I was out on my motorbike the other day and was waiting at some traffic lights when another motorcyclist complete with pillion, possibly his wife, pulled up next to me. Instinctively we looked the other’s bike up and down, I think both admiring what we saw.

It then occurred to me that men probably look at motorbikes the way they look at women and the way women look at men – and other women, of course!

Anyway, we got into a brief conversation about our machines which, for some reason, like cars, boats and planes, are nearly always referred to as female.

Just before the lights turned to green, my new friend concluded “Yes, she’s not a bad old thing and she always starts first time. The exhaust blows a bit these days but she’s still a good ride and I have no intention of trading her in just yet”.

Confident that he was still referring to his motorbike I nodded politely, wished him a safe journey and accelerated off before the lights changed back to red!