Where it all started.

A gripping TV series, a trip to Las Vegas, a few ambitions, an almost useless company pension, an advert on the internet and a life long passion were all the ingredients needed to cook up the desire to get back on a bike again.

The TV Series was Ride With Norman Redus. He rode some of the routes we've dreamed of taking, like the Pacific Coast Highway and Death Valley, then he rode down to Key West with Peter Fonda, they were both on Triumphs, Peter Fonda was on a Thunderbird. I really liked the look of that bike so I started researching and found the perfect bike (shown above) on an internet advert by International Motorsports of Vancouver - now it's mine! :-)

It took a few emails and a nervous wait while somebody else went to look at the bike, but then I received an email telling me he went for a 2014 Storm, so the T'Bird was still for sale, I was second on the list so all I needed now was a ticket to Van.

It didn't take long to decide this was the right bike for me, apart from it's amazing good looks, it's very low mileage, in perfect condition with all the right accessories and it rides like a dream come true. I've since found out that it also has an engine upgrade to 1700cc, in fact it has over $6,500 worth of accessories, that's not bad for an $8,500 bike!

The ride home was wet, very wet. I had too much faith in the weather forecast, so like a fool I went without waterproofs, needless to say it rained for most of the journey home, but it wasn't enough to wash the smile off my face. I was a daunting prospect to get on a new (to me) 1600cc bike and ride across Vancouver to the ferry and then several hours up highway 19 in the pouring rain, especially since I hadn't ridden a bike for over four years, but I soon settled into the saddle and began to enjoy the ride despite the relentless rain.

Eventually I rolled up at the ferry terminal and ended up stuck in a long queue, it wasn't long before I was joined by another Triumph rider, a girl from Naniamo, then a Harley with a Guy from Naniamo, then another girl on a Harley travelling with her husband on a badge-less, face-less, soul-less Yamasakondzuki or something like that. We all chatted for a while, I'd almost forgotten how friendly bikers are, but shortly after the last biker arrived were sent down to board the ferry ahead of the tin-tops.

Rolling off the ferry at Nanaimo was pleasant enough, the rain had eased off considerably. Shortly after leaving Naniamo I remember travelling up Highway 19 just about on the speed limit when an old VW camper came burbling up next to me, he was struggling to maintain his speed as the road started to go uphill a little, so I backed off and let him back in to the nearside lane just before the Pick-up behind him thundered past, at that point I realized that even though I was pretty wet I was still enjoying myself way more than the other motorists.

The bike was looking dull and dirty when I arrived home, we still had water restrictions (yes even though it was raining!), so out came the bucket and sponge, it cleaned up really easily and was soon looking like new again, ready to surprise a few people.

Where does Las Vegas fit in?

Well, we had arranged to go to Vegas to see my sister singing with a chorus in an international competition. I have wanted to go to Death Valley for many years and I thought to do the trip on a bike would be awesome. So I looked around and found a Triumph dealer in Vegas that rented out bikes, he had a Thunderbird in his fleet, so it was a no-brainer. This was all figured out long before I bought the bike from Vancouver, so I was very happy to find the bike was a 2013 T'Bird with similar spec to the bike I just bought.

The trip to Vegas was great, but the ride "to" Death Valley was fantastic, sadly the ride back was very wet. I couldn't believe going to just about the hottest, driest place on Earth and we still get rained on!!!

Future Plans.

Lookout San Diego - here we come, well, next year anyway.

Pacific Coast Highway - Route 66 and probably many more places in Canada too.

Sometime early next year (2017) I hope to go on an advanced riding course. All the advanced riding I leant in the UK was about defensive riding and high speed observation etc., but over here the focus seems to be more on machine control, especially at lower speed, so I hope to learn a few new tricks, opps! skills I mean.

What about the pension?

That's an easy one, the pension was only worth a few pounds a month as a pension, but the regulations changed in the UK, so I was able to withdraw all of the pension pot, and that gave me just enough money to buy the bike, new helmets (with intercoms) and a leather jacket for Angie, plus it will pay for the astronomical insurance for the next couple of years. It's really cool finding money you didn't realize you had! I think it's a great way to enjoy my pension money. :-)