Hi Guys n Gals,

hello from a hot (well 31 deg C in the shade's hot for the UK) and humid Lancashire.

Sorry I've not been around of late but so much has been happening of late that I chose to reduce my amount of time on the internet!

So what's good?

Well you won't be surprised th find that I've still got three XT's -

1, my Brazilian XT225, 2004 build but registered new in 2010. She's now covered over 80,000 miles and is ready for some serious TLC.

2, my Japanese Domestic Market XT225 Serow, 1998. She's now in hundreds of pieces and awaiting spare funds to do a full restoration on her.

3, my Japanese Domestic Market XT250 Serow, 2008 FI. I've done some work on her and apart from the usual exhaust header pipe, she's now absolutely mint and I've refitted the Happy Trails luggage racks to her. The racks had suffered the effects of our gritted roads over the Winter months, so I've had them re powder coated in a rather smart crinkle finish.

Other bikes, well anything bigger than my 250 have now been sold off but I also have a number of little Kawasaki two stroke projects underway.

What's not so good?

Job wise, well I was made redundant from Barton Airport, which was a real shame, as I loved the job. However now that Covid-19 has struck then many of my old work mates that were kept on have also lost their positions there.

So I then started to work at the bike manufacturer CCM Motorcles but, yes you've guessed it, me and seven others all got made redundant from there, three days before the full Covid-19 lockdown! As you can imagine this was a mega blow, and there's been nothing in the pipe line until I recently started working for an experimental service within the North West Ambulance Service. If it continues (like we expect it to), then I'll be busy for as long as Covid-19 's about and maybe longer, who knows.

Talking of Covid-19, I chose to stop riding bikes on lockdown, as I decided that the NHS were already running flat out and the last thing they'd need on their limited resources would be a bike incident! Since I started riding at 16 years of age I've never gone this long without riding a bike! Well I've ridden the few yards up my driveway, just to keep things moving but that's my lot!

Four wheeler wise, I still have my much loved Suzuki Jimny, complete with roof tent, awning and now a 270deg awning on the otherside.

Camping wise, Doc and myself have only managed a single weekend away under canvas all year and that's it. Trips to the Isle of Man and all of the bike shows and races have all been postponed.

So I hope you're all in fine fettle and I'll return to more regular postings, back on my favourite website, I just wish that it was as easy to post images on here as it is to do on the Facebook groups, especially for someone like me who's had bad luck with computing equipment and doesn't have somewhere that I can store images to post links to like we used to have when it was free, as I've had to drastically cut back on my budgets.

Hugs to those who can accept them in this strange World that we currently live in.

Glad to have you back! It's good to have a few projects underway to keep one occupied. Bummer that the job front has been highly variable, many people have had the same experience in the last 6 months or so. Hopefully this madness will sort itself out sooner rather than later, though I honestly think it'll be at least another year.

If you want, you can email me the pics you want to share and I'll put them on my smugmug account and send you the links... just a thought.

Reggie - Thanks for checking in and glad you're healthy, out and about. 2020 has been the most tumultuous year I've ever seen in my lifetime. Hits the whole damn world. As for photos, IMGUR is free and will provide a clean URL. You can use them for your excellent photos. All well on this end, albeit a bit older now. Please say hi to Allan (Doc) for me. Hope he's doing well and you guys can get some enjoyable times going as a team. We could all use some of that. You're always welcome here whenever and where ever schedules, resources and time allows. I also wish England the very best moving through this virus.

peejman - That's a kind offer to help out with Reggie's photos. Thanks. I could too but it's just a duplicate effort at this point.

You're in good company my friend. Made my birthday today special reading your post this morning. Hope what I read about CV-19 mortality rates in the UK dropping sharply the past couple of months holds true. Apparently flu and pneumonia are now taking 5 times more lives than CV-19, but of course no one wants to shut the country down over common illnesses like that, so CV-19 remains the 'boogie man' keeping people fearful and controlled and economies in the tank.

Hope you and Doc have a chance to get out and about a bit. Know how it is to be cautious about going places on two wheels, opting for four wheels instead. Pulled the trigger (hey, I'm now 81 and don't bounce nearly as well as when those numbers were reversed!) and sold my '08 Honda CRF-230L the other day. Did well on it $ wise. Had about $2300 in it and sold it for $3400. No complaints there, but it kinda sucks to admit that the wise course is to step away from riding while I'm still in good shape and not push the envelope any longer.

As Scott says, IMGUR.com is an awesome FREE photo hosting service that's every bit the equal and even better than Photobucket ever was back when it was still free. Takes just moments to sign up for an account, and once that's done your photos are as simple to link to as can be. Check it out and you'll see what we mean - imgur.com

PS: Photobucket allows you to download all your stored images without charge - which is what I did when I opted out of their clutches and transitioned to imgur.com After downloading my photos from there I uploaded them to IMGUR and haven't missed Photobucket in the least..

Really, really, really great to have your insight and experience available for us to draw on once again, Reggie! "Mr Serow" is who you are and who you'll always be as far as this group is concerned, and we're privileged to have it that way! All the best as things slowly turn around my friend..

I have a ZOOM account and could arrange a ZOOM meeting with Reggie and a few from our group here. Might be fun to try this if Reggie and a few others are cool with it. Reggie needs to weigh in first. ZOOM can be run from within a browser on Linux. The ZOOM software app is available for Windows and MAC. Can also be run from within a browser on those platforms. Obviously you'll need a webcam and mic. Invitations are sent via email. Within which you'll get a clickabe link and meeting ID. I've not tried this with international email addresses, however. So it may bomb. Just don't want hopes to get too high. Should probably try with just Reggie first. What say you?

George - Happy birthday! Many happy returns and continued good health. Probably a good call on passing the bike along. Beyond a certain age some activities are more fearful than enjoyable. That's usually time to move into another venue.

Zoom generally works fine internationally. My Dad told me about a seminar he watched with over 3000 other people with presenters in 4-6 countries. Time difference is the biggest problem.

Thanks matety, that's a most kind offer and could work Let me have a think etc and get back to ya.

Hi George,

glad to add a special element to ones special day and you did well with that Honda.I had a few free accounts with Photobucket and contacted them to see if I could combine them all, on a paid basis but the buggers wouldn't let me! I'll take a look when I have some spare time. Always great to be part of this wonderful community.

Hi Scott,

what a fab idea, I'll get an account set up and try it directly with you. I recko n some of the guys would require subtitles with my Lancashire accent but it sounds like fun!

Accents shouldn't be a problem, and for sure a ZOOM meet up would be fun. Did a couple with my oldest son and the rest of the family. It worked well. Didn't do much talking myself, mostly listening. We had quite a number online and it was kinda congested, but enjoyable nevertheless..