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Good R.A.T., bad R.A.T.



My opinion, for what it's worth:

Bad is the icon, the rodent. Perhaps a little more thought could have gone
into it, but not as big a deal as the substance. Apathy, indifference, I
don't know why there is such limited interest, at least here in the
northeast US.

On the GOOD side, I have to share what happened this weekend.

I attended the New England Bed & Breakfast Run, held in Williamstown,
Vermont, USA. We didn't have a huge turnout, but a high-quality one. There
were about 16 Triumphs at one point or another, but at least 12 all weekend,
and one couple riding two-up.

We had 2 Tigers, 3 Sprint ST's, 1 RS (mine), a T-Bird, a T-Bird Sport (cool
bike!), a T509 Speed Triple, a few Trophys of varying vintage, an
Adventurer, and a Legend. Conspicuous in their absence were any Daytonas.
(!)

Riders included those with many years experience, some just turning their
first thousand miles. Two of them are Motorcycle Safety Foundation certified
instructors, and they were willing and able to give the newer riders some
welcome riding instruction. We had every walk of life, from a NY store
display
designer to a corporate attorney, a tattoo artist, a mother, a couple of
firefighters, an electrician, an engineer, a photographer, and more. They
came from as far south as Manhattan, as far north as Montreal, and
everywhere in between.

We all shared many stories around the great breakfasts and dinners, and we
rode our Triumphs. I rode a "spirited" pace with those who wanted to, and
also rode a more sedate pace with the larger group. We stopped at points of
interest, such as a maritime museum along Lake Champlain, saw the Olympic
Village setting of Lake Placid NY, had fine cheese sampling at Cabot's of
Vermont, shopped at a few of the many little craft shops, and had a picnic
lunch at Caspian Lake. One highlight was the superb barbeque dinner at the
Inn on Saturday evening. Truimph of America (thank you!) sent along enough
goodies that everyone there won *something* in the raffle. (I figure I was
the big winner, getting the RS gloves, but others thought the "Triumph
Rucksack" was the primo prize to be had.)

This kind of event is what is GREAT about R.A.T.! Given the varied models
Triumph sells, it should be hard to get an event organized that makes
everyone happy. But it was not. This was a great event, and anyone who can,
should plan to attend next year. My thanks to Peter Ianniciello of the
Performance Cycles (Shrewsbury MA) R.A.T. Pack for running a really fun
event. All weekend long, the weather was simply perfect. That was the only
luck involved. All the rest was the result of a few people doing a few
simple things to make an enjoyable weekend for others. And not one person
there complained about the damned "Rat".  :-)

Ken M.
(on the sloooow yellow RS)



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