Richard's First Bike

In 1977 I was going to turn 16. I had been riding mopeds in France since I was 14 but now I was going to be able to ride anything on the UK roads as long as it was less than 50cc and could be propelled by pedals.

This was an era of moped gangs in the UK and the predominant bikes available were the Yamaha FS1E and the Suzuki AP50 both of which were capable of 50 mph but then there was the five speed Garelli with an advertised top speed of 58 mph and anyway it just looked cool.

So to get prepared for my 16th birthday I used some inheritance money from an old aunt and bought a lightly used Agrati Garelli six months before my 16th birthday. I had already left home and was working so when I asked my dad to take me down to Dover to catch the ferry he almost immediately agreed. We loaded the bike into the VW Camper van and he drove me to the ferry terminal as I wasn’t allowed to ride the bike on UK soil. I rolled the bike onto the ferry and when I arrived in Calais France I was legally allowed to ride the bike off the ferry and I was off. I was headed to Frejus in the South of France to see a rock concert but rather than going directly there thought it would be wise to go to Amsterdam for supplies and then cut down through Germany, Luxembourg and back into France.

I completed two trips to the South of France on the bike and used it as my daily commuter to work at Lloyds of London . It was only 50cc but it carried me for more enjoyable miles than any bike I have owned since. One day I shall own another one but doubt that 58 mph is possible with the bulk it would have to carry these days.

I loved that bike.
Richard Asprey