The Not So Secret Diary of Simon Daffern (Aged 13 and ¾)

I started biking at the age of 13, when my uncle Roger (top bloke) gave me a couple of old NSU Quickly frames and a box of bits. I managed to build one up and get it running so that I could ride it over the fields. I didn’t know it then but I guess that was the start of my interest in off road riding. At 16, my birthday present was an unrestricted FS1E (Fizzer) even though Mum and Dad were concerned about the dangers etc. Mum insisted that I do an RAC/ACU bike course. Those guys were great. They tried to teach me how to do wheelies and stoppies. It was a good job Mum never found out!

I have never been without a bike since then and my wife has put up with biking (and me) since we first met. Our honeymoon was a tour around Spain and Portugal on my flying brick (BMWK100RT). I’ve owned a few bikes along the way from Z400’s to Fireblade’s. My current road bike is a VFR 800 and my green-laner (pictured in the French Alps last year) is a TT-R250. My favourite biking pastime has to be touring abroad and I’ve been fortunate to share that with my Dad in recent years. My best biking moment of 2009 (so far) was seeing my 6 year old daughter learn to ride her Beta trials bike around the field, a real father/daughter moment. Next task is to get my eldest daughter a trials bike and teach her to do the things that I, due to lack of talent, can’t!

I joined the IAM in 1992 after passing the car test (Boo Hiss). I’ve had a few biking “incidents” over the years but it was only after throwing a perfectly good Firestorm down the Keresley road, that I decided further training was needed and so sought out my local IAM motorcycle group. That was 2002. I passed my test and went on to become an Observer. In 2003 I joined the committee and my present duties include helping with the newsletter and organising the club nights.

Please feel free to contact me via email cwamsimon@hotmail.com