The history,

I was born on the warm shores of the Med and that is what gives me the passion in everything I do.

Stuck in A4 traffic heading towards London, I observed motorcycles whizzing past the cars: they were getting to their destinations in Central London while I moved from Osterley to Brentford. So I decided that maybe I should join them.

A few years prior, my brother had a 125cc something-or-other bike - I was so uninterested in bikes that I never bothered to look at the badge. I had asked him to teach me to ride. With our wives heckling from the sidelines, he began to teach me. I remember sitting on the bike, pulling the clutch in and selecting first gear. He told me to slowly release the clutch and I was so petrified of the bike that I couldn’t physically get my left hand to move: it was like I was holding on for dear life.

Back in the car park AKA the A4, I called my office and asked one of the staff to find me a motorcycle training school near our office. She let out a hysterical laugh, apologised and said she would do it.

I called the first one on the list and they baffled me with loads of jargon. I said I just wanted to ride a small bike so I wouldn’t get stuck in traffic and they told me there were several levels blah blah blah. In my usual way, I said I’ll have the top one.

On my CBT, I remember my instructor saying to me, “Go home, some people are meant to stay in cars.” Anyway, that made me more determined and, after I asked for a different instructor, I polished up my act and passed my test on the first attempt.

All I had wanted was a 125 to get to London for meeting, but whilst training, an ex trainee of the school came on his new ZX750R in all its gleaming splendour and I fell in love. Having passed my test, I went straight to a bike shop and I said, “I want a ZX…. BLIMEY WHAT IS THAT ???” “It’s a GL1500 SE Honda Goldwing, sir. Do you like it?” I managed a whine and a nod.

The Goldwing was beautiful and like everything American was OVERSIZED for our UK roads so I decided to take it home. Put it in a container, shipped it to USA, had a divorce (as you do… but nothing to do with bikes), went to the USA and rode some 30,000 miles all over the place. I’d do it again TODAY and I would recommend it to everyone, though the divorce bit is optional.

When I returned to the UK, I decided that it was time to have a new image and anyway the Goldwing was far too slow for me so.... I bought a Blackbird… Sat on it the first time and rolled the throttle the way I always did on the Goldwing and it went so fast I thought I was on HG Wells’s time machine.

99% of my being was thinking, “NO NO NO, give it back and get your money back, you can buy a safe VOLVO, or a Mercedes or a Beemer.” The 1% won. I loved the bike so much, I had four of them in a row.

The beauty of the motorcycle is that you ALWAYS want to go out, you ALWAYS want to explore new places, you ALWAYS take the longer route home and you never ever fret if you got lost: it means more time on your beloved machine.

I read somewhere “ Find a job you enjoy doing and you’ll never work a day for the rest of your life” So I gave up a well paid secure job to do what I liked to do best, be surrounded by bikes and pass on my knowledge, experience, love and passion to newcomers and help them pass their tests. The satisfaction I get is indescribable. When I get a nervous wreck who knows NOTHING about bikes, I teach them everything they need and want to know plus a bit more. I metaphorically take them by the hand and walk them through the maze of the new adventure upon which they just embarked. Then after they pass their test the first time and go on to become good bikers, they almost always come back and show me what they bought and that feels really good. I run a business and I must treat it that way, but the advice I give about bikes is always from the heart and as if I am advising my own child. Sometimes I get asked a question to which I don’t know the answer; instead of bluffing, I reply that I don’t know but I will find out.

(W. Taki)

ADI NEWS & Motorcycle Trainer (Advanced Driving Instructors) have kindly written the following about me in their April 2004 issue:

Anyone who thought motorcycle instructors were dull or po faced has obviously never met TAKI of LIBERTY mct. Having recently opened an ATB (approved training body) in the Heathrow area, TAKI is determined to set the highest standards whilst keeping the fun in biking.

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