Sofia

Early days, im sure there will be more style coming!

Hard indeed for those of us that normally ride alone! For stylish points sake alone (!) 2 from 2005 in Germany. A long time ago! 6 kgs less, 20 degrees of hooliganism more, bike of a life time. Current affair, older but not wiser!!

Great ridding, great food ( Gordon Ramsay move over, @Pedro is in the house! ) great wine and great company, bikers will be bikers! Thank you Pedro!!

So true! Although ive never tried a KTM! Would love to test a 1090.

Two bikes, Aprillia Tuono 1000 and Firestorm 1000 that I used a little. The Tuono is really only happy in the hands of someone that wants to ride fast all the time and loves bigger roads, not some teenie-tinny roads where it cannot stretch its legs. Bit brutal and difficult in town. Did a nice trip from Germany to Portugal with it, always with Snoopy for company! The Firestorm is a very friendly bike, the labrador of bikes! Its easy, very Honda, almost rides itself! Did many trips to the UK from Germany on this bike, enjoyed it although sport bikes are not my thing!

Now that is the best ideia! I would go to Wales 1000x times faster then to Spain! Sorry Pete... You should have moved to Portugal! You evn had @Pedro here! Anyway, for Pedro and to meet you, I will happily cross to the dark side. For 48 hours. xx

lovely photos Pedro.

Welcome Grace!!! Great life journey!! Soon you will be able to continue.

yellow is faster, everyone knows that!

it was just the push, a very deserved one as well!

After the 2005 Speed Triple came the 2006 Speed Triple and one would think that it would be exactly the same, but actually it wasn't. It felt different from day one, a lot less engine braking meant an increase of use of the bracks. Also different was the amount of throttle needed to get the same feeling of acceleration. It was a struggle to find out what was going on! Eventually I got the answer from Triumph. The maximum torque had been moved, from 5500 rpm to 7250 rpm, which doesn't seem a lot, but made a big difference. When questioned about this difference, Triumph explained it was in response to customer feedback, that the customers wanted more top speed and also more acceleration beyond 90 mph. Oh well, options! Can't say I loved it, but also did many miles on this bike. The best trip was 12 days riding in the North of Portugal with 3 other Triumph owners plus 1 Virago! It was such a nice tour with many funny moments and amazing roads, Some of those roads are @Pedro territory! Sold it in 2008 to help pay for my brothers school not with a heavy heart or sadness. It was always going to be a disappointment after the other one, but it was also fun and a good companion in all the trips across Europe while I was in charge of Jack Lilleys Triumph Rat Pack.

So sweet!! Poodles are great!

True story!!

you so do not sound like Borat!! if he is a real welsh-man, @XTreme will be able to tell you the meaning of "poptiping" and "boardsmoothio"!!

Foreskin?! Thats proper reprobate territory!! @Pedro commedt was correct!! Saw a guy on Mad Sunday being pulled over by the Police as he was rding a GSX-R K3 wearing only his boots and helmet! So there he was, stood next to his bike, not protected by the petrol tank anymore, in his boots only!! Was it one of the gentleman mentioned above?!

absolute victory!!! you must have a drum of Muc-off at home!!

here is the state of my bike at the top of that track!

Ahhh! Thats better!!!

This was a great bike. Absolute torque beast. Like a loving Pitbull, it was strong, big, but friendly and dependable. Super, super fun to have the max torque at 5500rpm! It was stolen after 14 month of owning it with 13.400 miles. The thieves were maybe expecting less miles!! That happened on the 21st of July 2006 and still upsets me today. Created such a bond with it! Went to the Nurburgring on it ( the pictures here are at the Ring, Schwalbenschwanz in March 2006 ), went round the UK on it, Land's End to John O'Groats with its 874 miles that went by in a blur in a day and a record time! Went to Le Mans and many parts of France, Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg on it, used it every day during those 14 months. Some vehicles really mark us. A motorcycle will always get under the skin more than a car, at least for me, and this one will always be my “one”!! A curiosity of life was that after ordering it, I got the chance of visiting the Factory with the Portuguese Owners Club that was touring the UK and visiting the factory. Many of them were my friends and took me along on their Factory Tour as a guest! On that visit, luck would have it, that the production line was making Speed Triples in yellow and, with my uncontrollable enthusiasm only surpassed by that of a mad Labrador Retriever puppy, I made so much noise, the tour guide eventually found the VIN number that had my name on it and I saw it! There were 2 destined for Jack Lilley, finished already and waiting to be tested, and one was for me! 3 weeks later I was reunited with it. Well, there is a chance the Triumph Factory guide made the whole thing up, in truth I didnt put a mark on the bike I saw, so it could be another one, but I like Walt Disney’s words: “When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable.”

Can we post long, very long stories of trips and funny or special moments? Can be in episodes, so not tire you to much.

That is an "incredible" exchange of vehicles.... was to actually visit the Himalayan range?!

Thank you! Although, 136 hp on slicks off road seems quite enough to me!

No,no,no!! Up, up and away we go!! Of course you can do it! You will have to clean a lot after, but 100% you can! My bike was so dirty... Its an amazing paint job because its mate and all these crazy tracks I ve been in haven't damaged it.

My bike has been re-named Offroad Speed Triple! Its really the tyres that are almost slicks and make it extra spicy!

Hoy!! I get the jokes and my bike is not filthy!! Its just not as clean as yours Mr I-have-a-garage-with-addequate-facilities!