A motorcycle-loving clergyman has discovered at first hand how God can move in mysterious ways.

When the Reverend Marcus Bull applied to take part in a biking makeover television show earlier this year he thought he knew exactly what he was getting into.

His ageing Honda CB750 was in serious need of attention so Mr Bull, as he e-mailed off a photograph of himself astride the bike, hoped this could be a perfect way of giving it a new lease of life.

The 35-year-old was delighted to be chosen for the show and, after his bike was shipped to California, flew to Los Angeles in early June to be reunited with it - or so he thought.

Mr Bull, minister of Trinity Church in Rawdon, said: "They'd told me they'd take my bike to LA and customise it and then take me out there for a week to join it.

"They'd had it a few months and when I got to LA they produced it from the back of a workshop on the prongs of a forklift truck and they dropped it from 20ft up! That was the end of my bike and I was speechless.

"They were filming me to get my reaction but there was none because I was just stunned.

"Then the rest of the week consisted of me, not the bike having a makeover! I was pampered by beautiful Californian women, which was not at all unpleasant, taught to shoot a handgun, fly a hang glider and given a helicopter ride and they fitted me out in a designer outfit.

"Then they shipped me back to the UK with a promise the bike would be back when they finished rebuilding it." The motorbike, fully repaired and revamped, was due to be returned to Rawdon last Sunday.

But the makers of All The Gear, No Idea had given themselves a nasty surprise, too - by damaging the Honda so badly they couldn't fix it.

Instead, Mr Bull had a completely new, and comprehensively customised, Ducati Monster 620 waiting for him after his Sunday morning service - and this time the film crew caught a very definite response.

He said: "A lot of people were there to see it arrive and they'd all been told before me what had happened.

"They took me out, whipped the sheet off it and my first thought was 'oh, it's black and orange'. The second was 'that's not my bike!'.

"They told me mine wasn't worth repairing so they'd bought me a brand new one and customised it.

"I think I'll forgive them as what they've given me is worth a lot more and is gorgeous, with custom paint, lights and graphics. If I was taken to a bike shop and told to take my pick and this bike was there, I'd choose it.

"The whole experience has been fantastic.

"I've got to get it insured now and I'm champing at the bit to go out on it.

"I actually rode it around the church car park yesterday and didn't get out of first gear and it scared me!"

Mr Bull got his bike licence in 1996 but has only been riding bigger motorbikes for the last four years.

When he finally takes his new metal steed out on the road other motorists may be able to catch a flash of a message with a difference on its chassis - where the graphic reads 'Racing IV D-Lord'.