so ,im back home after 3 weeks of binge drinkin,curries and all manner of deep fried foods,and had a incredible time (although my liver does,nt agree). i met up with some folks from here at the farmyard party ,and a few thanks are in order so ........ Gina,thanks for the badge and topping up my parking fee, saved me a long and very wet walk ,hows the collapsible seat holding up ,still collapsing
.Dave (daffydd) , thanks for the ride in mate, truly was appreciated. are your shocks a bit softer now hehheh ,hows the eye mate
. Ray and his wee mate Mal , i believe you guys picked the campsite and what a site, right next to a food van ,coffee,tea,burgers n hot dogs (spicy burger sauce mmmmmm)and a beer tent, great choice and cheers to Mal for the great campfires
. Dave (hedgehog )thanks for the heads up on nobby(can that boy make a bottle of nookie broon disappear quick heh heh)and the spicy burger sauce, glad i didnt get invovled in the drinkin.......MUCH. has Ray made you up a slade cd yet
.Andy and Sue(steershead ?) i learned a lot watching you guys packin up on sunday morning 1. large saddle bags/panniers are a must have and 2. large saddle bags/panniers are a definate must have
.Shaun (sp)(nobby) a big thanks to you for letting me stay at your place sunday night and giving me the grand tour of downtown wellingborough (curry hunting, im sure the hunt goes on eh).Kevin (kev r)a fellow stranger/new guy, who was adopted right then and there from the mudded track as he looked for a place to camp ,good choice eh kevin i,m sure you,ll see a lot more of these guys . and last but not least Andy (spud) how the he!! did you survive that dance tent ,if i got within a 100 yards of that place my whole body was vibrating (not a pretty sight hehheh).
Last monday was the factory tour ,so off i went from nobbys place, 40 or so miles from the factory . i get there around 9am and walk up to the security shack and talk to the security guys. they gave me the name and number of the tour guy ,Peter Clarke super nice guy (even with his harley tats )he says he has room for me on the morning tour ,with a bunch of squadies (british soldiers),if i can get there , i tell him i,m in the parking lot already so no problems there.tour starts around 10am . so i make my way over to the guard shack and am told the squadies are running 30 mins or so late, i say no problems i,ve got lots of time and then i head into the waiting room and have a coffee. 5 coffees later the security guy says to go to the front desk and ask for Peter ,so off i go . as i,m walking there, i wonder how the soldiers got past the gates without me seeing them . turns out they didnt show and peter wasnt waiting any longer for them ,its now close to 11am . so its just Peter and myself for the tour ,awesome, a personal tour of the factory
it dont get any better . so we wander through the factory ,first question of course is about the new mid size cruzer, with a wry smile he says "cant say anything about it , we,re sworn to secrecy " no problem i says . tour continues he takes me to a few places on the line, where the regular tour cant go because of the number of people ,very interesting stuff. so we get to the end of the factory tour ,rolling road test and packing area and theres 70+(maybe more, not sure) bikes there, every triumph model covered and one tucked away over in the corner with a cover on it , so i ask why is that one over there the only one with a cover on . with a bit of a pause and another wry little smile he shruggs his shoulders and says missing parts and quickly walks towards the exit. now you may think thats covered it but my mind goes back to 10-15 mins previous, at a part of the line where the complete bikes are tested to make sure every line station has completed their duty ,and being told that if its missing parts etc it is sent back to that part of the line for what ever is missing/wrong. it just struck me as a bit unusual to cover one bike . i do know that they have had a few test assemblies on the line over the last few weeks. Peter told me that these are a regular occurence when a new bike is being readied for production ,they like to know in advance, of any problems on the line with assembly times etc. all in all a great tour of the factory. i thanked Peter for his tour and he handed me two badges/pins , a 07 tour badge and a wee triumph badge . i,ll be back for more hopefully (tours and rallys).
So after 3 weeks of drinkin ,eaten and catching up with family and friends(i didnt do a lot of sleeping either bloody time difference), i,m glad to be back home (for a rest/another holiday is needed).3 weeks of not riding ,i,ll be making up for that for sure. it was absolutely great to meet all you guys at the farmyard and i look forward to doing it again hopefully next year . if any of you guys are out this way let me know and we,ll sort something out for ye (beds, wheels, etc)no bother at all .
awe ra best ............Gordie
PS i,m not re reading this ,so im sure they,ll be a few mistakes . yesterday at glasgow airport i chucked 4 quid in a internet station and typed about half of whats typed here only to be kicked out before i finished, bloody computers (and slow typers
)
06 America - missing, presumed in bits. With it's TBS wheel... 
09 America - It's very blue....
