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Sorry Foamy, I'm bailing unfortunately. A little tired from my late flight and ideally wanted to meet you at Loomies for the ride to Ace instead of just meeting you at Ace. Not been to either place so would have been good, and nice to ride down with Finnerz too. Wishing you a great birthday though!

I'll keep an eye on this thread then... I'm leaving Barcelona later tonight and am a little knackered, but I'll basically wait for you to update this thread.

Okay... About 240 miles from my house to Loomies. Never been there or Ace so all the more reason to come and celebrate with you. I'll keep the weekend clear, and as long as the weather isn't utter pants then I'll be there!

I'd be happy to plan a meet, but after our t-shirt debacle, plus the fact that I wouldn't want to lead a run (too slow, and not keen on having you lot up me rear end.. . Oi oi!) I fear it would be a disaster...

Hey Finnerz! Yeah Foamy - is this still on? I'm back in the UK that weekend so can meet up if it's still on the cards.

Danke Tommy! I'll need to look into this as I'm not sure where I'll need to be next year with regards to work - but would love to join you guys!

Tommy, would you mind letting me know your ferry details? Date and times etc... Really not sure if I'll be able to come due to work, but I'll look into it. I'm getting some pillion grab rails for Crimbo, so I'll have more space and tie-down points to carry stuff on my bike. Really wasn't a lot of room on it for the Squires trip and it would be great to not have to worry about carting my bedding and tent around on my back.

Yes there are a fair few of us on here! A great bunch to hang out with.

Yes, I spent a fair amount of time sitting in an office of around 80, of which only 9 of us were women. How entertaining we found it when some woman walked in to get IT assistance from another floor. You could literally hear the typing stop and the eyes peer over the desk dividers...! Snake Pass is fun, as are so many of the roads around the Peak. Feel free to give me a shout if you want a riding partner for those roads.

Always liked bikes, remember when I was a kid, all my "cool" Lego characters rode motorbikes, lol!! Anyway... fast forward to my teenage years and I went for my car licence as soon as I could. No one else in my family rides bikes you see. When I went to college I started riding pillion on my now ex's bikes. We cruised about in all weather on his TW125 (odd bike...), Varadero 125 and Africa Twin. He'd been off-roading all his life and taught me a fair bit. Anyway, that fuelled my interest and temporarily we acquired a CG125 as a field bike. It didn't last long (completely buggered and we didn't have the money...) A short holiday in Portugal was my only experience of getting up to any "speed" under my own steam on a bike. 'Twas a DT we'd hired to get about and I made it to 4th gear (woot) before stacking it in a ditch, ha ha! I do have the video of that actually and it still makes me laugh... After that we had an unfortunate accident - someone pulling out from a side road on us. The bloke drove into my knee whilst we were doing 40mph down a single carriageway and the bike landed on my other leg. Was a shock to the system and resulted in an op. We still rode after that but I was naturally shaken on the back. Time moved by fast after that really. I moved up to Manchester with work, focussed on my career, bought a house and now live down the road from a Snake Pass. Every summer I was in the house I'd find myself running to the window when I heard a bike go past (loser, I know...) so I eventually went for it! Been a whirlwind, got my CBT in August 2012 and full licence in May last year. Absolutely love the adventures, and find my car just sitting there now.

Hello and welcome. Airhead is right, I struggled with the headlight, but in the bikes defence, it is pitched as a city bike - and with street lighting, it's not a problem. Very similar to you, I used to leave my house at 5am for a 40 mile commute across country roads. Very scary at times! Particularly fog, and when cars were about, as I didn't trust them to see me. Sadly, I can't be of any help to you as I didn't perform any mod to the bike, just focussed on getting my full licence... However what I did end up doing down unlit roads at night was riding with my full beam on... Enough car drivers were doing it to me, and interestingly not one flashed me to say it was annoying (!) it made a slight improvement for me, and didn't seem to piss anyone off. Win, win!

Yes Steve... You really shouldn't leave your Amazon wish list open for public viewing...

Yes, it's still a little numb, ha ha! Blackie, I will be on the honour roll, but apparently it can take a few months for that to be updated. Should be easy to find though once it is live, only two other people have done it on a Street Triple, so not a long list to run down!

Well good news folks, I was successful in acquiring my Iron Butt UK membership. My certificate arrived in the post this morning!

Well welcome back Grouch. It's not the same without you... I see you removed your photo as per Tommy's recommendation after your rather racist comment, ha ha!! Seriously though... How's the bike going? Enjoying it? I do really like the WR, and if I was staying in a 125 long term it would be my first choice. Opted for the YBR (no complaints from me) purely because it was so much cheaper! How many miles have you clocked up now? But for me, the more important question is... Are you any closer to getting your full licence? If I remember correctly didn't you take your CBT in March? Which means you're either due to redo it, or already have done so. Are you still going to get your full licence at some point? Is a 125 2T still on the cards too?

Mr. Elusive!! Welcome back... Again! Winter riding isn't an issue for me, although I'm not in the county at the mo, ha ha! It's challenging, particularly the fog, but rain is just a given in England. However, I won't lie... I was happier to do winter riding more when on my YBR. Mainly because riding was so novel and I had not choice but to drag my ass over the Pennines each day, but the bike was much cheaper to fix in the event of a drop! Now... Let me just get back to enjoying some Fondue and wine in Switzerland...

Yes... I thought I saw a glimpse of a green mankini...

Surely with the greater number of YOC attendees over the past two years we could arrange our own thing now? Although as Andrew said, I'm sure this will just turn into another t-shirt debacle...! The first year I went seemed rather well organised. This year however wasn't. I know the weather made it a washout for some, but generally it felt like Squires themselves didn't care.

Enjoy the bike Mike!

I visit the shops for everything bike related - good excuse to head out on my bike. The Triumph garage I like is over an hour away (there is a closer one), but I have a good relationship with them (fist name basis) which results in a few benefits for me, such as: - sound and honest advice from them. I'm not mechanically minded and they know that, but they are happy to show me things and explain in a non-patronising manner. - the flexibility to try things out before I buy without hassle. - decent reductions as I'm a repeat visitor and they understand the benefit of my return business. There is a clothes shop I also use which is about 50 miles away. Don't go to them as often now that I'm sorted out with what I need, but they always give 5% off when I do, and freakishly enough always remember my name, which still surprises me. Guess I must have a recognisable face?! So, despite working in IT and coming from the generation of the Internet, I prefer the shops.

Have you stuck Foamy in your picture?!

Yes some great roads to be had in the Peak. I'd regularly head out for 100-odd mile jaunts in that area on my YBR - great practice and great fun! Happy to head out for a ride whenever, just give us a shout.

Welcome! I used to rent a place in Monton. Living Glossop way now though. I also had a YBR, cracking bike - enjoy!

Welcome back Beef! Hope you're feeling better after your rugby accident.

Congratulations Noise!!