Thank you

As the Pan is down – not sure yet for how long – and the Hotrod Hayride is coming up at the end of the month, I've been feeling a little disappointed that I wouldn't be riding to or at one of the UK's best events.

So it's been heartwarming to receive so many offers of spare bikes to ride – and not people's winter hack Hondas, either. Flathead, Knucklehead, Triumph, Sportster, FXR... I have my pick, because of good, genuine people who share my passion for old cycles.

Thank you my friends. You know who you are. As I've said here before in a very un-English way, brotherhood forged by motorcycles isn't a myth or the invention of 'biker' magazines. It's real. And I'm lucky enough to be living it.