. I’ve had two weeks on the Isle of Man and a fortnight in Ireland. While in Ireland the trike shook it’s rear mudguards off, it looked good but the spray went everywhere!
I’ve enclosed some pictures of the bike, the handsome figure in black is I, and you can see where the Kliktronic fits.
Once again, thanks to all at NABD, all the people who helped me and all the folk who are still my friends. For all your help, both practical, and with information, and your encouragement, that helped me out of hospital, back on my feet and back onto my bike.
Thank you!
Graham
This NABDGrant of £280.00 was sponsored by a donation from
‘Junior Queen of Derbyshire’
Olivia Taylor
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