[St] January 19, 1999

[Jack Hays <rude@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I placed my order site unseen on Halloween 1998 at Eurosport Cycles in Fort
Worth, Texas about an hour away.
A mom and pop owned store that gave me a great price when others just
laughed.
Ordered red of course since it was already determined that was going to be
the fastest colour.
Hard bags installed set me back another $500.00 out the door!
When triumph was doing the motorcycle shows back then they did not even
have one at the December show?
I called Eurosport every week trying to figure when she would show up.
In about December 1998 ran across Eric Shelly in Florida who had started
the original ST web site based off of his T3/T4 web site.
We e-mailed back and forth almost daily sharing rumors both good and bad
about the bikes, what is hot, what's not, factory delays, cargo crate
delays, freighter delays, etc.
Eric sent an e-mail about the second week of January 199 that his bike was
in along with pictures of it in the crate.
I immediately called Eurosport and was told mine was on the truck and
headed from Georgia to Texas! Only days away now!!!!
The truck unloaded her on the wrong dock in some unknown state! I was
crushed:-(
They found it and it would be here within two days. Life was once again
good.
My pre approved credit union loan expired.
I called and cried big tears and it was reissued. Life was good once more.
On January 19, 1999 I got a call at work about 10:35 that it had arrived.
At 10:40 I left the building with my wife in tow and it was the longest
hour drive to Fort Worth I have ever had and there was no traffic at that
time of day.
There she was. Looking splendid in that bright red "read fast" red shiny
livery. Just subtle Triumph logos on the tank, Spring ST on the fairing,
and 955 on the tail.
Understatement at it's best.
Now I placed my "Triple Inside" decal next to the 955 logo.
I signed the paperwork, got my final warning from Tony, and lit the triple.
Then I started grinning as the wonderful sound below started singing in my
helmet.
Even more so as I pulled out and hit the highway on ramp and felt a MAJOR
difference between Merlin and my trusted old '82 GS750E Suzuki.
All the way home I was in the zone.
Stopped at my riding buddies house on the way home who could not wait and
bought one of the two '98 Platinum Sprint Executives we test rode.
Ron came out and just kept repeating over and over; "Man"
Soon several joined the ST web site and e-mail list and by May I made the
comment that we should all met somewhere and see each other face to face
and see who these e-mail freaks were.
Lisa White took the lead by polling the group and Eureka Spring, Arkansas
was settled on as the most regional location with good roads.
We held the first Rallye in August of 1999.
Texas topped the group with about 8 of us, Florida provided Eric, Mark
Hanke, and Mike, Kansas gave us Greg, Missouri gave us Steven, and Penn
state gave us Paul and Dee who had been on vacation and joined us with
close to 5k on their their clock already. One Texas rider never made it
past Arkansas on the Talimena.
Great roads, great folks, fun time, over too quick.
Within the next year Eric, Lisa, and i worked together and incorporated the
TSRA. Lisa doing most of the work, Eric the web site, and me the talking.
Rude Dog suggested the met and everybody else jumped on board and helped.
Dog names were now required.
Eric became Weasel Dawg, Lisa became Aqua Dawg, Richard became Sly Dawg,
David became Bird Dawg, Robert was named Retriever Dawg as he kept getting
lost but we kept meeting him on the road, Paul and Dee became Madd and
Dinky Dawg, Mark became Big Dawg, Greg became Wiener Dawg, Steve became
Dirty Dawg (If you ever saw his bike you would understand), and Ron who
bought the Executive became Dawg with No Name.
Then we incorporated and had  a organization name contest and I suggested
the "Bloor Dawgs" in honor of our savior of the name Triumph.
We actually contacted Mr. Bloor and found he is a man of discretion and did
not refused but would rather we not use his name to keep it out of the
public's eyes. We honored that request.
We had Rallyes at the Blue Ridge Parkway and Colorado.
Some years passed and most of the old Dawgs started selling their trusty
steeds or trading for other alien bikes.
Not many of us left now but we're proud.
I salute you Old Dawgs of the steed name "Sir Triumph". And thanks you John
Bloor.
BTW, Triumph is the only motorcycle name mention in the bible. "And he will
come with a great Triumph". :-)
Dawg Names to follow if it works.


Jack "Rude Dog" Hays
972-952-5065
"I'll see you on the dark side of the Moon"
4 - 8 - 15 - 16 - 23 - 42

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