A Biker's Life: Misadventures on (and off) Two Wheels

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HC: If you have a 50cc moped and decide to make a 20-mile journey to your favourite garage, that’s an adventure. People don’t put things into context. Few of us have the time or inclination to ride around the world. Some of us have kids and everything else stopping that. The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations was held in the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and was an enormous popular and financial success, partially due to the astute management of Henry Cole. Motorcycling, to me, has become a hobby. If we really looked at it, it could become incredibly utilitarian. People would use it. If only we weren’t taxed. Why aren’t there incentives to get people out of their cars to commute on motorcycles and scooters in London?

Cole was called “Old King” by the press, and it was said that the Queen and especially the Prince Consort were very close to him. When the Prince Consort needed help with one of his pet projects, he was heard to say, “We must have steam, get Cole.”

HC: Firstly, I don’t have an ego. I really do believe I’m an alright bloke. The only difference between me and other bikers is how much drivel I can talk. I don’t write scripts for my shows, I just say what I see. George Edward Cole, OBE (22 April 1925 – 5 August 2015) was an English actor whose career spanned 75 years. He was best known for playing Arthur Daley in the long-running ITV comedy-drama show Minder and Flash Harry in the early St Trinian's films.

Working with Sam Lovegrove, Willison also designed and built the Gladstone Red Beard, which holds a British land speed record for a classic 350cc. Cole’s family might be getting along well, and he might be showing his boys how much he loves motorcycles and other things he’s passionate about, like fishing and cycling. Under the Public Record Office Act of 1838, the record office was set up in 1838, and Cole was one of the four senior assistant-keepers. He made a lot of records at the Carlton House Riding School, where he was sent on November 2, 1841, for that purpose. His reports about how bad this place was helped make it possible to build the building in Fetter Lane (begun in 1851). Cole’s work at the record company did not use up all of his energy. In 1838, with permission from his bosses, he became the secretary of a group working to improve the postal service. He was in charge of their newspaper, the Post Circular. He came up with the idea for it, and the first issue came out on March 14, 1838. He worked hard to get petitions and meetings going, and in 1839, Cobden asked him to be the secretary of the Anti-Cornlaw League. In August 1839, Parliament gave the power to carry out the new postal plan, and the treasury offered prizes for the best stamp ideas. Cole got one of the premiums. He went to the treasury to talk about details and worked there until the beginning of 1842 to figure out how the plan would work. Bonython, Elizabeth and Anthony Burton The Great Exhibitor: The Life and Work of Henry Cole, London: V & A, 2003.

Henry Cole Motorcycle

After plenty of negotiations and a few more shows about cars, I eventually got the greenlight to go to America, buy a Harley in Chicago, and ride it to LA, making a seven-part series about riding Route 66. That instigated World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides, which we’ve now done 23 series of. An older biker in America once said to me that loneliness brings solitude, solitude brings serenity. And he was right. If you’re sitting in the Arizona desert by the side of the road, up against some wall in the shade with a fag on the go and a coffee, with your bike right next to you, with your rolled-up sleeping bag, you’re in paradise. Life doesn’t get better than that.