00:00High adrenaline, revving engines and catastrophic crashes are not what you'd expect to be in
00:07the routine of a 79-year-old, but Jim Porter from Munston has had his life to find by the
00:14bike.
00:14I've been a motorcyclist all my life, I started racing in 1963 and I've done all varieties
00:21of the motorcycle sport, grass track, scrambling, hill climbing trials and I got the chance
00:27to go to road racing at Brands Hatch in 1972 and since then I've been hooked on road racing
00:33and my ultimate goal was to follow my father's footsteps and race in the Isle of Man round
00:37the TT course and I'm happy to say I've done it, survived it and I've had my best result
00:43was in 1986, fifth place out of 130 riders at an average speed of 92 mile an hour.
00:50Jim has had a decorated career, he recently won two major titles coming up against racers
00:56a quarter of his age, but it's not all been highs, during a competition another rider
01:02struck his front wheel and sent him head first into a crash barrier at 80 miles per hour.
01:09The bike was totally written off, I was totally written off, I've heard recently the marshal
01:14came to the scene of the crash, checked me over and radioed, we've lost him because I
01:19wasn't breathing, there was no pulse and he said we've lost him and he said a miracle you
01:24gradually came back to life, so I didn't know how bad it was.
01:29After three months of rehabilitation he was back on his bike and he won't let his approaching
01:3580th birthday stop him either.
01:38I've been saying one more year for five years now, I don't smoke, I don't drink much, I've
01:43never done drugs but I've always raced motorbikes and it's something I can't seem to let go of.
01:48My head is saying, now's the time to let go. 80 years of age next April, lots of crashes
01:55behind me, lots of broken bones along the way, so there's a war going on between my head
02:00and my heart. You know, I've had holidays all around the world, I've tried all sorts of
02:04other sports but nothing comes near the excitement of racing a motorbike.
02:09It doesn't sound like Jim will be hitting the brakes any time soon. Chloe Brewster for
02:14KMTV in Manston.
