A 74-year-old Buckskin trials bike racer is kick-starting a bid to recover his stolen vintage motorcycle.
Danny Briggs of Quantock Close is offering a £300 reward for the return of his 75-year-old motorbike, which was snatched from his garage between 11am on March 9 and 8pm the following day.
The bike is a black 1937 AJS 350cc trials bike with aluminium rims with the registration number 299EBK.
He said: “I do not need to know any details about who had it or where it came from – as long as I get it back.
“I’ve had the bike since the early ’80s and it’s one year older than I am.
“For nearly 30 years, it has been part of my life and I had hoped that we would both get older together.
“When it was stolen I was shocked. For me, it is like losing a long-time friend. It was like a part of my life was stolen.
“I hope the people who took it realise how important it is to me. I just love that bike.”
But despite the setback, Mr Briggs, who spends his retirement tinkering with two other bikes, renovating his bungalow and caring for his disabled wife, said he will keep racing.
He competes in pre-1965 girder forks trials events, in which bikers take on challenging cross-country routes through mud and across rocky ground.
Since starting out in 1972, his racing has taken him all over the country and Europe. Today, he keeps his skills sharp racing at weekends.
The former heavy machinery mechanic said that racing helps keep him young and that he has no plans to hang up his helmet – though he may consider it when he reaches 80.
He said: “For as long as I can do it, I will. With the adrenaline of racing, I find it cures the aches and pains you get at my age.
“When you get on the bike, any problems don’t matter any more.
“The rush kicks in and you just get going. Racing is like a drug to me.”
Anybody with any information about the theft of the bike is urged to call PC Jayson Richards of Basingstoke Targeted Patrol Team at Basingstoke police station on 101 or call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.
