I buy myself a second XS650 which gets bored out to 750 and fitted with nitrous oxide injection.
My first magazine articles – Sahara XT500 (right) and Ducati 900SS – get published in March Bike and Which Bike. A sign of things to come.
The year ends with a trans-Sahara trip to Dakar on an XT600Z. Painted black, naturally, as Mad Max would have wished.
Battle of the Beanfield, Miners’ Strike ends, EastEnders, Sinclair C5, BMW K series, Gorbachov, symbolics.com, Route 66 decertified, Heysel Stadium, Live Aid, riots in Brixton, Birmingham and Broadwater Farm, Microsoft Windows 1.0. Ozone Hole discovered, peak oil UK.
Adventure Motorcycling Handbook 