Racing's in my blood. My mum met my dad when she went to buy her first motorbike in his shop.
I spent my childhood outdoors on my grandparents' farm. I learned to ride a motorbike when I was about six, a little PeeWee 50. I'd climb trees - there was a big weeping willow.
You have to list all your special skills on a form when you get an agent. There's fencing, stage combat, horse riding, motorbike riding, Spanish, French, German, whatever. I just ticked everything. I talk about 10 languages according to that form. I even ticked the extreme sports box.
All kids love bikes and cars. But there was a guy in my local village, Tony, who gave me a go on a bike. My first proper motorbike was when I was about 12, but I'd ridden on his and he was the one who really got me into bikes.
You know, it's amazing. I don't even have a car, would you believe it? I had a motorbike and it got stolen last year. So I've got to buy another one of those, I suppose. I can treat myself to that.
My guitar survived Kosovo, then I went to visit a record company back in London and fell off my motorbike with it on my back, smashing it to bits. I was travelling at two miles per hour.
Sitting on the back of my motorbike going from west to east through Mongolia was one of the most inspiring and awesome experiences I've ever had. There was so little influence of the western world.
My team can be as big as 50 during the busiest days of Fashion Week. I can travel with up to 75 bags of products and materials. And between shows, I personally travel on motorbike to speed through traffic and get to the next venue.
I got a motorbike at three; we've still got it. It was an R50. Hopefully my little nephews will play on it.
My second business would have succeeded but for competitors' jealousy. I was selling motorbike gear cheap, but the people I was undercutting complained to the manufacturer and cut off my supply. It showed me how corrupt business can be. When I sold phones, the same thing happened, but this time I was ready.
When I was a kid and Christmas was coming up, my dad would ask me what I wanted, and I always said a motorbike. I kept asking for one, and he said it was too dangerous and bought me a go-kart instead.
My engineer dad is where my technical acumen comes from. I remember him taking me to the factories to see how what works. Often he used to open up his motorbike to fix things and I saw how the wheels worked. His car used to be open for dissection very regularly. All this taught me and inspired me to look beyond what I could see on the skin.
I've always wanted to explore North America. I drive a motorbike and have always wanted to spend a couple of months exploring the continent on two wheels.
I like a big neck – thick, flat and wide. I lacquered the fingerboard with Rustin's Plastic Coating. The tremolo is interesting in that the arm's made from an old bicycle saddle bag carrier, the knob at the end's off a knitting needle and the springs are valve springs from an old motorbike.
You know the type: loud as a motorbike but wouldn't bust a grape in a fruit fight.
I'm probably more dangerous in a car than I am on a motorbike; on a bike I'm very mindful of the fact that if you make a mistake, you're dead.
If you're comfortable on a horse, you're comfortable on a horse. It's like being on a motorbike.
I drive a motorbike, so there is the whiff of the grim reaper round every corner, especially in London.
I read mysteries like Nancy Drew and Alfred Hitchcock, and I swim and I ride my motorbike.
I'm probably more dangerous in a car than I am on a motorbike; on a bike I'm very mindful of the fact that if you make a mistake you're dead.
I'm a bit of a speed demon. I ride my motorbike every weekend. I've had bikes since I was a kid and my 11-year-old brother, who's like my son, has an identical motocross bike to me, except smaller. Everything I do he wants to do.
I was riding pillion on my friend's motorbike, and we met with an accident which badly injured my right leg. I was bedridden for three years and used crutches for one year before I fully recovered.
Short-circuit racing is full of health and safety, but the reason I ride a motorbike is because of the danger, and there is no place more dangerous than the TT.
I don't have a collection, but I have a thing with jackets. I really like jackets. Whether it's an '80s motorbike jacket, or a Victorian jacket. I could wear the same jeans every day for months, but the jacket would be the thing that would change a lot.
Endless motorbike talk can and does bore me.
My mom used to tell me, 'If you read 50 books, I'll get you a motorbike.'
I love having the mountains nearby so I can get on the motorbike or bike and get off to go for a walk.
I am a motorbike fanatic - always have been. It's actually what I wanted to do before I got into motor racing.
I adapt my driving style more or less to anything, from go-kart to motorbike to wet, more downforce, less downforce, Pirelli, Bridgestone, Michelin, V8, V6, whatever.
A skittish motorbike with a touch of blood in it is better than all the riding animals on earth, because of its logical extension of our faculties, and the hint, the provocation, to excess conferred by its honeyed untiring smoothness.
I've spent 35 years sitting on a motorbike in the rain. It's not had too good an effect on my bones.
Treating myself is more about just going out and having a great hike, or going on a long motorbike ride.
Once I fell out of a tree and was hit by a motorbike. I still have the scar on my head now.
In my childhood I was obsessed with cameras but could not afford one. After much persuasion my father Harivansh Rai Bachchan bought me a box camera which I treasured for years. Initially I clicked trees and nature and as I grew up started noticing prettier things-motorbike, sleek cars and cool girls. But the hamartia of life is when you desire something you cannot afford it and when you are able to afford it you are too old to use it. Now I don't need all gadgets but it's satisfying to know that at least I can afford them.
I used to watch MotoGP quite a bit, I liked MotoGP. I had a motorbike before I had a go-kart and before I had a motorbike I had a quad bike but I was too dangerous, and before I did quad biking I did horse riding, so it's been a long journey.
I'll never forget the moment in 1985 when I was riding my motorbike down the King's Road and I first saw the words David Linley on the sign on my first shop. I nearly came off my bike. It was so incredibly public; I suddenly realised there was to be no stepping away from my work because my name was all over it.
Girls don't want to hang around boys talking about 'The Golden Girls'. They want a boyfriend who turns up on a motorbike, don't they?
Everybody who rides a motorbike thinks they can ride MotoGP. Anybody who does a Gran Fondo thinks they can do pro cycling. Anyone who drives a Corsa thinks they can do Formula 1.
My parents didn't give me any scope to feel sorry for myself. They were just like 'go play with your brother, go climb a tree, go fall off your motorbike, do whatever you want. Don't come crying to us when you get scratched. You've got prosthetic legs - that's very nice.
To be a great motorbike racer, the most important thing is passion for the bike.
The neurologist calls it 'Non-REM parasomnia'. For the sufferer, it might mean rising in the middle of the night, getting your motorbike out, going for a ride, and waking in the morning with no memory of the experience.
My father was a motorsports journalist and a motorbike fan. He gave me my motocross bike.
Speed on its own isn't always so exciting. On a racing motorbike, I can do over 180 mph, which is fast, but not as fast as the airliners that we all climb aboard to fly off on holiday. Modern passenger jets can cruise at between 500 and 600 mph, but sitting in an aeroplane like that for hours on end isn't very exciting, is it?
When I was on the motorbike in the Dakar Rally I had a lot of time to think.
It was mid-life crisis time and you can't have more of a mid-life crisis than going off on a motorbike.
Be it a house, be it a car or be it a little motorbike, there is always a place for the family!
My parents didn't give me any scope to feel sorry for myself. They were just like 'go play with your brother, go climb a tree, go fall off your motorbike, do whatever you want. Don't come crying to us when you get scratched. You've got prosthetic legs - that's very nice.'
This site uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience.
More info...