Way back when Top Gear was in its golden era, I loved that Richard Hammond would profess his love for motorcycles on the show. It'd usually involve Jeremy Clarkson responding with something along the lines of "Hammond, you idiot!", but Richard was always undeterred and gave folks like me who love both cars and bikes an avenue to step into both worlds.
And Hammond was always a real biker in my eyes, as you tend to have to be when you live in sunny old England... Yeah, that's a joke, as English weather ain't exactly ideal for motorcyclists to enjoy year-round. Southern California, it is not. But the TV presenter and motorcyclist routinely went through hell and high water on the show whenever a motorcycle was introduced during some insane stunt or road trip. And he took it all in stride.
I, however, didn't know that Hammond's motorcycle collection was quite as extensive as it is. That is, until the above video with him going through his many, many motorcycles that range from classic BMWs to sporty Ducatis, and everything in between. Damn, Hammond, that's a dope collection I'm personally very jealous of.
What's wild about this video is that Hammond opens it with stating he's never had all of his motorcycles in one place at the same time, likely emulating a lot of us in that some are by friends, some are in the garage, some are in the shed, and some may be in a creek bed after we fell off on one unsuspecting backcountry ride...
But Hammond's collection is properly insane, having old BMWs, newer BMWs—one of which he calls his truck that he uses all the time to go to and from London—a now-dead Indian FTR 1200, Kawasakis, Ducatis, a Norton cafe racer, a Brough Superior, a Royal Enfield Interceptor, an '80s Suzuki Katana, a Suzuki GSX-R1100, an OK Supreme (which I'd never heard of), a few Triumphs, Hondas (including a CB X 6-cylinder), a Yamaha FZR, and an Indian Big Chief from the 1940s that Hammond states is a bike where "everything is on the wrong side."
Your left hand controls the throttle, for instance.
The collection is enviable, to say the least. It's one built from years of collecting and restoration, and one built on a genuine passion that exudes from Hammond in this video. Again, he's not a fair-weather motorcyclist, like so many who collect bikes or call themselves bikers. He's one who'll get out in the dust, dirt, and rain and take these bikes for a spin when he gets the chance. And there are a few motorcycles in that collection that'd I'd love to have in my own garage, which now feels barren.
