A 350 CC Ariel Red Hunter Motorcycle from 1956. I was in love with a man who loved them. I cannot remember the reason for buying it other than his love of it and my love for him. So it came to be that a motorcycle was parked in Nicosia with a view to it sharing some part of our early life together.

This eluded us as his work and our life took us to foreign lands so it was housed by Marios Cosma, a friend, for many years until Marios reported that the rain and the sun had rendered it inoperable. He handed it over to another friend, Andros Nicolaou the founder of the Cyprus Classic Motorcycle Museum for possible spare parts.

Andros and his son Argyris are passionate about bikes. They spent time and effort putting the bike back to its original form. This holiday we visited the Museum and Andros took it out and both Charlie and Anthony were able to ride it as it spluttered, banged and exploded in the road. They loved it and were delighted that it had been saved.

Andros has put together a very worthwhile Museum. For any of you with a love for old bikes it is a must see. He will offer you a greek coffee and pastries and show you around all the wonderful old bikes. So now Charlie’s Ariel takes pride of place among many others, including two donated by John F Kennedy to Archbishop Makarios for his Presidential Guard.

Looking for a good ride – head to the Museum.

https://cyclassicmotormuseum.wixsite.com/cyclassicmotormuseum