I was 16 and had a Yamaha ... with ape hangers (pedants appeased)

You may have satisfied some of the pedants, but the grammar Nazis (you know who I am :wink: ) are still after you. There are only three dots in an ellipsis, and most insert a space before it.

I didnā€™t know that. Iā€™ve always just been a dot, dot, dot man myself. One lives and learns.

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I think the space before thing is American - the University of Nottingham begs to differ with you:

Ellipses should be spaced according to whether they indicate text precedes or follows the included text ā€“ do not include a space before an ellipsis if it directly follows written text, and do not include a space after an ellipsis if it directly leads into written text.

I think the Yankee Doodles like to add spaces between the dots as well - like this . . .

Whereas in British English Iā€™ve always done thisā€¦

CF also the question of how many spaces after a full stop (or ā€œperiodā€).

When typing on an old-school monospaced-font typewriter, two spaces after the full stop was de rigeur for clarity.

Now that we all use word processors or other software that use proportionally-spaced fonts, itā€™s the thing to use typesetting practice, which is a single space after a full stop.

I decline to take the advice of a polytechnic, especially one whose style guide substitutes a dash for a colon and misplaces an adverb!

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Ouch!

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Your post got us reminiscing about our biker days; 70s, 80s and 90s. I learnt to ride on a Honda C90, step through, much like this one. My husband to be was doing it up for a friend and he taught me the basics. Mind you this was weird to change gear, you had to bang it in with your foot, :grimacing: - centrifugal clutch?? Then a Honda XL 250. For my own bikes I started out with an RD 80 LC in blue, 21st birthday present! Passed the (then) 2 part practical test with that and went on to a TZR 250. After that I got a Kawasaki ZXR 400 in metallic burgundy - stunning in the sunshine!

Had some good times & great days on the bikes, thanks for the memories!

I hope the images load OK.

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When I was about sixteen I had a friend, Bobby Roach, who used to repair C50s in his folks garage for pocket money. He was an absolute whizz on them. Stripping them down, replacing the parts and putting them back together in no time. We werenā€™t at the same school and I lost touch with him even before we all left.

I remember there was a bit of rancour because another of my pals nicked his girlfriend. Bobby should have seen it coming though. Iā€™d guess not many fifteen year olds considered sitting a cold garage while their boyfriend changed Honda 50s sump oil as super fun.

Funnily enough, Iā€™m still in touch with her via Whatsapp. She splits her time between Portugal and Cape Town now.

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We also had a Honda 250N Superdream. What a fantastic bike! Bought it from a couple whose son had died (not on the bike) and after purchasing and a quick once over at home we rode it the very next (early) morning from Essex up to Donington Park Rock Festival! The things you do!
My husband used it as his commuter bike and it was always reliable. Even being parked up in the winter after lots of snowfall was piled on top of it, it started first time. The only time it let him down was after a night shift and the great storm/hurricane in 1987. He had to get AA Relay to bring him and the bike home, which was probably a blessing in disguise when he saw the devastation on the roads. Not the fastest of bikes but he was always impressed with the build quality compared with some other bikes. He has always liked Honda bikes. Happy Days!

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Yes I fitted ape-hangers (briefly) to my Elswick-Hopper bicycle.

But that was not what interested me about Easy Rider. It actually changed my life as it inspired me to go on a two-month tour of the US, ā€œcrashingā€ on other hippiesā€™ floors and immersing myself in the counter culture . Took me years to shed my weekend hippie personaā€¦!

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