Skip to content

Former biker hits the road again for sidecar ride

Clare WordenHolt
News imageCare UK Heath Lodge A man is riding a motorbike with a side car. He is wearing a black helmet and white top. In the sidecar is an older woman. She has white hair. She is wrapped in a blue and red tartan blanket. She is pointing at the camera. Care UK Heath Lodge
Valerie Harvey said the chance to get back out on the road was "wonderful"

Sixty-six years after Valerie Harvey purchased her first motorbike aged 21, she found herself riding away from her care home with the wind in her hair.

The 87-year-old has dementia and lives at Heath Lodge Care Home in Holt, Norfolk, where her care workers arranged for her to go for a ride in a sidecar of a 1928 Panther Sloper 600 last month.

Her son, Kevin Harvey, said his mum bought her first Norton 16H motorcycle in 1957, which was a former World War Two dispatch bike dating from 1942.

He added it was "amazingly emotional" to see his mum back on a bike.

"We didn't quite know how mum would get on, whether she would sort of have any flickering of a memory, which she seemed to do.

"There was the opportunity to get into a sidecar and even though mum's mobility is not great she leapt in this thing.

"There was almost like a muscle memory about getting onto a bike," he said.

News imageFamily handout Black and white image of a woman wearing a white dress sitting side-saddle on a large black motorbike. She is smiling at the camera. Family handout
Valerie Harvey riding her Norton 16H motorcycle in 1957

A convoy of eight motorbikes, including the same Norton model Valerie Harvey owned, were brought to the care home by riders from the Vintage Motor Cycle Club, Norton Owners Club and BSA Bantam Club.

Tony Allen, who took Valerie Harvey out for the ride, said he was happy to bring his bike to Heath Lodge.

"I had it for 40 years and my grandchildren had a lot of fun with it, my own children had a lot of fun with it and now the older generations have a bit of fun with it," he said.

"They are pretty rare. It's all original virtually, apart from new bit of wood here and there, but that is virtually as it was," he added.

News imageClare Worden/BBC A man wearing a red shirt and blue jeans sits next to an older woman in a wheelchair. She is wearing an orange t-shirt and is holding a crochet teddy.Clare Worden/BBC
Kevin Harvey said it was very special to see his mum sitting in the sidecar

Dee Bartrum, the lifestyle lead at Heath Lodge Care Home, said her role involved fulfilling the wishes of residents such as going behind the scenes at at zoo to feed animals, wing walking on a plane and Valerie Harvey's motorcycle ride.

She said: "We try to make people's dreams come true, connect them to their past.

"We want to make something special happen for the residents and make their lives worthwhile."

Do you have a story suggestion for Norfolk? Contact us below.

Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.

More from Norfolk
Related internet links