A special dispensation has been agreed, I will be allowed to open my Christmas present today because as my wife says,

"This is something special"

Off to the barn now....
I just opened the present from my family.

Many years ago like most young men I wanted a motorcycle but with only limited funds available I was only able to afford a rather tired and long past its best 1967 T120 Triumph Bonneville. Two tone dark red and white.
. I loved that bike, it took me all over the UK as well as to holidays in France, Austria and Germany. It was easy to work on and I did nearly all the maintenance myself, despite its age and mileage it never let me down and I always said I would never sell it.
After I became a soldier I put it into storage in my father's garage in London. I have on many occasions promised myself I would bring it over to France and start the restoration it needed but always something came along first that needed my attention.
and so there it sat in the darkness but never unloved and never forgotten. Earlier this year, unbeknown to me my wife and daughters with some help from my father did the research and had the bike shipped to a restoration company in the North of England
They have completely overhauled the chassis, engine, gearbox and wheels and completed a full repaint. They have done all that is required to bring it back to a condition even better than when I first used it.
My son in law co-ordinated the process including the shipping and importation and now I sit here in my study looking at the bike on my driveway. As a gift it is beyond compare and I had to spend time composing myself when I opened the crate and saw what it was.
I am a very lucky man. I am off for a ride.

Merry Christmas everybody.

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