I have just finished reading the article in OBM (March) about Classic Bike Shop in Redditch, the town where I was born in 1946. I lived just around the corner from what would eventually become M J Rogers Motorcycles in Clive Road.
I first met Curly Rogers in 1965, when I went into his shop looking to trade in my 50cc Honda C114 after passing my test. I bought a 250cc James Sports Superswift which he’d just serviced, and 18 months later I was back to buy my first brand-new bike, a Honda CD175. Two years later, I was there again to trade it in for a BSA A65L.
I would pop into Curly’s for a chat with him or his dad, and he always had a tale to tell about his life and his bikes. Most of us local bikers would call at his shop from the Toledo, or Joan’s cafe around the corner in Hewell Road. I saw him quite often through the years, and was saddened to hear of his passing.
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I have never forgotten Curly, as he was someone who would always find time for a chat, or to give advice about bikes. I’m glad his son Mike has carried on with the bikes, and I’m sure his dad would have been very proud of his success.
Now retired, I have got back into biking with a 500cc Kawasaki, but I intend to find a Royal Enfield Crusader, Redditch-built, of course, as I still prefer quarter-litre bikes.
Thank you for a great mag, and this feature in particular.
Christopher Willis
Lakeside, Redditch
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