In the increasingly popular global challenge known as Everesting, the 33-year-old McLaughlin returned to the famed Mamore Gap in his native Donegal and completed the 8,848 metres, 29,029 feet in old money, that being the height of Mount Everest, in a time of 6:40.54.

The young man had married a woman who had only one hand, and it was on the fact of her one-handedness that my thought was focused.

One prototype was also fitted with a combination topcase/passenger backrest, while the other sported a variation on the R1200C's flip-up setup.

Mark me, he'll never take those bonds.... He gave them to you and he's not an Indian giver."