Men Only

The Male Menopause Years

Being a bloke who likes his techie things, and in particular cars, I have over recent years tried to quench my male menopause thirst with a number of motorbikes and sports cars!

Back in the late 1970’s some friends and I went on a biking (motorbiking that is) holiday to the south of France.  I bought one of the early four cylinder motorcycles – the Honda 750 Four (K1) for the trip. 

When my kids came along I told my eldest son about the trip which seemed to interest him.

When he was in his early teens, and my Mum was retired and living in Southern Spain, he asked if we could get a bike and travel out to see her.  I thought why not, any excuse for an adventure, and that is how my male menopause was ignited!

I found a nice Kawasaki GTR1000 shaft driven four cylinder bike in white and we planned the trip for the summer holidays.  It was great fun travelling down through France, into Andorra and across Spain to Nerja (just east of Malaga) where Mum lived.  For the return journey we travelled via Madrid to Bilbao to get the ferry home.  Arriving back in the UK I thought ‘job done’ so promptly sold the bike.

However I found I was missing the bike so after a while bough an Africa Twin 750 for pottering around on, but Sunday morning runs seemed more fun on the sports bikes that used to leave me standing so I eventually traded up to a VFR800.  And what fun it was too!  It was great for touring, but it also had a dark side which was great fun on the track.  I did a couple of track days at Cadwell Park and Goodwood and also did an organised trip out to Poitiers in France for a two-day track weekend with a whole host of other bikers.

Jean (then my girlfriend - now my wife!) was being left behind on Sunday mornings as I went out for bike rides, so I invited her out too.  But it scared the life out of her!  I was also noticing more and more middle aged men having serious bike accidents.  So, being the gentlemanly person that I am, I decided to move from bikes to sports cars where Jean could join me up front, with the hood down, and the heater on the cooler days!

The first was my green Mazda MX5

Followed by something a bit meatier – my silver Porsche 944 Cabriolet.  

Trip to France

That was a bit of a project as I bought it from a farmers wife in Somerset and it was quite neglected.  It needed new hood supports as they were broken when someone tried to manually force the hood down, plus a new hood as there were holes in it.  The brakes were partially seized – so a complete brake strip down.  Plus other minor things.

And then I was made an offer I couldn’t refuse – a business friend of mine was selling his wife’s lovely Speed Yellow Porsche Boxster 3.2S.  Very low mileage, full Porsche service history and as she had bought a new one this was quite cheap.  So there it was – I now had two Porsches (don’t tell the wife!), so the 944 had to go up for sale.

And the Boxster was the best car I’ve ever owned – like flying on a magic carpet.

But those menopause years are over and I get my buzz from not having to work and exploring Europe with Jean in our motorhome.

Oh dear - the itch has come back.....and in 2019 I 'accidentally' bought a Morgan Plus 4!  I only went to see it because it was local and I was curious, but the seller wanted a quick sale and it seemed too good to pass on.  Luckily I was not divorced, and we are in fact enjoying the social side of being in the Morgan Sports Car Club, and in particular our local Wessex Group - ScrumpyMog.  She is 40 years old and gets Historical Car status this year (2021).