‘MOVIN’ on the queen’s highway, lookin’ like a streak of lightnin” sang Chris Spedding back in 1975 in Motorbikin’ – his only song to reach the charts.
Well, that wasn’t quite me this week – 18 months after starting the first stage of my education transferring from four wheels to two and picking up my Compulsory Basic Training (CBT) certificate.
I have finally bitten the bullet and decided to take lessons to sit the two exam modules that would let me ride something other than a 125cc machine.
Cameron Bike Training in Stirling was my destination for an appointment with a 600cc Suzuki Bandit and my instructor Calum Cameron who, 10 years ago at the age of 19, was the youngest motorcycle instructor in the UK.
This family business run by him and his mother Rosie is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
Rosie started the school in 1992 as a part-time enterprise in Galashiels, before coming to Stirling and running it as a full-time school.
“It was a hobby,” she said. “But it’s the best job in the world, doing something you enjoy and getting paid for it.
“I reckon we put around 400 people through their test every year, but the total over the past quarter century could be nine or 10 thousand.
“Even when it’s cold, wet and windy the job satisfaction is tremendous, there’s nothing like it.”
Calum has been riding since his teens and regarded training as more of a hobby a decade ago.
“I actually trained as a hotel manager and was running a restaurant in Edinburgh – 21212 in Royal Terrace – and we’d won a Michelin star and I was looking for something else to do,” he said.
“I was looking for a new challenge, but I would’ve had to go to London or Dubai or somewhere to reach above that level.
“I was doing this training on my days off as a form of relaxation and my mum and I sat down together had a talk and that’s really how I started full-time.
“The company’s my mum’s baby but I’m adopting it now.
“I remember when I was very small, she had a wee caravan with two bikes locked up outside it, just where Sainsbury’s is now.
“She had one student at a time and the business really has grown arms and legs since then.
“At the moment we have three full-time instructors, two part-timers, one trainee who’s due to start in December and one mechanic, so seven of us in total.”
Calum says the entire motorbiking industry is growing – and a large part of that is down to the last recession.
“Every year we say to ourselves at the end of the season ‘that was a helluva lot busier than last year’ and there are more and more people looking to get into bikes.
“We had a big surge of people when the recession happened – people looking to get a bike because it was a cheaper form of transport and that helped us dramatically.”
After not riding two-wheelers for a considerable time, I was a bit apprehensive when I climbed aboard the Bandit, a much bigger and more powerful beast that the one on which I sat my earlier CBT.
But I needn’t have worried. It really was just like riding a bike – once learned never forgotten.
We went through all the mundane – but vital – stuff, walking-speed manoeuvres and slow slaloms around traffic cones, and before I knew where we were my time was up.
That’s two lessons I’ve had so far and both days we’ve had decent weather. However, this being Scotland that can’t last.
I’ve set myself a target of doing Scotland’s answer to Route 66 – the North Coast 500 – but that may have to wait until next year.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here