C16 had set the scene well with a good selection of stalls, a huge Marquee with dining hall tagged on the back, chill out room with comfy settees AND a hot tub. I had some more responses from owners of "first off the line Viragos" In all there's now seven and four of them were on display in a paddock. It's not possible to say which is the oldest as there are US, Canadian & Jap imports as well as the UK models but the oldest UK model at the moment is this one

It's owned by Lucy Taylor from C15, She's only had it since it's been triked and as it's on a Q plate, didn't know much about it, but since the rally she's been in touch with Yamaha and they have confirmed that it was manufactured in Jan '81.
Another one, or should I say two that have come to light are owned by Tom from C5. Most of the time he rides his '87 1100 but he also has an '82 920 and he brought some photos of it. It a strange looking bike, it's a cross between a virago and a Goldwing. The fairing and hard luggage has Yamaha name badges moulded into them, whether or not they are an accessory range or the 920 was built to look like a Goldwing he doesn't know, but In the fullness of time I'll find out.

Both Kev and Bunch brought theirs along as well and the whole display attracted a lot of attention from the club, particularly from our continental cousins.

We did our usual Friday rideout, this time it was through the New Forest down to Mudeford Quay for lunch followed by afternoon tea in Lyndhurst. On Saturday some went to the Isle of Wight. I helped marshal the rideout into Portsmouth for the boat trip and going up the Spinnaker Tower. In all 80 bikes went on that one.
 

At a guess I'd say it's around 100 metres tall and has a glass floor that you can walk on and photograph the people below

Saturday night saw a cracking band called Quill and when they'd finished the rave started and the Scrumpies led the dance floor, don't we just love our lasers. I nearly forgot to mention the Arabian theme, which was just a good excuse to have the belly dancers on for both nights!

James is no longer an associate as he now has a Drag Star BUT………………..Kaptain Kev objected to the filthy condition of it so he was issued with a cleaning kit and told to get on with it.

As James still had mud on his boots from Mansel Lacy the week before, Magic washed it off for him.

In his report KK wrote " He has low personal standards which he consistently fails to meet"

Many thanks to all the people that sent their photos to me and here's a few of them.
 

As ever the sun was shining

Sorry if you couldn't be with us.

Blackjack.bob