Those are just three of the many qualities which grieving widow Margaret Martin (54) attributes to her late husband John.

Margaret's world was torn apart on July 5 when John (50) died in a motorcycle accident on Carluke's Kilncadzow Road.

"John was my soulmate," Margaret, of Wilton Road, said. "He was such a generous, kind hearted man.

"He would give you his last nut, bolt or penny. He always saw the good and potential in people.

"He loved riding motorbikes. We went away together on several biking holidays in Europe.

"John was a patriotic Scot who loved his kilt. He always wore his tartan scarf when riding.

"And he never got lost...he just took a different road!"

John, who had a distinctive belly laugh, adored his family and enjoyed socialising with friends in local pubs.

"I met John in Carluke's Kirkton Bar exactly 13 years to the day before his accident," Margaret said.

"I was single and had two kids. Friday night was my night out with friends and John plucked up the courage to ask me out. He was the only man I ever gave my phone number to.

"He phoned me the next morning and suggested we went to St Andrews together on his Tiger motorbike.

"We had a brilliant time and never argued once. Two years after that, we got married in Sweetheart Abbey near Dumfries."

Eleven years of married bliss followed, before the tragic accident which claimed John's life.

A well known face in Carluke, John's popularity was such that around 600 people attended his funeral in Kirkton Church on July 14.

Although police inquiries into the accident are continuing, Margaret lays the blame squarely on the hazardous condition of a stretch of Kilncadzow Road.

"John wouldn't have been speeding," she said. "There was a lot of rainwater and mud on the road, which caused him to skid.

"He was a very experienced rider who had ridden on several tracks around the world."

A perfect day for John was riding out on dry, bendy roads with his wife either pillion or on her own bike, then heading home together.

Born on July 24, 1957 in Hamilton, John was educated in Motherwell. After his family moved to Carluke, he spent three years at Lanark Grammar.

John joined the Merchant Navy with Harrison Clyde of Glasgow and started his engineering cadetship at Glasgow Nautical College in August 1974.

He bought his first motorbike at 17 with the financial help and encouragement of his grandad.

After that, there was never a time when John didn't have at least one bike in his garage.

After his academic training, John moved through the Harrison Clyde ranks before moving to ferries on the Irish Sea, where he was promoted to chief engineer at the age of 30.

He sailed worldwide as chief engineer, during a total of 33 years in the Merchant Navy.

"Nothing was too much trouble for John," Margaret added. "He would travel to help anyone all over, just for the promise of a cup of coffee and a chocolate biscuit."

John will also be sadly missed by daughters Lyndsey and Fiona, his mum Isla, brothers Kenny and Alan, grandkids Jack (10) and Jamie (20 months), in-laws Sally, Lynne, Bill, Ronnie, June and Jean and his many friends.