Yes it’s that time of the year again, as 2005 grows to a close let us think of the good times we had motorcycling in the past year, I had many weekends away this year enjoying the roads and the company of fellow motorcyclists countrywide. The main NOC events were the National Rally in Essex which was attended by myself Peter and George, and the International Rally held in Beerse Belgium which had an excellent turnout for what was a very good weekend, in between there were camping trips & Rallies all over Scotland and 2005 will for me stand out as being the year I discovered the delights of rough camping and the Ardnamurchan peninsula. ffice:smarttags" />Scotland really is one of the best motorcycling playgrounds there is and we should be thankful for that. Now that I have turned 135 and started wearing heated clothing the cold no longer is an issue although I will have to start taking a trailer on the bike if I’m going to use it as a sleeping blanket so that I can carry enough batteries. The end of season do at Lochearnhead was excellent, not sure why but this year seemed to go even better than before and a good time was had by all (until it was time to get up that is!!!) fficeffice" />

This was also the year when Dave Templeman returned to his roots and bought a commando, as he sits now in the depths of winter contemplating a pile of bits that was only a short while ago the engine from “Smoky Joe” I’m sure he is happy to have returned to the ranks of Norton Owners rather than admirers!!

Likewise Phil decided to finally strip his commando and investigate the rattling and rumbling he’s been complaining about since 1985, Phil would have had it finished I’m sure but RGM are still trying to get the bottom end rebuild kit to him, men have built rockets travelled to the moon in a shorter space of time so I’m sure these bearings will be very special indeed when Phil eventually gets them, one thing for sure…they won’t fit!!!

Peter as well had serious back trouble this year which was diagnosed as having stuffed too much money under his mattress so he decided to count out some farthings and overhaul his dominator. (His collection of groats were used up on the commando sort out)

George went mad this year and bought a new Guzzi and got his old rotary back, he also retired and will now continue to annoy us at rallies by asking when we have to be back at work.

JD bought a giant Honda Valkerye thing which is very pretty but I did hear a rumour that he was thinking of suing Honda as the promised accompanying penis enlargement wasn’t forthcoming, bigger isn’t always better JD! (Well in motorcycle terms anyway)

There was a major scare in the financial markets earlier in the year also when John Hyman withdrew some money from the bank and bought Peters Guzzi, Peter had to buy an extending ladder to get up on to the bed!!

And of course me, as always the height of sobriety & respectability throughout the year, and I got my 750s replica almost finished which I’m very happy with.

I bought a Yamaha XTZ750 Super Tenere two weeks ago as a winter hack, it ran out of petrol when I collected it, checked it over then having filled the 6 gallon tank went for a run on Sunday I ran out after 150 miles and had to call for help to bring me petrol, then on the way home the speedo cable broke! Who says Nortons & Guzzis are unreliable!!!

To sum up I think we all had a good year and we should all make the usual New years resoloution to get out on our bikes more next year, only this time Do it!!!

On that subject, if you are going to Portugal (and why wouldn’t you) there is a substantial saving to be made by booking before the year end.