My Gift to the 11th Earl of Denbigh

William Rudolph Michael Feilding, 11th Earl of Denbigh.

That was his name, but we called him ‘Rollo’, as he was always introduced as Rollo Denbigh or Lord Denbigh. He was a regular guy who loved cars and motorcycles. I got to know him on my first trip to the Isle of Man in 1990 and he was an enthusiast in the true sense of the word. 

He was riding the bike Geoff Johnson had won the Production 1000cc TT in 1987 for the Loctite Yamaha team (Now shown as Production Class B). Geoff died in 1990 of a brain embolism. This was a guy that rode a 520 pound bike (a real handful in those days) around the IOM, inches from walls and poles, only to die during a party at home in his kitchen. Goes to show you never know what will happen.

Geoff Johnson on the 1987 Loctite Yamaha Bike

Now Rollo is riding this bike – with Geoff’s signature on it - with all the paperwork from Yamaha and the Loctite team.  This was one of my first trips to England and the Isle of Mann as well, and I was learning that ‘English’ is not always the same English; word usage can differ, sometimes greatly.  For example in the US we ride on the pavement in the street. If you say you were riding on the ‘pavement’ in the UK, they think you were riding on the sidewalk.  A transmission is a gear box in the UK, and a Fanny Pack is known as a bum bag.  Back in the day, you may have gotten your fanny or backside swatted when you got into trouble.  Yet in the UK, it’s more of a slang term about female genitalia.

So here I am with Rollo and friends and he states he has a Harley Davidson FLHTC as I think to myself, “Cool I have a present for you”.  You see, on my last trip to Sturgis I had bought some ‘Sturgis HD’ suspenders.  I had been using them on this trip to hold up my rain pants; but thought they would be a nice gift. I tell him I have some ‘Sturgis HD’ suspenders for him and he looks at me like there is something majorly wrong with me. After I hand them over I found out that our USA suspenders are called braces.  

Turns out suspenders in the UK are what are known as a garter belt in the USA!