Walsoken dad teaches 11-year-old son to build a motorbike during lockdown

After lockdown home schooling left a father and son scratching their heads, they turned to an exciting project to keep themselves busy.

Dad Phil Doughty and son Reece (11) were struggling to get their heads around maths and English school work when they watched a television programme which inspired Phil to teach his son some practical skills.

The duo, who live in Walsoken, took some tips from the show and decided to embark on a project to lovingly restore an old 1960 BSA Bantam bike.

Phil, who works as a plasterer but has been unable work due to lockdown, said: “I found myself not being able to teach Reece anything as my wife, Lisa, is much better at that, so I sat there and wondered what I could do.

“We had been watching 'Find It, Fix It, Flog It' on the telly and it inspired us. We thought ‘why don’t we do it?’ and that was it.”

Reece helped his dad to negotiate on the price of the bike before they spent two weeks working on it together every day.

The motorbike was restored completely by the pair, as they completely stripped the vehicle before rebuilding it, with the engine repaired, the paintwork completely spruced up and a brand new seat which was built by Reece.

“We were probably spending around three hours a day working on it and Reece did a lot of the work - even the electrics and rebuffing the paintwork. He also made the seat all on his own.

“It was quite intense at times and even I was shocked when after three kicks it started up!”

The duo are now looking to other projects they can have a go at and hope that others will look to do the same.

“I’m now showing Reece how to sell the bike and then we will look at our next project. He has really enjoyed it - it’s kept him busy and he’s been learning while we’ve been bonding too,” Phil said.

“I really hope we can inspire other people to have a go at a project too as it’s a been a really difficult time for the kids - there’s only so much homework and computer gaming they can take.

“We are all getting through this and we will start to get back to normal soon.”