Chris Scott finds his original Sahara bike after 33 years 

A recent mention of Chris Scott’s new book (one of More Bikes’ Christmas Book Ideas) led to Herefordshire biker Harry Waymouth realising he owned the adventure-motorcycling author’s first Sahara bike: a ratty ’78 Yamaha XT500.

‘It was actually my old mate Charlie who bought it off Chris back in 1982 after it staggered back from the desert. He then sold it on to me, we gave it an overhaul and headed for Turkey in 1987. It needed more work on the road, including the ally tank that Chris had repaired halfway across the Sahara.’

Since then the XT has been ‘resting’ but still sports Chris’ original Craven rack, the hand-beaten 20-litre tank, an oversized Citroen oil cooler and Suzuki motocross forks. They got fitted when the back of a London bus caught the XT by surprise one night.

‘That old thumper is as indestructible as the Top Gear Hilux,’ says Chris now. He thinks seeing the XT after 33 years will be like meeting up with an old flame.‘I’ve owned over 50 bikes but the XT is special, it took me on my first real adventure into Africa – you can draw your own ‘girlfriend’ analogies…’

Find out more about Chris’ fantastic book ‘Adventures in Motorcycling’ and his other great titles at http://adventuresinmotorcycling.com