Jim Morrison may not yet know it, but from this morning he might have to get used to answering to the name of Jeremy.
Jim is one of seven Angus motorcycle fanatics who will ride off from Forfar today on a 2500-mile Top Gear-type challenge of a lifetime.
His friends have already honoured Jim with the moniker of the BBC hit show’s straight talking lead figure, one Mr J. Clarkson.
The group expect to encounter just as many situations which the team of Clarkson, Hammond and May usually cram into their now legendary challenges after signing up to a tried and tested Top Gear formula of seeing just how far they can get for their buck.
In the Angus group’s case they were each set a budget of just £350 to buy two wheels which they hope will power them all the way to Greece, leaving behind the sparkling, modern machinery which they usually take on annual tour.
As a result, Jim, along with Gordon Alexander, Fred Heenan, Kim Cessford, Colin Ritchie and brothers Gordon and Graeme Phillip will rev up a motley collection of 1979-1991 bikes when they head off on the trans-Euro adventure.
From Newcastle the group will sail to the Hook of Holland before a scheduled Saturday stop at an enduro event in Austria. They will then head on to Bosnia, Croatia and through southern Europe to their target destination of Athens by July 3.
Gordon, of the Academy Street bodyshop in Forfar, said, “We go on a trip every year and our original idea was to ship our own bikes out to Athens and then ride them back.
“It was going to cost about £350 to get each bike there, so we then thought about flying out, buying bikes there and riding them back that was going to be a load of hassle.
“So, in the end we decided to buy bikes here, set a limit of £350 gave ourselves the challenge of seeing if we can get them to Athens.”
Their quest began towards the end of last year and after purchasing their chosen mounts-two Honda CBR 600s, a Kawasaki Z500, Kawasaki GPZ 750, Yamaha XJ600, Yamaha Genesis and a Honda Transalp the group have spent the winter fettling the machines for the trek.
“We’re all mechanically minded so hopefully we’ll be able to deal with anything that crops up, but we expect it to be full of laughs and full of breakdowns,” joked Gordon.
“We’re all experienced riders but we’re going into the unexpected it’s a bit of serious fun which we’re going to enjoy.”