In 1988, the year before the Berlin Wall came down, my friend and I decided to each ride a motorcycle across Europe to Berlin. I was riding a GT380 Suzuki - the largest I could ride, and still get my feet on the ground.

At this time, to get to Berlin, you had to ride specific corridor roads. A few miles down one of these roads, we were stopped by the police (with several large guns). A policeman shouted "Speeding!" at my friend, but waved me on. He then promptly opened a car boot with a typewriter in the back, and typed up a fine which had to be paid straight away.

My friend shouted "Souvenir!" I started to panic - he paid the fine - and then we both rode off, passing all the villages in East Germany, surrounded by walls, until we finally arrived in Berlin.