He was one of about 1300 people to take advantage of free entry to the National Automobile Museum of Tasmania yesterday as part of its community awareness weekend and made a bee-line for the classic British bikes on display.

''The first time I rode a motorcycle would have been my grandfather's BSA Bantam, when I was about eight,'' Mr Robinson said.

''I can recall Granddad visiting our place to show off his brand-new motorbike, and when he went inside, my brother and I worked out how to start it - the next thing, we were heading off up the paddock on our farm on Flinders Island.

''My dad had a BSA too, a 250cc, and until I could afford to buy one, I'd borrow his.

''I can remember one time riding through six inches of snow to the top of Mount Barrow with my brother on his 500cc BSA - he passed me on the straight, leaving me in a cloud of snow and I the next thing I knew, I was picking him up from the ground on the next corner.'' Mr Robinson said that he returned to Tasmania only seven years ago, when he retired, and was a regular visitor to the museum.

''It wasn't built before I left Tassie and I come pretty well every time they put on a new themed exhibition, not only when it's free,'' he said.

Mr Robinson said that he stopped riding motorcycles for the same reason he failed to follow through to buy the Austin Healey 3000 he had  lined up. ``I got married.''

There's free entry to the Cimitiere Street, Launceston, museum today from 10am to 4pm.