mono motorcycles was born from passion and a love for motorcycles. It was born from Daniels lifelong dream of turning his passion into a business.

However, it has not always been plain sailing. Running a business is immensely rewarding but can also be extremely challenging.

We are always honest and transparent in our communications with customers, followers and friends.

Therefore, we have decided to share some of the challenges we faced starting mono motorcycles and how our mental health and wellbeing was a driving force behind our decision to start the business when we did.

09.02.2016

For those who have followed us for some time, you will know that we met on an online dating APP. We were both single and both worked very long hours. Katy was a full-time secondary school English teacher and Daniel worked full time for the AA as a patrol and technical support. Finding companionship in whatever the traditional fashion was, was a bit tricky.

On the 9^th February 2016 Daniel found Katy’s online profile and apparently thought ‘Wow!’. When he read about the fact that she was a petrol head, hated shopping and hoped that Castrol R could be made into a perfume; he knew he had to reach out to her.

17.02.2016 

We started an online chat but due to work commitments, it wasn’t until the 17^th February that we met up in person.

After that first meeting we started seeing each other as often as work allowed.

04.03.2016

On Friday 4^th March 2016 when Katy had finished teaching for the day, she turned on her phone as she left school and found a message from a number she didn’t recognise.

The message was from Daniel’s brother informing her that Daniel had had a motorcycle accident and was in hospital. We were meant to be going away that weekend.

Daniel, a little befuddled due to heavy doses of painkillers, discharged himself and headed home where Katy met him.

The initial prognosis was that Daniel had shattered the ball joint at the top of his humerus and snapped his humerus off just underneath the ball joint. He had broken the thumb on his left hand, and this was in a cast. He had also injured his knees where he had hit the ground with such force. His KTM 990 Super Duke was a right off.

We had only been together a matter of a few weeks, and a considerably large spanner had been thrown into the works.

Despite the challenges Daniels injuries posed, we realised quickly that we were meant to be together. Conversations were had about moving in together and in July 2016 Katy moved to Havant to live with Daniel.

To enable Katy to make the move to Havant, she had to find another teaching post. A school in Portsmouth seemed to be the right fit and she readied herself for a new term.

Cumulatively Daniel was off work for 6 months. As the hospital were unable to pin his shoulder, it had to heal naturally which takes considerably longer.

During this time and even though Daniel couldn’t drive/ride a motorcycle, we spent plenty of time out and about, on adventures and making the most of our time together.

August 2016.

However, with pressure from the AA to return to work, Daniel went back to work in August 2016, and Katy started her new teaching job in September 2016.

As we had been able to spend a lot of time together in the first few months of our relationship, once Daniel was back on a shift pattern at the AA and Katy was working a full teaching week, our time together was limited.

Katy very quickly discovered that her new school was quite challenging with many of the children being aggressive, verbally rude/abusive and in some cases violent. It didn’t help that despite being an English teacher, the classroom allocated to her was on the other side of the school from the English department/classrooms making it quite an isolating experience.

It wasn’t long before Katy’s new job often had her in tears due to stress and the challenging behaviour of the children she was working with. 

Daniel’s job was causing him increased stress and anxiety with management expectations putting more pressure on patrols. Furthermore, with the introduction of smart motorways and hard shoulders vanishing, being a patrol was becoming increasingly dangerous whilst salaries were going down. He also wanted to be spending quality time with Katy. 

Daniel had always offered repairs and servicing to friends and word of mouth had him quite busy in his spare time. He often spoke to Katy of how much he wished he could turn his passion and hobby into a business.

By the spring of 2017 we were both becoming increasingly disillusioned with our career paths and were exhibiting classic signs and symptoms of stress and anxiety.

April 2017.

The idea of turning mono motorcycles from a pipedream into a reality happened when we started mono motorcycles in April 2017. The original plan was for Daniel to run mono motorcycles part time on his days off and then we would look at starting the business full time the following year.

07.05.2017. D-Day – Decision Day.

We headed off on the Triumph Tiger to the Goodwood Breakfast Club: Supercar Sunday. We got there early as we knew we’d have to leave the event early because Daniel was on an afternoon shift. When we got home, Daniel said he really couldn’t face the AA anymore and broke down. He let it out how unhappy he was and that he just couldn’t carry on with the job and the impact it was having on his physical and mental wellbeing. 

We spoke openly about what Daniel would like to be doing. The conversation questioned if we could manage if he left the AA and built-up mono motorcycles while Katy continued to work full time.

With Katy’s encouragement, Daniel decided it was now or never. 

mono motorcycles – humble beginnings.

With only a small amount of savings, a single garage, a lifetime of accumulated tools and a single ramp; Daniel resigned from the AA and mono motorcycles became a full-time venture. 

Daniel’s last day with the AA was the 19^{th of} July 2017. We went from a two-salary household to one in the space of a couple of months. It was tough, but it was the release Daniel needed to support his mental and physical wellbeing. 

Katy carried on working full time to support them while Daniel built the business. 

Work picked up mostly through word of mouth. A website was built, Katy started blogging, Facebook was built and social media posts brought in more work. 

While Daniel worked hard in the fledgling mono motorcycles, Katy was struggling in another new school. By Christmas 2017 she had been signed off with stress… again.  

Over the Christmas period the conversation began about how mono motorcycles needed more space. 

Early 2018 Row C Unit 4/5 New Barn Offices was discovered, and papers were signed. 

Katy having prepared to return to work in January 2018, found the anxiety of going back into teaching after being signed off with stress (again) too much and following an intense conversation with Daniel about how they would manage, Katy resigned effective immediately. 

Katy stopped work and again we lost another salary. 

However, by making our physical and mental wellbeing a priority, we both started the new year with a new workshop and a new challenge. 

It was not easy. Katy picked up some hours as a Virtual Assistant, but as we were still such a young company and we now had premises to pay for, it was a struggle. However, the focus which kept us going was that we were now both free to make our own future, our own journey and on our own terms.

Neither of us had ever envisaged working with a partner, but we soon found our stride and slowly over time mono motorcycles started to strive. 

Please be under no illusion that running a business is easy. It isn’t. We have survived national economic down turns, Covid, major illness, inflation and a wealth of other challenges along the way.

However, together we have also grown a business from virtually nothing and in doing so have created a community of customers, followers and supporters along the way.

There have been ups and downs and everything in between, but with the belief in ourselves, supporting each other every step of the way and with the belief from family, friends and supporters – we are here, looking forward, striving forward. 

mono motorcycles are now supporting the work Mental Health Motorbike do, encouraging people to start conversations and seek support for their mental wellbeing. 

Running a business can be a little like juggling cats, but it is always so rewarding to take a step back and look at our achievements with pride. We work hard to offer the very best of ourselves and our accumulated skills/talents to our customers and beyond, whilst also constantly checking in with ourselves and making sure we are ‘Ok’. 

“Consider the boundaries you need to conserve your energy and operate at your best.”
― Miranda Hart, I Haven’t Been Entirely Honest with You

If you are struggling, thinking of making a huge life change and just need to talk it through, or just need to reach out to another human; contact your local Mental Health Motorbike team for a wealth of advice and access to supportive and positive resources and materials.

All the best

Daniel and Katy