In 2019 I had a moment of madness, I’d lost a friend suicide, and I made one of the biggest promises of my life at his funeral. To stop other families going through the pain of suicide by doing something to stop this.
At that moment in time I didn’t know what that something would be, so what does a biker do? they take a very big risk and buy another motorbike to achieve this. I didn’t think it through and I saw a random BMW which was a very high specification on eBay (we all know we don’t take random punts on bikes five hours away from where you live on eBay). This was probably worth about £14,000 so I made a speculative offer of £10,000 and shortly afterwards I got a message from the owner saying if I could come and pick it up and sort it quickly I can have it. Immediately the alarm bells started ringing so I did a deep dig into the history of the bike and doing a few online checks – everything seem legit. So I took a very big gamble and use some family savings to buy it!
I told my wife I’ve just bought the ‘chariot of good hope’ hoping using a bit of confusing words she wouldn’t go crazy at me for spending some of the family savings. I told her I was going to set a Charity up in Dale’s name, she didn’t bat an eyelid.
Money has never really meant much to Diane. She just thought it was another one of my crazy ideas – in our time together there’s been a lot of those. Ranging from me buying a expensive complete 7 camera mobile film and tv station (this ended up being central to my career and was a good buy) through to crazy sound and lighting systems for the nightclub in the conservatory for my girls parties.
Anyway I digress… I suddenly own a bike five hours away so I bought a one-way train ticket, put my bike gear on and headed down south. The guy that I bought the bike from picked me up at the train station in a very cool custom van! Drove me to a big house and made me a cup of tea. He was obviously a very wealthy builder. I went into the garage where the BMW R1200 GS adventure was sat – a little forlorn looking surrounded by junk in a corner of his garage. It was overshadowed by very shiny KTM’s and other bikes. He told me he’d bought the BMW for a few long distance holidays down to Italy and France with his friends and they also had had a trip to the Isle of Man. This was the sole extent of the 4000 miles on the clock. I asked what was wrong with the bike and he said absolutely nothing it was just too big and he preferred the KTM’s.
I was still very nervous and when I looked at the bike – there appeared to be nothing at all wrong with it – it was mint. I thought to myself I’ve got a five hour drive I’m going to find out if there is a problem! I said my goodbyes and rode a GS for the first time. It had a different feel to all the other bike’s I’ve ever ridden! And this was a little bit unsettling to start with. A unique telelever system, but I had five hours to try and work it out. First step… a garage to fill up with fuel. I realised the tank was huge it held 30L and this was the biggest tank on a bike I’ve ever seen. But it also meant I could ride all the way home on one tank which I really enjoyed. The technology on a BMW is incredible! There were different engine modes, complex traction control and braking. Different comfort modes, heated devices. A geeks and gadget persons dream.
But my favourite was the satellite navigation and Wonder Wheel, for those that have never seen this it is a wheel on the left left-hand side of the handlebar grip which works as a joystick to control the TFT and navigation. As somebody that has always loved technology I was in my element. I found a layby and I probably spent over an hour just reading the booklet and finding out what gadgets were on board. I was starting to really love this bike already.
It takes a bit of getting used to because stationary it is a big lump to roll around, but what really blew me away was once you were moving 5 miles an hour or more it becomes weightless, and so easy to manoeuvre, the turning circle is incredible, as long as you’ve got good low speed balance this bike is an absolute dream. After the first two hours of riding I was starting to really really like this bike, I didn’t get the usual wrist problems that my previous Hondas gave me, the seat was really comfortable and long distance with the cruise control on it was a dream to ride.
I’ve eventually got home made myself a cup of tea showed it off to the wife and said I’m off out again! I couldn’t get enough of it. I’d never been so focused on a bike and I knew at this stage this bike would play a very pivotal port in setting up the new Charity. But I was still one man and his dog in a garage wanting to change the world – but already what made this difference was now I had a super cool BMW bike to do this with. I’d bought the bike to change the world and now I needed a plan.
Before this happened I still had a few niggling doubts about the bike being genuine and fit for purpose – I was still unsure why I had got this bike at such a low price. When I asked the guy why he was prepared to sell it he said he just wanted it out of the way. There was no bartering he just told me I was lucky to get it at such a good price and we left it at that.
I found a local garage in Chesterfield SD Motorcycles and met the amazing Dave Ball for the first time. I told him I wanted a full service on the bike and for them to do a thorough check on it see whether I’ve got a duffer. The five hour drive had been faultless so I knew it wasn’t mechanically unsound. When I met Dave we sat and had a cuppa together for the first time and he started quizzing me why I bought the bike and what I wanted to do with it. I told him about my plans for the Charity – a dedicated Mental Health Support Charity for the motorbike community. This really peaked his interest, we chatted for awhile had a few laughs and he said have you got five minutes I just need to talk to somebody. Off he went about 30 minutes later he still hadn’t arrived back and I was starting to get a bit nervous what to do! Eventually he arrive back and said he’s been speaking to his co director Sean and they decided they thought this was a fabulous idea. They gave me an offer which simply blew me away. Bearing in mind I’d only just met this guy but he was offering to maintain and service the bike free of charge and keep it on the road (for the Charity I am about to set up). The only thing is I’ve got to do this and make it work! I think it was the loss of Dale, and such blind faith and trusting me that made me very emotional at this stage. Dave and Sean at SD Motorcycles had suddenly become our first sponsor! They will never understand just how much that offer led to me setting up a national Charity. Their blind trust in a stranger was both heartwarming and motivating. Without SD Motorcycles the Charity would not have had the drive to do what we set out to do. I really owe those guys so much and the incredible Support has led to so many Live’s been saved. and what the most heartwarming thing in this part of the story is – as they have never asked for anything, no PR, just a selfless commitment to a random stranger! They are true heroes.
Anyway going back to the bike the first thing I did was create some random design to make the back stand out as the *OFFICIAL* flagship Charity bike.
I started the Charity with an idea and very quickly Dale’s school friend Jay Lucas came on board, and he was the second person that really made the Charity happen. He was an innovator for autoglym so was very skilled at taking an idea/concept through to market. The planning and design of the Charity’s look was very much down to Jay. He was very good at this.
We created a brand that we were happy with and this allowed me to work on some designs to get the aluminium boxes wrapped, and make the motorbike stand out. I remember speaking to a friend who offered to wrap the boxes for me, he had his own sign and print company, and together we got the ideas together and I dropped the boxes off. He did a great job and now six years on they are still looking amazing. He did tell me that he would never do it again because those boxes and rivet holes and brackets and latches caused him such a headache!!
I don’t know whether you’ve ever driven a BMW R1200 GS adventure with the large aluminium boxes on! But they do have a striking presence and despite every other bike being like this this one stood out! From day one I’ve always had a lot of people discuss the bike and talk to me about the Charity because of it. It is the ultimate promotion vehicle. I often see people when I’m driving at the side of them with their cameras photographing the website address and contacting us saying they’ve seen us on the road. So I never take the panniers off. This makes for an interesting experience when filtering, and it times it can be tight, but it’s also exhilarating.
The amount of mental health support I have given at the side of the bike when I’ve left it somewhere and somebody has been waiting to have a chat with me, it is remarkable. But the more I think about this the more we need a Fleet of these bikes out there just randomly allowing people to gravitate towards them and ask for help. This is now part of our 10 year plan
My bike is now 11 years old and despite being a fabulous and like new still, it will be soon time to upgrade. I’ve thought about this long and hard and I’ve decided I do not ever want to get rid of this bike as it has been a life-saving vehicle, with such a story to tell. It has been to hundreds of events, it is a bike with presence and integrity. We do what it says on the can or in this case the panniers, we meet people to help save their lives in a very complex and discreet way. We get people talking – this year our national team will do over 500 face-to-face events. Our network of 1300 trained Mental Health first aiders are the backbone to our incredible work
Over the years we have worked with tens of thousands of bikers. I often wonder what the journey would’ve been like without the BMW? I wouldn’t have wanted to do the miles that I have covered, in all weathers, and that bike has been my companion. there is a number of very personal stories associated with the bike and every significant loss the person is reflected on the bike and stays with me as I go out to do the work of the Charity.
This year I have to go and meet the King to pick up and OBE and there is nothing more I want to do than receive it on the motorbike, because the bike is the true hero in this story! It is the Swiss Army knife of bikes, and is so versatile at what it does, rock solid, dependable and always puts a smile on your face!
The new bike will be a BMW, it will be a 1300 GS adventure. But this time the wrap will be done professionally. It will have sponsor and Charity information that stands out and invites people to come over and talk. It will be the flagship bike that I as CEO and Founder will ride to events proudly .
But there are the two issues we have… firstly how we make this happen! And secondly how can any other bike live up to the reputation of this first one? I don’t want to be disappointed and move onto bike that less impressive, because the first thing I will want to do is go back to my much loved original.
BMW there’s a lot at stake here, I do hope the 1300 GS adventure isn’t a disappointment when I take it out for a test drive! I want to feel the connection and magic as the BMW story continues with us… watch is this space as this story develops….
