So much for Captain Slow! Ex-Top Gear host James May is done for speeding – less than half a mile after picking up his new motorbike

  • TV presenter picked up 599 cc Honda motorbike in London last month
  • But just around the corner he was clocked doing over the 30mph limit
  • He'll take a speed awareness course rather than get points on his licence

By Richard Spillett for MailOnline

Published: 08:12 EST, 5 September 2016 | Updated: 13:57 EST, 5 September 2016

He's mocked by his fellow presenters as 'Captain Slow' due his cautious approach to motoring.

But James May was caught speeding just minutes after he bought a new high-power motorbike.

The former Top Gear presenter, who is set to appear alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond in a new show on Amazon, purchased the Honda CBR600RR last month from a dealership in west London.

James May has been caught speeding on a motorbike he purchased just moments earlier

James May has been caught speeding on a motorbike he purchased just moments earlier

But after riding it for less than a mile, he was caught doing more than the 30mph speed limit on a local road.

May, 53, told MailOnline: 'It's a fair cop. I try to respect speed limits and rules in urban areas.

'Out on the motorways and in the country it's a bit different, but I try to abide by the rules in the city.

'I was caught this time. That stretch of road used to be 40 [miles per hour], but they recently brought it down to 30.'

The former Top Gear host had just purchased a Honda CBR600RR at a London dealership
The former Top Gear host had just purchased a Honda CBR600RR at a London dealership

The former Top Gear host had just purchased a Honda CBR600RR (pictured right in file photo)

May joked about the incident on Twitter and mocked 'customer feedback' of the speed awareness course he will now have to take

May joked about the incident on Twitter and mocked 'customer feedback' of the speed awareness course he will now have to take

CO-HOSTS HAVE ALSO BEEN CAUGHT GOING TOO FAST

Top Gear hosts are no strangers to speeding fines. In 2014, Jeremy Clarkson was snapped by a speed camera while driving from Whitby, North Yorkshire, to London.

He said he was doing '80 something' in a 60mph zone, but brushed off the incident, saying it was 'nothing catastrophic, nobody died.' 

In the same year, Clarkson and Hammond were fined and given a three-month ban for speeding during filming in France.

He said he would be taking a speed awareness course because he already has three points on his licence and can't afford to get any more.

He refused to say by how much he was exceeding the speed limit, but told current Top Gear presenter Chris Harris he was 'mid brakey' when he was caught by the camera.

May also tweeted his followers a map of where he was caught and mocked a 'customer review' on a leaflet about a speed awareness course he was sent.

At the time of the incident, he tweeted: 'Bought new motorcycle. Busted for speeding in the first 16 miles.'

He admitted that fans he had told were already calling for him to be given a new nickname.

May, Clarkson and Hammond's new show, The Grand Tour, is to be shown on Amazon Prime later this autumn. 

The TV presenter was clocked going above the 30mph speed limit on this stretch of road

The TV presenter was clocked going above the 30mph speed limit on this stretch of road

He was caught shortly after buying the bike from this Honda dealership in Chiswick

He was caught shortly after buying the bike from this Honda dealership in Chiswick

 

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