belated intro

["Paul Pemberton" <painbreton@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I realise that, having subscribed to this friendly list some two months ago, 
I never did introduce myself (mostly lurked, since diving right in at the 
beginning with some dark imaginings of coolants and oils wending their way 
into the exhaust of my new bike, engine meltdowns and the like; several of 
you galantly did your best to assuage my fears...)

I am a thirtysomething (half-Italian) expat Brit, living and working in The 
Hague, The Netherlands. I've owned a BMW R65 since 1988 (and 'twas of that 
vintage), which I keep in the UK. Some months ago my Dutch-registered car 
slid off this mortal coil, leaving me with a transport problem: small city 
car or... I test rode a VFR and was mighty close to going for it when what 
seemed some idle research on the web started throwing up VFR comparison 
tests with a new Triumph model, the very one we know and love. I arranged a 
test ride at the importer (the standard Dutch arrangement for Triumph) and 
was "blown away" by all the torque, and the engine sound too (my first 
"hear" of a triple).

So, since sometime in September I've been the proud owner of a black '99 ST. 
After my initial worries of cooling fans going on to often, coolant levels 
dropping, cloudy and smelly exhaust gases, etc., I've just come to accept 
that some things are just plain normal (and not to be worried about!) and am 
now, some 2000+ miles/3000+ kms later, enjoying riding the beast every day 
to go to work, with the occasional "long mileage" weekend thrown in for good 
measure. I am sooooooo glad too that the run in period is ancient history, 
and am finding that warp speeds and accelerations are coming easier and 
easier to come by (is it me or is it the bike that invites "throttling"?).

Although I still wonder about the physics of cloudy exhaust emissions at 
different temps., I'm basically left with a great, fun, versatile bike to 
enjoy!

This comparative absence of problems - I'm touching wood, or iron if you're 
Italian - and constant temptation to use that throttle reminds me of a 
Kawa-riding reader's letter sent in to one of the Brit mags some years ago, 
complaining of a niggling problem he'd noticed: with revs at around 5000 an 
irritating intermittent, flashing light - blue, it seemed - would manifest 
itself in the mirrors, yet by revving the engine up to, say, 9000 the 
flashing disappeared, could the mag's bike doctor help explain this 
phenomenon? Can any fellow STers help with this?... :) Just kidding!

Sorry for going on at length, but the bike brings a smile to my face without 
fail, every day.

Safe motorcycling to all,

Paul Pemberton

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