Time flies when you're having fun etc..... It dawned on me this morning, quite randomly. It's 2019 and this year marks the twentieth anniversary of me building the very first incarnation of UKBEG on t'internet in 1999. We became the UK's and possibly Europe's first virtual only motorcycle group/club. A lot of water flowed under the bridge. UKBEG became an essential piece of many people's lives for around a decade or so. The group website was arguably the second most popular resource on the web for the brand, second only to Bad Weather Bikers run by Blake Rudy. Where'd the time go?

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Try doing this to yer fueller...........

20years
"It will never catch on "

Steve
long may it continue

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Obey the principles without being bound by them.
Bruce Lee

Yes - "It will never catch on" is exactly what I was told. (I made the banner above and sometime later, Ash added the text stating that.) Thank goodness I didn't listen.

The very first poster of all on the very first forum we had was Doug (S1nner) who I think on the odd occasion does still visit here, then Squiz and Alison very soon after, followed by Norm and Redstar. The rest is history.

But how time flies. For the first decade or so this place was an essential read every morning and through out the day for dozens of people. Such a shame that when you visit now there's an evens chance of there being nothing posted since the previous visit.

But things change, the factory goes defunct, people move on and Facebook becomes the place that killed a million internet forums and chat rooms. C'est la vie and all that.

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Try doing this to yer fueller...........

yeh facebook fucks stuff in some ways
but has it's uses , useless in that you cant find any thing when you need it ,for tech reference
owners forums are still the best , fashions come & go .
I think the factory pulling the plug didn't help ,but like all the old Brit bikes we will soldier on.
Who knows one day ,the Buell's might be valued instead of chopper fodder

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Obey the principles without being bound by them.
Bruce Lee

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Buell Ulysses XB12X 06/08
CCM R30 (650cc) 02
Norton Dominators

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"With square conduct, level steps, and upright intentions ..”

Still pretty much a daily visit but far less posts than of old which is sad.

It’s a great site for reference for those that do their own ticketing or proper spannering. The beauty is that everything is referenced and in order unlike FB which is transient and you can’t find anything which is of no use.

Hopefully it’ll never die and will weather the storm of FB. Let’s hope so

Happy Birthday UKBEG’ers

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Better to Burn Out Than Fade Away

In the garage -

2001 X1
EBR 1190SX
KTM390 Duke
Triumph Street Triple RS
Ducati 1199
CCM Spitfire Scrambler

I wonder what happened to Squiz? Not seen him for years.

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If your dreams don't scare you, they are not big enough.

Steve - I still pop by most days out of habit, I’m pleased to say, and remain as grateful to you now as then. I can’t help but think that whilst Erik made the bikes, your efforts and foresight that day made Buell ownership in the UK something truly special for an awful lot of people.

Still not convinced it will catch on tbh, but let’s stick with it for a while longer.

I love my bike. It’s an S1 Lightning. Don’t you know.

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Truly S1nthetic
Peccav1

Terrific to hear from you, Doug. Keep the faith. And yes, your S1 is indeed a nice bike. Take care, hope to catch up with you (and many others too) sometime.

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Try doing this to yer fueller...........

I think we can make a guess where he's been at least some of that time.

I did stumble across a few of his posts when googling one time, where he'd been posting on a trail riding forum. Of course, around Squiz's neck of the woods over in Derbyshire, off road biking is quite a popular past time so perhaps not a big surprise. That was ages ago though. His antics recorded by Mr Plod on his S1W with pillion are still on YouTube.

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Try doing this to yer fueller...........

well said

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Buell Ulysses XB12X 06/08
CCM R30 (650cc) 02
Norton Dominators

FB is a symptom of our current throw away society........and like many things FB will be thrown away itself for something else!

I've been on the American Buell XB site a few times, it's not a patch on UKBEG for either direction/instruction or conversation.
UKBEG is a at least a once daily visit for me when I check my emails & Ebay.
There aren't many sites I would actually pay anything for, this one is worth every penny I donate to club funds (which isn't much and this 1125r keeps my funds in that state).
Thanks to those who put the time in to keep it up & running. I don't know who you are but, Respect

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Ride Safe & Stay between the hedgerows.