Motorbike racer Mick Grant releases autobiography

Oct 5 2010 By Neil Atkinson

HE first rode a motorcycle at the age of 11.

And the fact that he didn’t have any petrol for it didn’t stop the young Mick Grant.

He and his mate siphoned fuel from cars parked in their home village of Middlestown, halfway between Huddersfield and Wakefield, to race around the fields.

Mick, now 66, recalled the days of riding around on the huge ‘monster’ of a Triumph Tiger 350cc as a book about his life was published.

Mick, who lived at Lepton for many years in a house he built, became one of the leading British motorcycle racers of the 1970s and 1980s.

Like other racers, he also earned a reputation as one of the sport’s most colourful characters.

The book called Takin’ The Mick tells the story of a straight-talking, hard-riding Yorkshireman whose determination and commitment earned him the label ‘gritty’ in the media.

He was never afraid to tell people what he thought and sometimes bent the rules.

Born the son of a Yorkshire miner, Mick entered motorcycle racing through the most unlikely of routes – after doing a college fine art course.

He and his boyhood pal, Chris Bradley, were taken by Chris’ dad to meetings of Wakefield Motor Club which led them to race days at Oliver’s Mount at Scarborough.

Mick, who now lives in Lincolnshire; admits: "I was hooked. I always enjoyed the sport, the thrill of it, and even now I know I’ll never stop riding motorcycles.

"I am lucky in that I had a brilliant career as a race rider and I always said I would never stop while I enjoyed it.

"That lasted for years but then came the day when I just could not be bothered going to a meeting and I knew it was time to give up.