Ok, As promised, the details of the recovery..... The bike was reported stolen first thing Tuesday morning. On numerous occasions I was out pedalling my way around the area that the local low-life were known to favour..... either in order to "stash" their booty, then wait for the heat to die down, or to dump bikes after riding them ragged. Apparently, the bike was found amongst trees and undergrowth at the side of an engineering firm only a mile and a half from where I live........ But, I am certain, this would be only a few hundred yards from where the scumbags live. ( A nice easy, short, hop of 100 yards down the A6, then into a local, major industrial estate with no prying neighbours or "twitching curtains". Then a saunter home in a little over 5 minutes. It was seen from the office window, in the undergrowth, on Saturday morning. Then taken into their premises for safe keeping. ( They told me it was obvious no rightful owner would dump such a little gem ). Then, the police were notified first thing Monday morning. I dashed down there within minutes of the call, ( with proof of ID etc etc ), Fearing the worst...... It had been hot-wired, the speedo has been wrenched of it's bracket to gain access to "chop" their way into the wiring loom...... The hand-guards have done their job...!!! they have taken a lot of knocks, from what I can only think are trees, fences and wheelie-bins...!! ... But they have saved the levers....Hand-guards trashed, but levers perfectly straight...Unfortunately, the gorgeous gold paint-job on the tank bears the scratches of serious mis-use, not scratched deliberately, or dented, or indeed "keyed" as in vandalism, just bad enough to need re-painting. Everything else appears straight, filthy, but straight. The insurance assessor will be casting his eye over it on Thursday. I fear that pursuing a claim, ( and having a voluntary excess of £150 ), will have me wanting to say, "Forget me claiming, and losing my 9 years NCD, I may as well bite the bullet and stand all this myself"...... Regarding the nice people who took the bike into their premises on Saturday, I wanted to stuff a note of the realm into their hands so they could have a few beers on me...... The boss wouldn't hear of it ..!! He said a donation to a local hospice would make him happy..... So I went back later..... with a case of Budweiser for his lads, and a receipt for a cash donation to Saint Catherine's Hospice in Bamber Bridge... ( a fine cause ). And finally, I have just received a call from the police. They have told me that the stolen "marker" on this registration No. has been lifted...... Apparently, one or two of the "scrotes", like to fly past the local speed cameras before dumping stolen bikes..... Bast;;ds aren't they...!!! Once again gentlemen, thanks for all of your concern and kind words. Tony
