Steve Saunders, manager of car repair workshop.
Your present bike? A GL1800 Goldwing and Piaggio X9/500cc.
What drew you to the Goldwing? I got fed up with leaning over the tank on the sport-type bikes of my youth and started to look at touring machines. I liked the fact that I could see more scenery and enjoy the journey more since it's more relaxing than on any other machine. Around 1989 I bought a Harley - it was only a year old but it gave me tons of grief. I was envious of a friend with a 10-year-old Goldwing that never missed a beat, so I sold the Hog and bought a 'Wing.
Why two rather than four wheels? As a teen there was no choice really. The 1970s were the absolute boom time for motorcycles. Practically every teenager went out and got himself into hock for a pair of wheels with an engine. A car was something for later on, when you had more cash, got your hair cut short, could afford the insurance, got married with children etc . . .
Did you take any two-wheel training? No, there were no courses available a few years ago. Your dad or uncle Billy or the old guy down the street who had a Honda 50 would give you the basics and after five minutes you were let loose with the keys. You usually slid off a couple of times and told nobody about it and hoped nobody you knew saw you on the deck. Thank God for the full-face helmet and sunglasses. Talk about in at the deep end!
Have you a full or provisional licence for your bike? Full since 1976.
Do you drive a car? Yes, but only at weekends for the shopping. I use the bikes for taking my son, Dylan, who's eight, to school and for going to work. The time saving is significant and much better for my temperament than sitting in the car for hours.
Any family objections to you riding a bike? At 16 when I was buying my first motorcycle - a Honda CD175 - my mother pleaded with me not to, so did my Dad, but I went out and bought the bike anyway. My first insurance was £60 from Norwich Union - a week's wages for me then was, I think, £54 gross.
Ever had an accident on the bike? In 1993 I was sitting at the traffic lights at the Northside shopping centre and a car just ran into the back of my bike. I popped up into the air and landed on the bonnet, facing through the windscreen of the Mazda 323 at a shocked granddad. The bike ended up under the car in front of me. Gramps' excuse was that he didn't have his driving glasses on. I was fine except for a fractured thumb and a few bruises. I was glad I had a full-face lid which cracked in two when I loafed the windscreen.
Your worst experience with motorists? I was travelling down Conyngham Road in Dublin in 1983 at 6 a.m. on a dark winter morning. There was a truck behind me and a lone car coming towards me. The road there is very wide and straight. As the car approached it veered over to my side of the road. My jaw dropped and my life flashed before me when I realised that the car didn't have a driver. I pulled right over on my side of the road, but as if by magnetism the ghost car drifted towards me. Behind I heard the truck taking evasive action - if I hit the anchors hard the truck would probably roll over me and continue on to a potential head-on. Just as I was about to abandon ship by jumping off the bike, a head appeared up in the driver's seat and the car swerved enough to miss me and bounce off the truck. It turned out that the driver had dropped her hairbrush and had bent down to retrieve it.
Any biking issues for the Minister for Transport? Recognise the statistics that show most accidents involving cars and bikes are the fault of the car driver and make all new road users take lessons. Get rid of the daft system that restricts riders to low powered machines, even after they pass the motorcycle test. Allocate proper motorcycle parking spaces in Dublin - the motorcycle road tax is almost half what a small car tax is, yet I can't legally park my bikes in a clearly defined place in Dublin.
Are you a member of any biker clubs? The Goldwing Owners Club of Ireland and MAG Ireland.
Any survival tips? For young lads on mopeds I'd recommend they get a properly fitting helmet, not a huge one that you can sit on top of your head while smoking a cigarette. Your helmet is your lifesaver, look after it. Likewise, get yourself a proper biker jacket and leggings. Tracksuit bottoms are no good and sliding down the road with them will probably see several layers of your skin and the nice tattoos on your buttocks left behind.
Your dream bike if you won the lottery? Another Goldwing. When you've had one of these, nothing else will do!