Golden Wing - 2009 Summer

Golden Wing Summer 2009.qxp 11/07/2009 19:27

Summer 2009, Volume 47 No. 2

Editor / DesignerTim Lee

[email protected]

Diary Co-ordinatorAndy Stryczko

[email protected]

Advertising Co-ordinatorErica Gassor

[email protected]

Thanks to all contributors

All feedback regarding the content and delivery of Golden Wing should be addressed to The Editor at the

address below or e-mailed to:

[email protected].

Golden WingHonda Owners Club (GB)

232 Leigh RoadChandlers Ford

EastleighHants

SO53 3AWTel: 023 8025 2113

Web Page: www.hoc.org.uk

Summer IssueCopy Date 1st September 2009

Published by end of September 2009

Printing & Distribution by:LPC Printing Ltd

Hardley Industrial EstateHythe,Southampton

Tel: 023 8084 6334

© Honda Owners Club (GB) 2009

We believe the contents of Golden Wing to

be correct at the time of publication. The

Honda Owners Club (GB) cannot be held

responsible for any errors, omissions, or

for subsequent changes to details given in

this publication or for the consequence of

any reliance on the information.

The views expressed in this publication

are not necessarily those of the Honda

Owners Club (GB) or the Executive

Committee

ARTICLES

Membership Matters ............................................2

Dibble Rattle’s On ................................................3

Pigeon Post..........................................................5

Editor Says ..........................................................8

Kicking Back ......................................................10

Barry’s Tales from the Past ................................14

Competition ........................................................16

Classic Corner....................................................18

The Open Rhodes..............................................22

Testing Times ....................................................28

Down Your Way..................................................30

Reports from: Bedfordshire, Birmingham, Bristol

Cambridge, East Midlands, Eastern, Lakes & Coast,

Manchester, Manx Offshore, Norfolk, Northumbria,

Northants & MK, North London, Oxford, Reading, South

Wales, Solent, South Wales, West Coast Riders, West

London, Wiltshire

Racing Report ....................................................81

Mancunians Abroad ........................................100

Shop@HOC ....................................................103

Soapbox ..........................................................104

HOConsumer ..................................................107

Members Free Ads ..........................................110

Members Discounts ..........................................111

Tail Lights ........................................................117

PLACES TO GO & THINGS TO DO

Devon & Somerset Social W/end ......................17

Birmingham Camping Weekend ........................38

Lakes & Coast BBQ & Airshow..........................55

Three Shires Rally ............................................56

Diary Dates........................................centre pages

Oxford Rally ......................................................83

FRONT COVER

The front cover shows Chris Ward,

Reading Branch Webmaster taking part in

the Honda Institute brake test day in

March. See article on page 28. Photo

courtesy Honda (UK) Ed.

SUMMER 2009 1

Golden Wing Summer 2009.qxp 11/07/2009 19:27 Page 1

PresidentTrevor Thompson

Vice PresidentsDave Barton,Tony Eldridge,Graham Gull

ChairmanAndy ‘Dibble’ Young

1 Severn Way, Kettering,Northants. NN16 9HN

�� 01536 412086 � [email protected]

General SecretaryGraham Seymour

6 Kestrel Road, Flitwick, Bedfordshire, MK45 1RB

��01525 633169� [email protected]

Membership SecretaryGraham Gull

61 Vicarage Road, Ware SG12 7BE� [email protected]

Saddle Sore Shield Co-ordinatorStephen Davenport

�� 07968 810435 � [email protected]

Regalia Co-ordinatorJennie Clarke

6 Bugby Way, Raunds, Northants, NN9 6SX

�� 01933 399463 / 07759 805181 � [email protected]

TreasurerRuth Stryczko,

38 Bower Street, Bedford MK40 3RE.� [email protected]

Advertising ManagerErica Gassor,

�� 07799 49 2235 � [email protected]

WebmasterAndy (Stritchy) Stryczko

38 Bower Street, Bedford MK40 3RE� [email protected]

BMF Liaison OfficerJim Peel-Cross

11 The Green, Wilcot, Pewsey, Wilts. SN9 5NN�� 01672 563450

Classic SecretaryDave Barton

53 Northlands Road, TottonSouthampton. S040 3HA

CCCCHHAAIIRRMMHHAAIIRRMM

SUMMER 2009

WELCOMEWelcome to those of you who have

joined recently including those at the

BMF show and at the ACE Honda day at

the Spring Bank Holiday. I hope you enjoy

your membership of the club and I know

that some of you have already attended

branch meetings and received a warm

welcome.

With the Spring weather having turned

to Summer recently, I have been spoilt for

choice amongst my 4 bikes in which to

ride. It depends which one is nearest the

front of the garage without having to shunt

them around! By the time you read this I

will have had a week in France on my

trusty Pan, now with over 90000 miles on

the clock!

MOVING?Don’t forget if you move, let me know,

and no other club official, as I keep the

address files up to date, (You can write or

send an email). We got two copies of the

last magazine returned by Royal Mail , so

don’t let it be YOU who we lose contact

with.

DIRECT DEBITDon’t forget that it makes life so much

simpler to sign up for Direct Debit, so you

needn’t worry about letting your

membership lapse. All you need to do is

return the renewal form when you receive

it with your bank details and we will do the

rest. Remember subscription rates are

guaranteed until 2012.

Graham GullMembership Secretary

61 Vicarage Road

Ware SG12 7BE

� [email protected]

MMMMEEMMBBEERRSSHHIIPPEEMMBBEERRSSHHIIPPMMMMAATTTTEERRSSAATTTTEERRSS ............

2


BMF SHOW

Well if you were there you would be in

full agreement that once again the HOC

marquee was the best club stand at the

show. It’s such a shame the judges were of

the belief that we get it paid for in some way

by Honda UK, and that we are not an

independent club.

Our display organised by the Cambridge

branch; with others assisting; had a theme

of getting out and about to the great

outdoors on your bike. The brilliantly painted

back drop with signs on, the tent pitched to

the fore and an array of fine bikes made it all

seem very obvious to me.

Then of course there was the fine array

of club regalia and the membership desk

with full information about the diversity and

spread of our fine club. There were staff

available to talk about their bikes and

accessories. The refreshment area once

again allowed members to take the weight

off their feet and enjoy a FREE drink. For

those who were peckish, a selection of

lovely homemade cakes were available ,

with donation going in the charity pot. The

helmet park once again proved very popular

with members who did not want to lug their

bargains and kit around with them all day;

again, donations went to charity. This year,

the chosen charities were Riders for Health

and MAGPAS, and I am pleased to say that

significant funds were raised.

Somehow the judges missed all this!

Despite their being staff present from all

over the country, they thought it was a

branch display??????? We were awarded a

joint 10th in the one make clubs competition.

Of those who were ranked above us I saw

nothing that attracted me to them and

certainly no real hospitality offered for

hundreds of visiting members. The winners

tent was a frame tent with very few bikes

stood around and two decidedly worn

looking people sat drinking tea in front of

some jaded photos. Seems the judges think

that amounted to the best show in the

categories - what with the quality of the

component parts, originality of display, effort

put in by the club, the overall impression and

the fact that the display is supposed to

convey the message the club is trying to

portray. A letter has been drafted to the BMF

regarding the above and some other

comments made in their results letter.

Regardless, well done Cambridge

excellent display and thanks to all those who

supported the show.

OUT AND ABOUT

The ‘Sno Rally was a fine weekend

again, with superb guided tour of the Dales

and excellent hosting by the farm. Those

who came were treated to a ‘kippering’ for

breakfast with Kevs indoor BBQ.

Wiltshire rally this year was at a new site

and this proved very popular with a good

pub just at the drive end. Food of all sorts to

suit most tastes readily available and good

local beer.

The Saturday run was blessed with good

weather and lunch looking over the plains

and planes was terrific. Then home to Lardy

cake and a short walk to watch the local wild

life on the river keeping many entertained

after a little concern for the welfare of one

little duckling.

Back for the BBQ which also saw new

arrivals to the rally and several visitors. The

host team did a brilliant job of getting every

one of the 50 or so fed with the assistance

of Theo’s local shopping skills.

CCCCHHAAIIRRMMAANNHHAAIIRRMMAANN DDDDIIBBBBLLEEIIBBBBLLEE RRRRAATTTTLLEEAATTTTLLEE ’’’’SSSS OOOONNNN!!!!from Andy “Dibble” Young - Club Chairman

News as it happens? Join News as it happens? Join Andy’Andy’s email list by sending an email tos email list by sending an email to

[email protected]@hoc.org.uk

SUMMER 2009 3


There were two further run outs on the

Sunday and Monday and we were joined by

several guest riders which made for a

pleasant and rewarding attendance for the

teams efforts; well done, I am looking

forward to next years already.

I know that branches are having bumper

attendances at some events this year

already and hope that new members will be

coming along to enjoy the efforts being

made by the staff of those branches. We are

lucky to be in the situation of having

something on nearly every weekend and

many week day evenings as well. What with

visits to the Speedway, inter branch sporting

events, and some less strenuous games,

we seem to be creating a special

atmosphere this year and I hope it

continues.

I am hoping to be at the Oxford Rally

and certainly at the National Rally hope to

see more of you there.

BIKE SHOW?

One event not on the calendar this year

as yet is any sort of ‘Classic/New’ show

which we have held every year for the past

couple of decades. The logistics and

support for another show at Gaydon along

the same lines as last year were simply not

sustainable. For the show to work, we would

have needed the support of Honda, and

with them pulling out of many other events,

we did not think it appropriate to expect

further support in the current climate.

However we are still keen to have a

show and are attempting to create a ‘simple’

one day event for all those with shiny

Classics, unusual customs, old stalwarts

and bright shiny new bikes who want to

come along and show their pride and joy.

The event will be a bit later this year, but

we will publish it on the website and through

branches, so keep a look out.

WEBSITE FORUM

Got a bike problem? Got a bit for sale?

Want some parts? Want a little rant about

something? Well we have a very active

Forum on the club website which can help

with all those needs. Please do come and

have a look, it might be better than you

think. It is also the quickest way to answers

about things going on in the club.

Get on and try it you might even like it.

Ride on but most of all ride safe

Dibble

4 SUMMER 2009

CCCCHHHHAAAANNNNGGGGEEEE OOOOFFFFAAAADDDDDDDDRRRREEEESSSSSSSS

PPPPlllleeeeaaaasssseeee sssseeeennnndddd cccchhhhaaaannnnggggeeee ooooffff aaaaddddddddrrrreeeessssssss

ddddeeeettttaaaaiiii llllssss ttttoooo tttthhhheeee

MMMMeeeemmmmbbbbeeeerrrrsssshhhhiiiippppSSSSeeeeccccrrrreeeettttaaaarrrryyyy

nnnnooootttt ttttoooo GGGGoooollllddddeeeennnn WWWWiiiinnnngggg

TTTThhhhaaaannnnkkkkssss .... .... .... ....EEEEDDDD


General Secretary - Graham Seymour

PPPPIIGGEEOONNIIGGEEOONN PPPPOOSSTTOOSSTT !!........!!........

Hey Ho. The summer edition is upon us

and I’m sitting here, late as usual and

wondering what to say this time!

It is early days yet but it looks like the

HOC may at last have spread its wing as far

as Scotland, with some interest there in

forming a branch. Having just returned from

a week sampling the unbelievable scenery

and roads, I can see that this will be popular

with the rest of the club! Though having

spoken to every Scot that would listen, I am

no closer to a guaranteed deterrent against

the midges! (Avon skin-so-soft was the

most commonly recommended but just as

many told me it was useless. I guess it must

be a personal thing)

We saw hundreds of bikes up there.

Instead of the usual 1%, I would guess that

bikes made up 5-10% of the traffic, the

majority being adventure bikes. However

out of these I saw two Transalps’ and a

grand total of no Varadaros’! The

overwhelming majority being of a well

known German make with a sprinkling of

Triumph Tigers’. (Mainly due to meeting

what looked like an outing by the Triumph

Owners Club one day) Come on Honda.

Let’s have something that can compete in

the popularity stakes! In the meantime I

shall employ any excuse to visit again!

On a separate note I have had occasion

to speak to some of my colleagues at

branch level, who shall we say, feel a little

unappreciated by their members at times.

Come on people, these folk are giving their

time voluntarily on your behalf and need

encouragement just like anybody else! The

trouble with this country is that we are

always quick to complain but often fail to

say when we are pleased with something.

So if you know someone who has done a

good job for instance organising an event,

manning a stand or begging prizes for a

club raffle, please give them a pat on the

back for their trouble and let them know

their efforts are appreciated.

This is our busiest time of the year, so

enjoy!Cheers

Graham

COMMUNICACOMMUNICATETEDo you need to get something in

Golden Wing, and on the website,

and in the Monthly Mail Out all at once.

Do it with one e-mail sent to;

[email protected]@hoc.org.ukYour message will automatically go to;

TIM (Golden WTIM (Golden Wing Editor)ing Editor)

STRITCHYSTRITCHY (Big Ed, W(Big Ed, Webmaster)ebmaster)

GRAHAM (General Secretary)GRAHAM (General Secretary)

SUMMER 2009 5


6 SUMMER 2009

HONDA GENUINE PARTS


EEEEDDIITTOORRDDIITTOORR SSSSAAYYSSAAYYSS ........In the last issue I finished up by saying

that we would look at how the production of

Golden Wing continued after the

layout/artwork DVD had been passed to the

printer. I don’t imagine for one moment that

there were members holding their breath in

anticipation, but in case there were, please

accept my apologies; it will be in the Autumn

issue. Please also accept my apologies for

the magazine being somewhat late, but

events have somewhat overtaken me in the

last few weeks.

Those of you who are eagle-eyed will

have noticed the change of address for

Golden Wing, and the new contact

telephone number. For those who have

missed it, the new details are on page 1, but

the email address remains the same as do

the copy date deadlines and just about

everything else.

As some of you know, Golden Wing was

run from the offices of The Mortgage

Warehouse (GB) Ltd, an internet based

mortgage brokerage which my brother and I

started some ten years ago. Unfortunately,

we have become a casualty of the current

economic climate, and despite having made

all our staff redundant, and cut costs to the

bone, we were unable to meet the capital

requirements of the Financial Services

Authority and have had to advise our

creditors we are insolvent.

As anyone involved in running a

business will know, the operation of

director’s guarantees in support of corporate

loans and overdrafts effectively means the

company’s problems become personal

problems and a visit to the bankruptcy court

was inevitable.

I like to think that I have a positive

outlook, and indeed, I believe that any

problem which doesn’t relate to the health or

freedom of those you love is simply a part of

life’s rich tapestry. Whilst waiting to go

before the district judge, we met a young

lady with a

similar outlook;

she informed

us that what

we were doing

ensured our

immorta l i ty,

e n s h r i n e d

forever within

the pages of

the London

G a z e t t e .

After having

received the

commiserations and rubber

stamp from the district judge, we bumped

into the same young lady as we were

leaving. She said; “Do you realise how many

celebrities have been bankrupt? - I knew I

would make it onto the A list eventually”. I

liked her attitude, and Mandy and I decided

there and then that this would be an

adventure.

The first part of the adventure came

about when I started to investigate the

receipt of Job Seekers Allowance. It struck

me just how often people make

assumptions, and how much happier the

world would be if they didn’t. Dibble has

already written about the injustice suffered

by the Cambridge branch at the BMF Show,

and whilst I didn’t go this year, I know from

previous years what a superb job they make

of the marquee. Unfortunately, their tenth

place was awarded on the basis of an

incorrect assumption that they had received

help from Honda.

The young man at the Jobcentre also

made assumptions. He assumed that

because he was working, he somehow had

a higher level of knowledge and skills than I

did; he certainly had more arrogance and I

understood very quickly how some people

can lose their temper in these situations.

One bad apple perhaps, I wonder?

8 SUMMER 2009


SUMMER 2009 9

Evidently, to qualify for the grand sum of

£64 per week (for six months only), I would

have to keep a diary detailing the activities I

had undertaken in the pursuit of gainful

employment. Not only that, but I would have

to report to this callow youth on a fortnightly

basis so he could check on my progress.

I suggested that with four children to

provide for, he didn’t need to worry himself

with the possibility of my retiring to a life of

benefit fuelled luxury, provided for by the

tax-payer, but he said those were the rules.

To add insult to insult, he informed me that I

would have to attend a course on how to

write application letters, and of course, he or

someone else would be more than happy to

check them for me! All this from someone

who believes capital letters have no place in

the modern world, and grammar is someone

who sucks eggs and drinks too much sherry

at Christmas.

He concluded by advising me that when

I was ready to make an application, it would

take approximately forty five minutes, and

that any “income” I received would reduce

the benefit pound for pound after a certain

(low) amount had been received. Needless

to say, I didn’t bother applying and decided

to become self employed.

The last couple of weeks has been

somewhat varied, and has included garden

clearance, labouring, a bit or courier work

and helping people with form filling and

writing official letters. I have also spent

several days acting as a relief driver for LPC

Printing who print Golden Wing, including

one delivery on the Isle of Man. The upshot

of this is that as well as editing the

magazine, I might very well end up

delivering it as well!

On that note I will sign off, once again

apologising for the delay of this issue.

Keep it tidy,

Tim

AA TTAA TTOOAASSTTOOAASSTT TTOOTTOO EEEELLAAIINNEELLAAIINNEE

It was with great regret that we learnt of

Elaine Stamp’s passing and pass on our

deepest condolences to her family.

Sally and I will always remember how

kind and welcoming she was when we first

went to the Bedfordshire branch many

moon's ago, and the many laughs we had

over the years. It was a big worry when we

realized that the day of Elaine's funeral was

the day the club was off to Ypres

for a weekend which had been

booked six months previously.

After much consultation amongst

the members going it was

decided that knowing the type of

person Elaine was, the last thing

she would have wanted was for

us to cancel the trip.

We arrived in Ypres on

Friday afternoon and in a quiet

moment Sally and I went to St

Martin's Cathedral and lit a candle and had

a prayer for Elaine.

That evening at the group meal Elaine

was at the forefront of everyone's mind and

we all raised a glass and toasted her

memory.

Ian Parris.


10 SUMMER 2009

THANKS JOHN

Dear Sir,Please find enclosed a copy of a

cancellation of a fixed penalty notice forspeeding.

The bike was subject to a recall fromHonda due to water ingress into the wiringharness which could lead to a malfunction.In Honda’s words “the rider may experienceerratic or incorrect speedometer readings,thus not enabling the rider to maintainspeeds within the road regulation limits”.

John Measures was very instrumentalwith his legal expertise in advising me as tohow to instigate matters. I would be gratefulto learn of your comments.

Yours sincerely

James French Membership Number 30929

Thanks for your letter James, and it isnice to know that in some cases justiceprevails. I have not printed the actualcancellation notice as it contains personalinformation about you.

I suspect the case was not quite as clearcut as the decision would seem, as it is myunderstanding that it is not a requirement tohave a working speedo to comply with thelaw. Indeed, my Fireblade passed an MOTtest a few years ago whilst the speedo wasnot working. I don’t think I would have gotaway with the excuse that my speedo hadbroken, had I been caught speeding!

I suspect that the difference here is thatyou did not know the speedo to be faultyand had no reason to suspect it couldn’t betrusted. Of course, having someone with theexperience and expertise of John Measureson your side is almost like having an unfairadvantage to begin with. Ed

CARLTON OUTDOOREDUCATION CENTRE

Dear Tim,I am sending you a leaflet which

describes the facilities at the OutdoorCentre at Carlton-in-Cleveland. We used tohave our August Bank Holiday weekendsthere, I can’t remember if you ever came toone.

We stopped using it as it closed down,temporarily as it happened, when the threelocal authorities disagreed over funding.

It has now been taken over by HartlepoolBorough Council and extended, and runmuch on the lines of how it was runoriginally. They are willing to providebreakfasts and other meals if asked.

I thought that perhaps some of thebranches might be interested if they wereplanning on coming up this way.

They have accommodation for 68, androom for tents on a large lawn. I would bepleased to act as liaison if anyone would likeme to. Perhaps you could mention it inGolden Wing. Naturally availability isgoverned by whether the prime users needit or not. Cheerio for now

Yours faithfully

Dave LindenMembership Number 14

It’s great to hear from you again Dave.Unfortunately, I never did make it to anyAugust Bank Holiday weekends.

The Carlton Centre certainly looks to besomething worth considering for anybranches wanting a base from which toexplore the area.

The Carlton Outdoor Centre can becontacted on 01642 712229 or by visitingwww.carltonoutdoors.org or via Dave. Ed

KKKKIICCKKIINNGGIICCKKIINNGG BBBBAACCKKAACCKK ................Something to Say - Say it here


GOING, GOING, GONE

Hi TimJust to let you know what a splendid job

you did on the advert for my luggage in theMembers Free Ads 2009 Vol 47 No. 1 ofGolden Wing.

The photos and text stood out andattracted lots of interest.

I received my copy of the Golden Wingon the 2nd May and by the 11 May I hadsold everything. Brilliant.

Many Many Thanks

John HolthamMembership Number 25338

Thanks for your letter John, and I amglad the advert worked. I sometimes thinkmembers forget about the “free ads”service, but like all our advertisers, it isadvertsing to a very targetted audience ofseveral thousand Honda enthusiasts. Ed

FANCY A TRIP TO THESOUTH OF FRANCE?

This is a call out to anyone who wants tojoin us at West Coast Riders on our holidaynext year to the South of France.

Everyone is welcome, the more themerrier. We will be leaving the UK on 19thJune 2010 and returning on 3rd July 2010,taking in France, Italy, Switzerland,Germany, Luxemburg and Belgium on theway home.

I need to know who’s coming by 1stSeptember 2009, so if anyone is interestedin joining us, please feel free to e-mail meon [email protected] for furtherdetails. I will send you over a rough itinery inthe reply.

Looking forward to hearing from you.Love

Rona xxx

It sounds great Rona, I am sure you willget a lot of interest. Ed

VOLUNTEERS FOR NEC2009

Hi all,As some of you are aware, Honda have

pulled out of the NEC this year. Veryshocking and sad news I know.

I have therefore no need for volunteersfor their stand, so I have moved everyonethat was working on their stand over to ours.

I still have some places available forvolunteers, but very few so it will be on afirst come first served basis.

If anyone would like to help out the standthis year then e-mail me [email protected] and I’ll see whatdates I have left.

Thanks a lot for all that have volunteeredso far

Love

Rona xxx

SUMMER 2009 11

Kicking BackKicking BackLetters for the next issue to arrive by

1st September 2009

E-mail to [email protected]

or post to:

Golden Wing

232 Leigh Road

Chandlers Ford

Eastleigh

Hants

SO53 3AW


12 SUMMER 2009

OUR HISTORY OFHELPING ON THE HONDA

STAND

Hi TimI am forwarding a photograph taken in

about 1966 at the Earls Court MotorcycleShow when members of the HOC had beeninvited to man the Honda stand.

We were all members of the thenLondon Branch of the club.

As club Secretary,I turned up by bike, soguess who that is?!

So, the idea of Honda UK inviting clubmembers to help at exhibitions is nothingnew at all. However, with Honda UK notintending to exhibit at this years NEC, theservices of the HOC will not be required.

Regards

Tony EldridgeHOC Vice President Membership No: 8

Thanks for the photo Tony, and I have tosay that I don’t think anyone who has metyou will have any trouble recognising you asa young man!

With our 50th anniversary now less thantwo years away, it would be great if we couldmeet up at some time and investigate whatother treasures you may have filed away.

Indeed, it would be great if all our longstanding members would have a searchthrough their albums and attics and seewhat they can find. We would love to be ableto produce a commemorative publicationcharting the history of the club, and wouldlike to include the anecdotes and memoriesof as many of our early members aspossible.

With there having been in excess of31,000 club members over the years, it isgreat to note that almost all of the first ten ortwenty are still playing an active part inbranch life. Indeed, our current President,past President and all three Vice Presidentshave single figure membership numbers. Ed


14 SUMMER 2009

The Narodni National Park is among themountains of Southern Poland. There isskiing there in the winter but in May, is it justhigh meadows, rushing rivers and springflowers. It is between seasons and thereforethe hotels are good value.

I chose a modern hotel, just on the edgeof town with a nice car park behind biggates. The car park was empty as was thehotel.

Twenty Euro a night B&B, nice roomthird floor - with elevator!

I had picked up a bottle of red wine at mylunch stop earlier. It was now 16.30. Ishowered and settled down with my bottle ofwine and pipe, looking out of the windowacross the mountains.

After only one glass a drowsinessovercame me, so I flopped on the bed. Iwoke at 19.00 hrs. Quick slouch, dressedand downstairs - dinner was from 19.00 to20.00.

Gob smacked is not a word I normallyuse, but I can’t think of a better way todescribe my reaction on reaching the lobby.

The place was heaving with elderlypeople, it was a sea of grey hair. I madequickly for the bar and ordered a beer. Bygesture I enquired of the barman, where didall these people come from. He pointed outof the window and there in the car parkstood my bike and three very large coaches.

I took my beer and ventured into thedining room. There before me sitting at longtables were rank upon rank of grey hairedmen and women - mostly women. Whilst Iwas gathering my senses a waitress tookmy elbow and propelled me foreword intothe hoard. A group of women indicated thatthere was a chair free at their part of thetable and to there I was propelled, sat downand had a menu thrust in my hand - thewaitress was obviously used to handlingbefuddled old men! The woman next to meplanted some cutlery before me and nodded

in approval.I wanted to run, but would I get by the

waitress on guard by the door? Suddenlythere was a plate of soup before me and thelady next to me again smiling and noddingat me. Then she asked me something and Inervously blurted out ‘sorry I don’tunderstand’ - as she was reaching for thebread basket as I spoke, I would probablyhave got away with my impersonation as abefuddled old Pole if I had said nothing andjust taken a piece of bread.

As it was it was now the ladies turn to besurprised along with three or four others inclose vicinity. The lady said "Deutsche?Hollander?" "English" I replied. Together allof them exclaimed "Englishman!" Withinseconds the news had passed down bothsides of my table jumped a gap alonganother table, and so on until it had lappedthe room. At some point the waitress guardpicked up the news. She approached mewith some consternation - her system hadbeen breached! She spoke to me. All I coulddo was to show her my key and roomnumber. She was unsure, but they mycompanions on the table came to myrescue. What was said, I know not, but sheretreated and soon my main course - rabbitstew? - arrived and the ladies at my tablewere all smiles and nods. As I was, I likerabbit stew.

The ladies made an attempt atconversation, but all I could indicate wasthat I was touring on my moto. Big mistake!Now it was the ladies turn to be concerned.Again the news did a lap of the dining room.

Now they were talking to me very s l o wl y. I did pick up on one word, family. It wouldappear that they were worried that this oldfool who couldn’t even find his way to hisproper dining room was wandering roundEurope on a big moto without a keeper andwere wondering if my family knew where Iwas.

POLISH WOMENPOLISH WOMEN


I nodded and said ‘family’ and producedmy wallet and a picture of my wife, then mychildren and onto my grandchildren. Theysmiled and nodded approval and mypictures disappeared on a lap of the diningroom. I think they gradually came to theconclusion that I wasn’t senile, just deaf anddumb, and of course a man!

I survived dinner, which was really quitegood, and during the mass exit from thedinning room, made my escape out of thehotel. It was a very nice village, typicallyalpine. On my stroll through the village, Ihad noticed a couple of pleasant lookingbars and I had just past one when I wasaccosted by 4 ladies walking in the oppositedirection and steered into the bar I waspassing. There sat ‘my’ ladies drinkingchocolate. Another round of chocolate wasordered which the waiter duly served andthen topped it up with a great slug ofSlivovitz! - plumb brandy to the uninitiated.

I am not being unkind when I say, thesewere large ladies and at the rate thechocolate and Silvovitz was disappearing itis easy to see why. At some point I managedto excuse myself and get to the toilet. The

door to the gents was in a quiet corner of thebar and there sat a couple of elderlygentlemen. They smiled and nodded. I didlikewise and enquired by gesticulations ifthey were part of the coach group. Theynodded and both rolled they eyes.

I sat down beside them. They knew why,like them, I was seeking sanctuary!

I guess the Slivovitz eventually took ittoll, because suddenly it was quiet. Theladies had departed. The three of us stoodat the bar, no longer under threat and had aquiet beer before we to headed back to thehotel.

I took breakfast in my proper diningroom - alone!

They were getting on the coaches whenI took my panniers down to the bike. Lots ofsmiles, head wagging, waves and even afew hand pats. They were obvious wishingme well, as I wished them.

You meet the kindest of people whenyou travel alone.

Barry Tinson


16 SUMMER 2009

I don’t know whether it was the picture of Dibble, or the prizes offered by

those nice people at “The Best Rides”, but we certainly had some entries.

PRIZESThe prizes are all the same, being a copy of

The Best Rides Motorcycle Atlas, France to the four best entries. So in no particular order the four winners are:

Stephen Levis from Cardiff with;

Blimey! Where has my side car gone?.

Mr A Raybould from Norwich with;

Opps! I was sure this was mine!

Graham Seymour with;

With a bit of luck nobody noticed.....

Andy Stryczko with;

I thought you had to be a retired policeman to talk out of there!

Prizes are on their way!


Devon H.O.C. Social Weekend

Ilfracombe Holiday Park, North Devon

2nd - 5th October 2009

BOOKING FORM

Name: ____________________

Address: ____________________

____________________

Phone: ____________________

Price £95 for a two bed “gold” appartment

Please make cheques payable to:John Fowler Holidays

Send to : Pat Jennings, John Fowler Holidays

Marlborough Road, Ilfracombe, Devon EX34 8PF

No later than August 31st 2009and then subject to availability

WE LOOK FORWARD TO MEETING YOU


18 SUMMER 2009

Once and a while any manufacturer

will produce a showcase motorcycle that

makes everyone else sit up and take

notice. Honda were first off the mark with

the Single Overhead Cam CB750 in 1969,

followed by all the inline four variations.

Honda needed to show their prowess

with a greater challenge, and choosing a

500cc 80 degree V Twin as the first

venture in producing a turbocharged

production motorcycle was it. New

technology was the name of the game

starting with the development of a new

special turbocharger with the smallest

48mm compressor wheel ever produced

and an integral waste gate. It was

designed to spin up to 100,000 rpm and

exploit the power otherwise lost in the

exhaust.

The Turbo was mounted between the

exhaust ports behind the radiator. Air

was drawn through a filter by the

compressor, then fed past a resonator

chamber and a surge tank designed

to smooth the air flow. The boost was

limited to 19 psi which is much

higher than other systems. A sensor

on the inlet side connected to the

waste gate that bypasses the turbine,

in order to keep internal

temperatures under control. The

compression ratio has been lowered

to 7.2 to 1 compared to 10 to 1 of the

standard CX500. The valves were

also made smaller with their opening

times shortened, with intakes at 5

deg BTDC and closing 30 deg ABDC,

with exhausts opening 30 deg BBDC

and closing 5 deg ATDC and all at

1mm lift.

Fuel metering was by injectors

controlled by a management

computer. Information was supplied by

sensors measuring pressure in the air

chamber, surge tank and adjacent to the

injectors, air temperature at the intake,

water coolant and throttle position.

With this information the computer

then controlled the electronic inductive

ignition system and high power coils.

These were necessary to fire the spark

plugs under the more demanding

conditions provided by the turbo. The

computer also had a fail safe system that

covered the throttle or boost pressure to

get you home if there was ever a

problem. In addition there was a new

self- diagnostic system using light

emitting diodes that provided codes for

analyzing faults.

CX500 Turbo

1982


SUMMER 2009 19

Performance was

provided by the peak

power of 82 bhp compared

with 48 bhp on the

standard CX500. To cover

this, the CX500 needed to

be up-rated including the

crank cases, bigger and

stronger clutch, bigger

main and big end

bearings. The lubrication

system which included the plain

bearings in the turbo charger had a

higher capacity as well including a deep

finned sump.

Overall gearing war also raised to

2.056 from 2.242. Also the five internal

gear ratios were also raised, mainly to

speed up the gears further and reduce

engine load. Peak power at 9,000 rpm

gave 128 mph.

The frame was up-graded with a

stronger spine. The front forks were

given a larger diameter with 37mm

stanchions and TRAC adjustable anti-

dive valves mechanically connected to

the twin piston front brake callipers. The

two front units were also air pressure

assisted.

Rear suspension used a light alloy

swinging arm that has been lengthened

to give a longer wheelbase of 58.8ins as

this gave more stable handling. The Pro-

Link rear suspension unit with air

pressure adjustment compensated for

every need.

The wheels were gold finished six

spoke light alloy fabricated Comstars,

measuring 18in front and 17in rear, but

with wider 2.50 rims and

fitted with V rated

Japanese Dunlop Tyres.

The CX500 Turbo was

shown as a concept

prototype machine at the

1980 Cologne Show in

Germany. Two years later

we saw the first

production machines.

As you already

know I have owned

three CX500’s in my

time and the best

was the CX500

“Eurosport”. So the

CX500 Turbo had a

complete fairing and

was based on the Eurosport with a

longer wheel base which makes it very

stable to ride. cont....


20 SUMMER 2009

On the

instrumentation between the speedo and

the rev counter there is a liquid crystal boost

gauge display. On starting the engine and

blipping the throttle, you would notice that

pressure was being generated by the

turbocharger from idle. This led to a very

smooth uptake rather than a sudden rush of

power. Under heavy acceleration the turbo

responded by kicking in the engine power.

At speeds of over 100 mph the down

thrust of the fairing held the machine very

steady. On normal riding days the

machine will average between 45 and

50 mpg and with a tank capacity of 4.4

gallons, re-fuelling happened roughly

every 200 miles.

The perfect riding position the

CX500 Turbo made this the cream of a

perfect touring motorcycle. It would

cruise all day at speeds over 100 mph,

and at the time comparisons between the

CX Turbo and the CB900F were

commonplace, especially as they both had

about the same top speed of 130 mph.

However the CX500 Turbo was a touring

motorcycle with a “Touch of Class” Then in

1983 Honda gave us the CX650 Turbo

refining it to make the perfect machine.

Then the cat had the cream to enjoy.

Let the Good Times Roll

Dave BartonClassic Secretary


22 SUMMER 2009

It’s the 6th May and i’m off to, you

guessed it, Rhodes, my copy of Goldenwing

arrived a few days before so I have

something to keep me entertained on the 4

hour flight going over. In fact, I read it front

to back and found I had arrived in Greece

within what appeared to be no time at all. It’s

my second copy of the Mag and I find it a

great read seeing what all the other

branches (and individuals) are up to (I

particularly enjoyed the trip across the US of

A on a Goldwing)

With 12 of us on the trip to Rhodes

(friends and family of Stacey’s, the other ‘alf)

I knew it wasn’t going to be a boring

vacation, in fact, I was quite pleased we had

been to Turkey a couple of weeks before,

vegetating at an all inclusive Hotel in

Marmaris (having also been skiing in

Slovenia in January and requiring a warm

up!) A member of our party in Rhodes had

ridden motorbikes (well several had ridden)

but Mac was expressing an interest in hiring

out a bike for a couple of days and gave me

the idea of also hiring one.

We trundled around for the first few days

of our holiday doing the touristy thing and

come Sunday, Mac had hired out an XT660.

I was a bit dubious of hiring out a bike as I

have only ridden on the wrong side of the

road once in the USA 17 years ago in a

rather large, 3 Litre Dodge Dynasty. I gave it

another day to see how Mac had got on; as

he was still alive on day 2 I thought I’d give

it a bash. Seeing people ride and drive in

Rhodes doesn’t in-still much want of

“enthusiasm” to be hiring a bike out! I was

lucky that there was a hire company at the

back of our hotel where Mac had got his

from, and it was fairly reasonable at 30

Euro’s for the day with insurance (luckily, we

were still in low season, hence a low price)

It was a swift process getting the bike,

no need for leaving an arm and a leg deposit

as you would in the UK and reading a billion

lines of small print, in fact, I hadn’t even

checked the bike out before handing the

cash over, I’d seen a rather dirty red XT660

outside the shop and decided I’d give it a go.

(there were no Honda’s available other than

ped’s, so they were a no!) I had joked with

the hirer that I fancied the Honda 1300 that

was gleaming and sitting not 2 foot from his

desk but he said his mechanic would be a

bit annoyed if he hired out his bike to

customers! 10 minutes later and we were in

and out with a courtesy map of the island (all

77KM of it in length) we were at the very top

of the island near Rhodes old town and with

some terrific views across to Turkey which

was 17 miles away, so we had nowhere to

go other than South! The rest of our party

had gone to Lindos for the day so having

looked at the map, that’s where we decided

to head for. Having managed to scrape

10Euro’s of petrol into the tank at the local

Shell Station, the sun out (thank god) we

were off.

Now I hadn’t exactly packed for this

early summer holiday with the intention of

Motor-biking around it. Stacey at least had

jeans and had we come off, at least she was

slightly protected. Whereas I was in K Swiss

trainers, some urban camo shorts and a Ben

Sherman white T-shirt (White t-shirt and hot

sunny climate with flying bug’s riding a

Motorbike may not have been the wisest of

choices, in fact, it was probably the worse

choice I had made that week)


SUMMER 2009 23

With virtually one road going round the

islands perimeter, even I wasn’t going to get

lost doing this run, (there was also no place

called Aldershot, so that was another

advantage; local branch joke, wink, wink)

sure enough, having got out of the mayhem

traffic of the harbour and old city, we were

seeing signposts for Falaraki (a point we

needed to pass to reach Lindos) the first 30

odd Kilometres were a bit tedious, I’d have

said we were in fact riding in the UK as we

were going through single file road-works!.

Well, at least they were actually working on

the road as opposed to supping cups of tea

by it.

Riding slower than I normally would and

with both of us having open faced helmets,

I noticed how odd it was being able to have

a normal conversation whilst trundling along

on our intrepid adventure. At the end of the

road-works that felt like they ran the length

of the island, we started to see signs for

Lindos and “the Beach” which we headed

for. I was rather intrigued how small the

beach was and all the pebbles (and lack of

people) so we phoned a member of our

“beaching it for the day” party, who had

decided to take the 1 hour + Bus journey

down and asked them if they were near

“about half way” came the reply. So, we

decided to find a shady spot and have some

freshly squeezed orange juice and take a

look at the next part of our journey on the

map. Half hour went by and we

called back to the party, they

had arrived and were

apparently looking over a vast

sandy beach which had a

yacht and a ferry boat moored

up in the bay and a rather large

“castle” on the top of a hill.

Being slightly more different to

the view we was looking at

(nigh on empty beach minus

the yacht) I enquired at the

beach bar waiter as to where

we were on the map, he

pointed to the next bay down

from Lindos, (what did I say

about getting lost?)

Luckily, it was only a 5 minute ride over

the next ridge to get to Lindos and the view

was somewhat quite amazing, having

turned the last bend, the castle came into

view sitting majestically on its hill, guarding

the harbour (several hundred feet below) as

if to say to its enemy “you can have a go if

you’re feeling lucky” I think I’d have turned

the boat round if I was attacking. We saw

the sign leading us to the harbour and I

must have looked like the “green cross code

man” having made many “left and right”

looks (still getting used to this wrong side of

the road malarkey).

It was a steep and quite narrow hill

leading to the harbour and we played dodge

the pedestrian for most of it (successfully I

might add) an RAB greeted us half way

down the hill where the Taxi’s were also

stationed and this was as far as we went on

wheels. We did a quick “u-ee” and parked

up by some wheelie bins (hoping with the

state of the bike it was in, it was not

mistaken as rubbish and it would still be

there on our return) our party were waiting

for their food in a nearby Café (we heard the

usual Cooooie! You get when you have

been seen) and quipped they had still

beaten us there despite their somewhat

“different” type of a bus journey.

Taz In Not the Lindos Harbour


24 SUMMER 2009

As we wanted to get round the whole of

the island, we decided to press on down the

narrow path’s leading to the harbour, there

were Donkey rides available down the steep

hill but they already looked in a sad and

pathetic state to me. I personally find it

unfair that these creatures get abused at the

cost of Human laziness. How ironic they are

aptly named “Beasts of Burden”, there were

certainly some burdeness loads being taken

at the time. The walk took us past many

nooks and crannies with small shops selling

the usual tourist items (namely fridge

magnets) there was also a tiny church which

looked like I could not have stood up in,

painted in the traditional Greek “White”

theme with hints of blue. The last part of the

walk was the steepest and lugging a

rucksack and crash helmets wasn’t making

it easier.

The Beach was fantastic, almost

enticing us to stay for the day (we had

swimwear) but despite a paddle in the

cooling water, it was onwards and upwards

(more upwards in fact, the hill seemed to get

steeper going back, but then don’t they

always??) we bumped into Mac on his blue

XT660 at the car park, he had already done

the island the day before so pressed on

under his own steam and left us to our “Mini

Adventure” no BMW’s here though, just 2

wheels.

As we turned left out of the harbour

road, I noticed a photo opportunity in a lay

by which looked across to the castle and

harbour. An Amphitheatre could be seen on

the hill under the Castle; a trek for anyone

seeing the latest pop group of the time!

Coming out of Lindos, there were only a

couple of small towns we passed through, it

was following the coastal line more or less

and the cooling breeze was welcome. We

were now heading for Prasonisi. Traffic was

nigh on extinct with just the odd Cement

mixer and Taxi to overtake, this is what

biking is all about, open roads and no traffic,

heaven. After one slight “hiccup” we took a

wrong turn, or rather missed where I should

have turned, we made a recovery which

cost about 15KM, we had somehow ended

back up on the road we came down to

Lindos on as there were some familiar

hotels we had already seen.

Having now come inland slightly and

venturing over some twisty mountainous

peaks (a joy to ride on) we once again

started to see various brown signs

indicating to beaches that we were near. We

managed to find some speed humps (the

roads aren’t in the best of nick yet they still

build speed humps, yep, this could be the

UK!) through one town after our minor

detour but were soon back following a long

coast line down to Prasonisi. The sun was at

its hottest now and despite

doing 90+KMH, it was still

burning on the skin. The view

across the sea was amazing,

the sun shimmering upon the

water only being disturbed by

the odd boat bobbing along.

I could feel the pillion

getting a bit fidgety and put it

down to the fact we had been

on the bike for a while. We

were coming into more built up

areas having run a good 40

minutes on straight open roads

with just the odd tumble weed

crossing our path (well, it felt

like there should have been

anyway)Lindos Castle


SUMMER 2009 25

With welcome signs popping up for our

destination, we made a final turn en route to

the southernmost part of Rhodes. The wind

by now was quite strong, it appeared the

mountain range we were passing through

was funnelling it and giving it strength.

As we came into Prasonisi, we were

ushered to a spot where the bikes were

parked (next to a café where no doubt the

usher also worked) but it was none the less

a welcome sight. I asked Miss Pillion if the

bottom was aching due to the noticeable

fidgeting earlier. Apparently not however, as

we had appeared to have gone through a

bug infested stretch of road and the bugs

were ricocheting off of one’s helmet straight

down the top of Miss Pillion who was

plucking them out as fast as they were

landing! A fact that I had noticed as the

swine’s had also been slamming into my

bear skin extremities with some force.

Having downed the rather refreshing

Frappe with Ice Cream (and lathered up in

suncream) we had a stroll on the beach,

well, two actually as this part of the island

had a broad piece of sand before meeting

land once again. The Kite surfers were

making the most of the wind and we could

see why it was such a popular spot for them,

speeding up and down the water as if in

some sort of synchronised display. I felt like

taking the bike on it (the sand that is) though

it would have not been insured (beaches

are excluded) and I was talked out of it. It

was a bit of a trek had I ended up stranded

but cars were driving over it fine, still, rain

check for another time on that one.

Time to tour the West part of Rhodes

and with a couple of very interesting POI’s

on the map, it looked like an even more

interesting journey than our first half.

Though I was somewhat confused as to

why there was an abundance of Petrol

stations indicated on the far right of the

island but not the left. I put this down to “who

reads maps anyway” and “there must be a

petrol station somewhere along that route”

an assumption that later turned out to be

true, luckily for me.

The initial part of the journey had much

the same scenery as our last half, though of

course we were now on a different route.

We passed the odd farmer tending their

crops and passed some “huts” with

cardboard signs indicating “Café” in the

most bizarre, remotest of places. It was a

wonder how they made any business but I

suspected they belonged to the farmers

who would no doubt return from their field

should any punters pull up.

Monolithos was the first “mound” to visit

and the views on the roads leading up to it

were spectacular. Riding near the side of

sheer drops off the edge of the road I was

pleased there was no traffic coming, indeed,

from any direction. A swerve to the right and

I would have been back on the skiing

holiday minus skis. Apparently some of the

Abba movie, Ma-ma mia, had been filmed at

this location and I can understand why.

There were quite a few steps that led us

up to the tiny church at the peninsular. The

very thick walls provided some wanted

shelter at this point; I couldn’t help noticing

just how much cooler the church was

compared to the mid afternoon sun outside

which was now bellowing heat out like a

furnace. The view from the church

overlooked some small islands (photo’s)

and the peace and quiet of the place

reflected upon why the church had been

built on this remote spot.

Monolithos & Bike!


26 SUMMER 2009

Arms now feeling a bit sore, exposed tothe sun since 10AM with obviously not ahigh enough factor cream on, we moved offand towards Kritinia Castle. Entering the carpark was a somewhat “wobbly” experiencesince a Lizard about a foot long came fromnowhere. It went behind the front wheel andI waited for the crunching sound, only to findI must have broke at the right moment as hecontinued to scarper across the road. I wasinstructed by Miss Stacey to execute anymore as she would prefer that than towobble, that’s love of animals for you.

The climb to the castle wasn’t quite asfar as the one at Monolithos but the viewswere no less spectacular, looking out acrossseveral more islands that appeared to behovering in the afternoon haze that hadstarted to form.

Mac had warned me that the road on thewest side was being worked on withsomewhat less “enthusiasm” as the Eastside; he wasn’t wrong. “Loose Gravel”indicated the sign for “3KM” Joy, especiallywith shorts on. Now in my lessons last year“slow and steady” was the notion with “goeasy on the brakes” following on. I had nointention of doing anything but; avoiding thehundreds of potholes like some sort ofspace invader game I was once again gladthe road was empty. We were going fromone side of it to the other to avoid thegouges. I was more than relieved when wehit tarmac again, I didn’t realise 3km couldfeel like 300.

Just one more stop at “Apollo’s Temple”was on the list as time was cracking on, the

bike had to be back for 7, though I wasalready considering hiring it another day ifthere was more to do. The ride took us rightnext to the beach and the westerly breezewas more welcome than ever as my armsfelt like they were on fire at the last stop.The recognisable radar globe on the top ofthe hill near the airport could be seen in thedistance so I knew we would be back in anhour or so. Traffic was also now building upas we came into civilisation near the airport.A small sign that we nearly missed indicateda small slip road to our right had the Temple1km down it. We drove passed somehouses and some railings with a plaque onbut didn’t think it could be the Temple as thegrass was overgrown but it was.

There were some stones at the end ofthe field and it didn’t appear to be much of aTemple but I ticked it off the list anyway aftera brief pose for a photo before we finishedour day off. Traffic passed the airport wasresembling the M25 in rush hour and theroad-works weren’t helping the situation.Coming to halt after a brief diversion I foundsome narrow back allies and took someshortcuts that “felt” right and that carsobviously couldn’t get down, it paid off. Wewere soon on the main road once againheading for the hotel.

We made a brief “flypast of the harbour”viewing the new cruise liners that had comeinto port before stopping for our lastrefreshment, an ice cold coffee and can ofcoke. I de-bugged the helmets of their road-kill, it was like carrying out an autopsy andmy Ben Sherman now resembled a “splatattack” art painting done by Nursery schoolchildren.

Getting utterly confused by the one waysystem surrounding the hotel I gave up inthe end and made, from what I recall, myonly breach of road regulations during theday (other than perhaps the odd fracture ofNSL’s) and went through the no entry signwhich the hire shop was sitting just behind.

Both back alive after a very muchenjoyable day, time to find another island togo the “long way round” on.

Here’s to more Happy Summer Riding

Taz

Stacey at Kitrinia Castle


28 SUMMER 2009

Motorcycle Safety andElectronically Controlled C-ABSSystem for Honda Sportsbikes

Honda Institute 18th March 2009

We had two members attend this day,courtesy of Honda, and both were soimpressed that they both sent in reports forpublication. The first is from Chris Ward ofReading Branch, followed on page 30 byDanny Beck from Northants & MiltonKeynes. Ed

The weather forecast was perfect as Iset off for the short drive over to the HondaInstitute at Colnbrook, near HeathrowAirport. I had a gut feeling this was going tobe a good day. Once at the Institute I wasgreeted by Alex Thrussell who checked mydriving licence and sorted out the necessarypaperwork to allow me to ride later in theday. The group attending was made up ofmedia journalists and motorcycle clubmembers and when all had signed in wemade our way to a conference room wherewe were provided with refreshments beforethe presentations began.

We were introduced to the day’sprogram by Fiona Cole who led us throughthe usual housekeeping and safetyinformation before handing us over to DaveHancock, who is Head of CustomerOperations, Honda (UK) and HondaMotorcycle Development Test Rider. Dave’spresentation on safety began with anoverview of their development from theHonda Rider Simulator to the current RiderTrainer; an example of which was availablefor us try. The next part of the presentationconcentrated on conspicuity. We wereshown that frontal views which closelyresemble the human face were more easilydetected by oncoming road users. Lighting

was also discussed with lights placed atdifferent heights accentuating thelongitudinal size of the motorcycle. Thepresentation continued with the history ofHonda’s braking systems from theintroduction of the disc brake on the 1969CB750 right up to the combined ABScurrently used. We were also given a shortpresentation on the development of air bagsafety systems for motorcycles.

We were then handed over to OliverFuchs from Honda R&D Europe who gaveus a presentation on the new electronicallycontrolled combined ABS that is nowavailable on 2009 CBR600RR andCB1000RR models. One of the problemsfacing the design engineers was thatcurrently available ALB systems could notprovide the stability required for supersportsmotorcycles. This has been overcome byeffectively providing an electronic, brake bywire system. Naturally should there be anyfault or failure of any of the systemselectronic components the brakes revert toa conventional hydraulic set up.

We were split into two groups and I wasassigned to the first with a CBR1000RR asmy test bike. After changing into ourleathers we went to the rear of the buildingfor the brake testing demonstration and trial.The brake test consisted of two, coned off,separate lanes in the rear car park. Onelane had been soaked in water, while theother was covered in sand, an interestingand normally frightening set of roadconditions. The test rider made a couple ofpasses up and down the car park tofamiliarise himself with the bike, brakingheavily on the dry surface. He then speddown the car park and braked hard onto thewet surface. There was no drama or theslightest loss of stability, the bike coming torest in a straight line with no loss of controlor wheel lock up.


SUMMER 2009 29

This was repeated before the sandcovered surface was attacked, but eachtime the same result was obtained, whichwas truly impressive. We were then, in turn,told to mount up and try the test ourselves.After a couple of guys had their runs it wasmy turn. I jumped aboard my Fireblade andspun up the willing engine.

It was showing just over 200 miles onthe clock so was still a very new bike.Although I have ridden Fireblades beforethis was the first time I had tried one with theelectronic steering damper. I found the bikevery easy to manoeuvre at low speeds andU turns in the car park presented nodifficulty. First gear was quite high, althoughthat is something I am used to with my ownbike, and was all that was needed for thebraking tests.

I ran up and down the dry section of thecar park to get used to the brakes and theheaded for the wet section. I think becauseof the professionalism of the presentations,understanding how the systems work and ofcourse seeing others do the test before me,I had no fear whatsoever about grabbing abig handful of brake as I hit the wet area.

The bike pulled up as if there had beenno water on the road at all. There was nosensation of the ABS working at all, nopulsation at the lever and no noise from thetyre. I repeated the test again before movingonto the sanded surface. Each timehowever the result was the same. It was anamazing feeling be able to performemergency stops safely under these sorts ofconditions.

After the brake test we were given ashort briefing before heading out for ourextended road test. I was at the back of thegroup which was quite nice, allowing me tocatch up with the other riders whennecessary. The test ride featured around 30miles of motorway, A and B roads of allspeed limits. As mentioned earlier I haveridden Fireblades before, but this model iswithout doubt the best I have ever sampled.The riding position was fine for me, offeringmore comfort than my NC30 with lessweight on my wrists. The seat was maybea little long for me as I’m not the tallest andI did find myself slipping backwards when Iturned my right hand! The electronicsteering damper is a superb addition and

stops the front end wagging compared toearlier Blades and the brakes are awesome,being able to haul the bike down from speedwith consummate ease.

Although I didn’t explore the full potentialof the engine, let’s just say it could overtakeanything safely without any fuss. Theengine emitted a superb growl when theflaps in the exhaust opened and I couldn’timagine anyone wanting to change this foran aftermarket system.

As mentioned earlier, the bike is quitehigh geared and I think it could probablyreach around 90MPH in first gear. As aresult, I managed to stall the bike at ajunction at one point. After pulling into theroad and having to play catch up, a turn ofthe throttle produced a very graceful frontwheel lift purely due to the power withoutany encouragement from the rider. Thebikes handling was fantastic and I found itvery easy to change direction. The tyresalso offered plenty of grip and althoughslightly warm at the end of the ride I wasquite surprised to see how wide the chickenstrips were as I thought I had leant it overquite far!

After we returned to The Honda Institutewe had a buffet lunch followed by a tour ofthe impressive facility which houses somelovely pieces of history including twoRC30s, an RC45 several NS400 enginesand evens parts from an NR750. Duringthis part of the day we were able to inspecta C-ABS equipped CB600RR bike that hadbeen partially dismantled, allowing us to seethe location of the various components.

It really was a shame to give the bikeback as it was one of the best test rides I’vehad the pleasure of taking. If I were in themarket for a new bike, I wouldn’t look anyfurther than the Fireblade and without doubtI would pay the extra for C-ABS version.

The Electronic C-ABS is a major leapforward in motorcycle safety and will, I’msure, enable riders to stay in control in thosepanic braking situations which many of ushave experienced in the past. In fact I’dbetter start saving now.

Chris Ward


30 SUMMER 2009

My day started nice and early; first,check out the weather, a quick look out ofthe window, DAM IT, its foggy, not ideal formy trek down to The Honda Institute inSlough, never mind its happening anyway.So, I shower, and then straight into myleathers, no need for breakfast, as I haveprevious knowledge of The Honda Institute.

Then its load up the bike (HondaGoldwing 1800 today) Comms on, Phoneon, Music on, Satnav on, launch sequenceinitiated, Lift Off. SatNav says motorway,brain says not. SatNav wins. 30 minutesinto the journey and the fog seems to beburning off. After 1hr 20 minutes I arrive atThe Honda Institute, although 20 minutes ofthe journey was spent filtering (no mean featon a Goldwing) but no real dramas. I parkedup in the car park in front of The HondaInstitute, using a space allocated for threenormal sized bikes (nothing unusual there)de-robed, plenty of room on the Goldwing touse as a changing room, stowed my kit andmade my way to reception.

I was greeted by Alexandra Thrussell,Media & PR Officer, and Fiona Cole PRCommunications Manager (Motorcycles) tobe signed in, and on production of mydriving license was deemed to be showingoff by Alex, as my license showed that Icould drive and ride anything, and with nopoints or endorsements. After my signing inand name badge firmly pinned on, I wasasked to take a seat where all invited partieswere assembling, all of course, with aninterest in motorbikes, and mostly all ridersat some time.

In speaking to some of the other people,it became very evident that, if notpersonally, almost everyone there, atsometime, has had experience withmotorbike accidents, myself on a verypersonal level. This was very apt, as themain focus of Honda is SAFTEY, and that’sthe purpose of this THE SAFTEYWORKSHOP, and also to demonstrate thenew Electronically Controlled C-ABSbraking System for Honda Superbikes.

When everyone had been signed in, wewere escorted through the facility by Alexand Fiona and invited to partake inrefreshments. As I had been fortunate invisiting The Institute before, I knew thiswould be the case, hence no breakfast.

After a while we were shown into theconference room where the technical side ofthe new braking system was to beexplained, with the assistance of a PowerPoint presentation.

Heading up the conference were DaveHancock Head of Customer OperationsHonda (UK) and Honda Motorcycle testrider Oliver Fuchs, Section ManagerMotorcycle Engineering, Honda R&DEurope (Germany). Also sitting in, and testrider on the day was John McGuinessfourteen times Isle of Man TT winner.

There were plenty of opportunities to askquestions both during and after theconference, although, as the speakers werevery thorough and spelled out everything ineasy to understand terms, very little neededto be asked. All finished, we were split intotwo groups, so as to distribute the load onthe test bikes that were available for testing,and asked to make our way out to the testarea. The bikes on test that were fitted withthe new Electronically Controlled C-ABSsystem were the CBR 1000 RR FirebladeABS and the CBR 600 RR ABS

In anticipation, I was hoping to beallocated a CBR 600 RR ABS for my testbike, as my own motor bikes are all largecapacity and I do not very often get thechance to ride the smaller engine machines.Groups selected, I was in the first group,and YES, my name was on the board, alongside the CBR 600 RR ABS, ‘GREAT’.

The test road was set out to the rear ofthe facility, and had three different roadscenarios.

1. Normal road surface with good grip.

2. Road surface was very wet in the brake test zone.

3. Road surface was covered with loose sand over the test zone

John McGuiness, as the expert rider,was the first to mount his trusty steed andshow us other mere mortals what we shouldbe expecting. A few passes up and down thetest area, applying the brakes heavily, hadour lower jaws dropping at the results ofwhat we were seeing.


SUMMER 2009 31

One by one we took it in turns to mountour bikes and ride the test road. Then it wasmy turn. Although I had just seen othersriding over the test road, with no problems,what did I expect? What feedback was I toget. Heavy breaking on road surfaces suchas these would normally be avoided like theplague. Oh well here goes; A pass on thenormal surface first, line up, accelerate,enter the braking zone, apply the brakes,done, no drama. Enough of that then, nowlet’s try the wet road, a road condition I amsure that we are all familiar with, althoughI’m sure that we would all avoid heavybraking if at all possible. Line up, accelerateinto the zone, and apply the brakes, perfect,how’s that?, just check the road to makesure that its wet, yep, it sure is. Ok we willdo that again, and I did, several times, withamazing results every time, amazing to thefact that there was no drama and all wascompletely uneventful.

Now it’s time to enter the no go zone,normally taboo, loose sand on the road. I’vejust witnessed it, so it must be ok; even so,I have to find out for myself. Same as theother runs, line up, accelerate, good speed,into the test zone, and grab the brakes,same as the other passes. The CBR 600 RRABS pulled up as if the sand was nonexistent. Now, full of confidence in thebrakes, more speed, and increasing withevery pass, even with the tail end of the bikesnaking from side to side, the bike stillmanaged to achieve maximumdeceleration, without drama, and incomplete safety. And yes, that is what I thinkthe new Electronically Controlled C-ABSsystem allows the rider to achieve.Maximum declaration without drama, incomplete SAFTEY.

I was enjoying the test so much that Icould have stayed on it all day, and then Ihad the nod to pit. When asked what Ithought of the system, at the time all that Icould say was, “unbelievable.”

John McGuiness said to me, that hethought that I was the most aggressive rideron the brakes to do the brake testing, Ithought that’s what it was all about, test it tothe limit, never found it, don’t think its gotone.

Now it was time to put it to the test undernormal road conditions. After doing the

normal check to see that all was ready toroll, we set off, armed with our route maps,just in case we got split up, escort rider asrun leader, and John McGuiness as tail endCharlie.

We rode off towards the M25 and thenonto the M40 before turning back inlandonto some more rural roads through townsand villages. Along the way we wereentertained by John McGuiness comingpast us on his back wheel (hope this doesn’tget you into trouble John) and overall weexperienced a good variety of roadsurfaces, bends, and braking situations. Wethen returned to the Honda Institute andparked up where I am sure others wereanxiously awaiting to make sure that thebikes were returned in a rideable condition.After a chat and time to reflect on the ride,followed by time for a couple of informalphotos, time to get out of the leathers andhave some lunch. Yes more greathospitality. Over lunch we had time to chatand reflect on the brake testing, I felt theconsensus was extremely good to the factthat this is a faultless braking system.

After lunch an invitation was given tohave a tour of the facility, a few of us took upthe offer and was escorted around by a veryinformative technician. The tour justbolstered the fact that Honda’s main focus ison SAFETY: Excellent. The day was overand it was time to go home. This time Ifollowed my head and not the SAT NAV.

To sum up, the electronically controlledC-ABS braking system is excellent, and inuse, very uneventful, and that’s whatbraking should be. If you didn’t have anyknowledge that the system was fitted to themachine that you were riding, you justwouldn’t know how much the system washelping you out under severe braking. Roadconditions such as wet surfaces, and looseroad surfaces such as sand on the road, likethe ones we tested, will always dictate theoutcome, of the input, given by the rider.This braking system eliminates the error thatis made by the rider, in a reflex brakingsituations, as well as having the most usualfeeling in normal braking situations.

Danny Beck


32 SUMMER 2009

DDDDOOWWNNOOWWNN YYYYOOUURROOUURR WWWWAAYYAAYYReports from the Branches

Now that the good weather has started

we are starting to get out and about a bit

more on the bikes, with a rideout to Foxton

Locks, which was a nice ride in good

weather and a nice place to visit. We also

had a small trip to the Stoke Goldington

Steam Rally (Just me and the twins).

In April I threw a small party for my 50th

Birthday to which a large number of my

branch and a few from around the country

also came including John and Jude Steve

and Maureen

from West

L o n d o n ,

Barbara and

Alan Pam and

Dave from

Solent Jenny

f r o m

Northampton

and Erica

Gerald and

William from

Oxford. A good

time was had

by all I think.

Thank you all

for coming and

thank you again for all the thoughtful gifts (I

need never buy another bottle of whiskey

again hic!).

Our rally, which we had in advance

christened 'the wet one' after successive

years of miserable weather, turned out very

nice. Many of our regulars turned out from

our own and other branches, including a

new guy (Jimmy) from Huntingdon on his

CBF600 who was good company all

weekend.

We had a nice ride out led by Roger

Elvin through the Cambridgeshire and

Suffolk countryside for Saturday lunch at a

greasy spoon. Roger used to lead our runs

for many years and always picks good

roads and keeps a good constant pace,

perfect for group rides (thank you Rog.).

BEDFORDSHIRESecretary: Glen Pringle - 07702 233 524

Enough said!

Steve Tyler


SUMMER 2009 33

The run was followed by our usual

Barbecue in the evening. Then on Sunday I

tried to find an interesting route for our ride

out to the Ace Cafe for

the Honda day.

By the time you

read this we will have

had our annual outing

to France which sees

most of our branch led

by Chairman Ian Parris

sampling the delights

of Arras and its vicinity.

The July 26th sees

us hosting the HOC

roast, and in June,

August and September we hope to have

large contingents at the Solent, Oxford and

National Rallies – well I'm

going definitely and I'm pretty

large!

Having appeared on the

front cover last month on my

KAWASAKI! I should like to

thank Graham for sending the

photo in and especially the

editor for including it; I've

been smiling ever since. On

the Honda front our member

Ian Woodcock bought a shiny

new CB1300 which looks

gorgeous and I bought a

CBF125 on which I look

ridiculous; I hope this makes

up for the Kwaka.

After basically a happy report, I'm afraid

I have to report some bad news. A very dear

friend Elaine Stamp has

passed away having been a

member of our branch for

many years, in company with

her husband Bob who

passed away a while back.

Elaine had been fighting

cancer for many years, and

was a caring and loving soul

who will be sorely missed by

many. My lasting memory will

be of the lakes rally a few

years back where Elaine,

Heather, Ian and I (Ian is also sadly no

longer with us) went by car! The forecast

was awful but it was a lovely

weekend. Elaine’s funeral will have

been on the 5th of June.

At times like these you

appreciate the friends you have and

how lucky we are in this club to have

had so many wonderful people to

share life with. God Bless

Glen

more rally pic over...

Who ordered Flame Grilled?

John & Pete at the Steam Rally

Refined Eating - Dave, Mick & Jimmy


34 SUMMER 2009

Glen

Erica Jimmy & Pam

Annee & Mark

Erica & friends


36 SUMMER 2009

BIRMINGHAMBranch Contact: Nick Parton - 0121 603 8983

And they are off!!

We have started our schedule of ride

outs and the first one was lead by John &

Debbs Churchill, with Big Dave and Ann-

Maria bringing up the rear; Dave knows his

place in the club. Ho ho! John took us on a

great trip to Burford in the Cotswolds, via

Stratford upon Avon, 11 machines and 15

members.

Apparently according

Forbes magazine Burford

is designated the sixth

most idyllic place in

Europe and for those

Yanks wanting to buy

property in the UK, it was

that the first place to look.

We soon sorted that out, it’s now, as

desirable as Tipton in the Black Country,

thanks to Dave doing victory wheelies up

and down the high street on his Pan. Roy

had a chance to air his new leathers 'Sex on

two Wheels' .The ride back was via The

Fosseway and back to Stratford, weather

was fantastic as was the company.

We have all had to have a word with

Ray? The shocks on his ‘Sachs’ (yes I know,

we have had several words with him) have

been a source of amusement to members

for some time now. Its very scary and almost

hypnotic, if you’re behind him going into a

bend, they seem to oscillate and weave

rhythmically, even Ray has noticed

something is not right, I hear you say Ray

has noticed? He is an engineer you know.

The word from the membership after due

consideration, contemplation and a mass

debate is, that they are actually F****ked.

Even the girls have noticed the rhythmic

oscillations of Ray’s shocks, he likes that

thought. Get em sorted for France, Ray.

I led our next ride out which was to the

Thunder Sprint, Northwich, in sunny

Cheshire. We set off early in good weather

and all met Bassett’s Pole. We comprised of

two BMW’s, one Suzuki, one Yamaha and

two Hondas;

the Honda

Owners Club?

Oh well they

have all had

Hondas in the

past, and it

does speak

well for the club

that members

want to remain

members even

when they

change bikes.

The ride up was a bit monotonous on the A5

and M6, but we had to do the hard yards to

get there and see Mr Toseland doing

donuts. The day was good, very busy; too

busy really, it was difficult getting around the

town. Traders had set where ever they

wanted to, selling crappy sunglasses and

sex aids? Around the Thunder Sprint

course so you couldn’t even see the track?

If they are reading this, the organisers really

need to sort that for next year.


SUMMER 2009 37

Trev and Geoff

are both making

steady recoveries but

are still a long way off

getting back on their

bikes though. Geoff

has got to have a second operation on his

back, the Doc’s missed one the damaged

vertebrae, when they did the first operation.

Not sure Doctor is the right word? The club

wishes you both speedy recoveries, you are

both missed on the ride outs, as is Jean,

Geoff’s wife who used to keep us to all in

check on the rides. Get it sorted Guys.

We are all gearing up for our French

Excursion, at the beginning of June 2009

that Ann and Dave have organised. We are

going over via the Tunnel, stopping in

Calais. They have planned a few ride outs

one into Belgium and I understand they are

also planning some mystery gastronomic

adventures as well. Not sure what those will

entail, snail and frit? I will let you know in my

next report.

Our Camping Weekend is reaching the

final planning stages. Debbs and John along

with Dave and Ann-Marie have spent some

considerable time and effort on this. We are

going back to one of our old sites at Wolvey,

not far from Hinckley, just of Watling Street

(A5). We have purchased a new Gazebo for

the event and the girls are planning to do

breakfasts and also a barbi, all at a very

reasonable cost. The site has good facilities

and it would be good to see as many of you

there that can make it. You will enjoy it.

Wayne is doing a sterling job, as our

‘scoop’ having taken over from Dave ‘Kiwi’

Langdon our antipodean correspondent. He

is also wrestling with the web site and he will

crack it soon. Roy continues to threaten

members ‘with menaces’ with the raffle. The

prizes he sources continue to

generate much amusement with

the members. For instance last

month I won a pocket Air Band

Scanner, not! It’s massive, like

the radio’s they have on ‘Ashes

to Ashes’. I have given it back to

Roy, for some other lucky punter

to win. You can have too much of a good

thing.

Personally, I went to the Red Marley

Freak Hill Climb, Easter Monday. What a

fantastic day out, if you haven’t been, do it

next year, you will enjoy it. The all comers

winner this year ‘King of The Hill’ is Arthur

Browning and what a final it was. Yes, the

Arthur Browning, he is 64 you can’t believe

how he handles his 1965 ‘Jawa Metisse’

500.

Keith is getting himself a new machine,

he going for a BMW GSA, JPR is looking to

trade up as well I understand he’s looking to

get an Ex Plod Pan.

Keep it sane.

Nick


40 SUMMER 2009

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Honda motorcycle you choose is absolutely

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division under one roof - the first of it's kind

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experience under one roof.

At the core of our success has been our

devotion to delivering the highest standards

of customer service throughout the buying

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exceptional after-sales care. Further to

this, as the largest stockist of Honda

Motorcycle Parts in Europe we offer

complete confidence in our ability to supply

the parts you need for hassle-free riding.

We are hugely proud of our reputation for

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cultivated, and are constantly striving to

improve yet further. Give us a call or pop

into one of our showrooms today to see how

we can help you.

LINGS - FOR EVERYTHING HONDA.


42 SUMMER 2009

BRISTOLBranch Contact: Pete Casling - 01454 416417

I hope all of you have had plenty of

opportunities to get out and about on your

Hondas this Spring and Summer.

Considering the reasonable weather we've

had (up to the time of writing this), there

really was no excuse not to make the most

of it! There's still plenty of this year left, so

let's hope that we get a good Autumn too.

Since the last Bristol Branch report,

we've had our first scheduled Sunday ride,

in March, to the National Motorcycle

Museum near Birmingham. Unfortunately,

due to unforseen circumstances, our two

regular participants were unable to take

part, much to their disappointment. So we,

namely my father on his bike, and me on

mine, both went as we had been looking

forward to visiting the museum for some

time. It had been a while since we last went

there, and long before catastrophic the fire

which consumed it. For those who haven't

been, it is virtually a history of British

motorcycles (no Japs allowed!), displayed in

a vast, spotless building, in conditions not

normally associated with British bikes! Well,

some exhibits are just so special, they really

should be kept clean! It really is an amazing

recovery from the ashes of the fire. We shall

return again next year, so that those who

couldn't go will see what they missed.

Recently, we've had a few more

potential members attend meetings and ride

outs. Two 'visitors' came to our March and

June meetings, and are interested in joining

the HOC. At the same meeting we had a

visit from one 'long lost member' who we

haven't seen for a long time. Welcome back,

J.J.! He was keen to get out on his VFR750

again after a long lay-up, so on Easter

Sunday, the two of us went for a ride over

the Severn Bridge to the popular

Abergavenny bike meet, returning via

Monmouth and the picturesque Wye Valley.

J.J.'s now keen to get out on the bike a lot

more to make up for lost time!

For our scheduled April ride out, we had

a tour around the Cotswolds. After making

enquiries about the HOC, prospective

members Pete and Karen Wood joined us

on a VFR800Fi (a fast one, because it's

red). The 'us' was Andy and Tracey Cox,

J.J., Ram Thiyagarajah, and me for a

pleasant tour meandering around the

Cotswolds via many of the the well-known

towns. The day started off dry and bright, if

a little chilly, so after an hour or so a very

welcome stop for coffee and a warm-up was

made at McDonalds in Cirencester. (We had

intended to use Greasy Joe's, but it's now

closed on Sundays. Doh!) J.J. was rather

impressed with the toilet's hand dryer, so

much so, that he wanted one like it at home.

Not only did it dry your hands most

efficiently (it very nearly blasted them off

your arms!), but it also had a blue light

illuminating your hands. That matched the

blue side-lights fitted to his bike!


SUMMER 2009 43

As it happened, I had unwittingly

scheduled our tour of the Cotswolds for the

same day that the Birmingham Branch were

also doing a Cotswolds run, and we had

hoped we might meet up with them

somewhere along the way. Passing through

Burford, we spotted a row of Hondas parked

up at the roadside, which could only have

been theirs. Unfortunately, Burford, being so

popular, was by that time 'full up' as it very

often is, and there really was nowhere for us

to park, so we decided to carry on to

Bourton-on-the-Water for our lunch stop. It

was very busy here too, but we nabbed a

very convenient adjacent pair of car spaces

right in the middle of Bourton to park our five

bikes, much to the annoyance of car drivers!

A Sunday lunch of fish and chips and tea

was had by all of us, sitting in warm

sunshine, and then it was back to the bikes

to carry on the rest of out tour. Car drivers,

seeing us heading back towards our bikes,

were waiting for us to vacate our two

spaces, so we took our time in getting

saddled-up! We headed via Stow-on-the-

Wold to Broadway, and then on to the

Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam

Railway at Toddington to have a photo-stop

and an ice cream. (A trip there just for a ride

on the steam train is a possibility for next

year, too.) After that, we carried on into

Cheltenham, Cirencester again, and then

back to our starting point. Since then, Pete

and Karen have joined the HOC, and they

hope to join us regularly at meetings and on

our outings.

The following weekend, Andy Cox and

myself joined in the Oxford Branch's Test

Ride day at Abingdon Honda. This was an

absolutely fantastic day, where we were

able to test a wide range of bikes, from the

CBR125 to the CB1300S. We had a very

obliging police 'escort', and he took us on a

route which allowed us to really use the

bikes' performance and get the feel of them,

and we both managed to have seven test

rides each! As Abingdon Honda is only half

a mile from open country roads, it was great

to be able to test the bikes properly, without

riding miles through congested roads, as

would be the case at our local Honda dealer.

Many thanks to Abingdon Honda for the

event, and especially Erica from Oxford

Branch for organising it, allowing us to

participate, and for providing her delicious

home-made cake for all of us test riders.

Over the early May Bank Holiday

weekend, Wiltshire Branch held their Spring

rally, and whilst I was not actually attending,

I endeavored to go and join in at least one of

their ride outs. Unfortunately, no-one else

from Bristol was available that weekend to

come along with me, so I went and joined in

the Sunday ride out. About eighteen bikes

had a tour of around 140 miles

through Wiltshire, Dorset and

Hampshire, over an interesting and

scenic route, many roads of which

some of us had never used before.

We took the obligatory tea stops,

and lunch at a very busy Compton

Abbas airfield. An amusing

moment occurred at one point

when another group ride out

(mostly non-Hondas) seemed to

think we were with them! It was

good to go and meet some

members from other branches, and

they were good company to be out

with, even if I was just along for the

ride out for the day. cont....


44 SUMMER 2009

The weather beat us for our May ride

out. About seven of us (plus some pillions)

were looking forward to our ride to the Elan

Valley in Wales, but we decided not to go as

the forecast was pretty dire, continuing the

fairly unpleasant weather from the previous

few days. Mid Wales is not the best place to

go if “prolonged heavy showers” are

forecast! OK, yes, we chickened out, but it

was a long way to go to guarantee getting a

good wetting, but we do intend to go when

the better weather comes, and we may well

have made the trip by the time you read this.

To make up for our postponed ride, J.J.

and I tried organising at short-notice a ride

on the following Sunday, as it was forecast

to be a sunny one. I knew a few were away

over that weekend, but a quick ring-around

could not increase the numbers, so just the

two of us went south for a ride out to

Swanage.

There were huge numbers of bikes out

on the roads, and en route we encountered

what was probably a VMCC ride out,

passing all sorts of old British irons, many of

them leaving the distinctive aroma of

Castrol R in their wake!

We arrived at Swanage around

lunchtime, later than most of the tourists, yet

we had no difficulty parking two bikes. The

town was quite busy, and the beach

crowded, but we hadn't really gone for a dip

in the sea!

A stop for lunch

(fish and chips and

an ice cream, what

else at the seaside?)

a crossing over the

Sandbanks ferry to

Poole, and then

returning via more

or less the same

route for home.

Well, that's just

about all we've got

up to since last

time. We've seen

some new faces

join us this this

year, but it is still

only the same few who turn up. We're not

trying to be too ambitious in what we do,

only scheduling once-a-month Sunday

rides, as unless more turn up on a regular

basis, we can't really plan to do much else.

If any of you out there want to join us on a

ride we have yet to do this year, please do

get in contact with me, as you really will be

welcome to come along. The few rides still

to run this year are listed in this magazine

and on the HOC website. Our monthly

meetings are really just a friendly social

chat, nothing formal at all, and not just about

the HOC! If you have any ideas for

somewhere to go or something to do (most

likely next year now), and you think others

will be interested too, please do get in touch.

Bye for now,

Pete


SUMMER 2009 45

Hello Everyone

So much has happened over the past

few weeks including a change in the

weather which is nice, and it looks like we

might have a summer! Sshh don't tell

anyone!

Since the last time of writing, Cambs

HOC have been on their first break of year.

Ten of us booked to go to Ypres for the

weekend of 24th - 26th April, and so three

bikes left at 2pm to meet up with others

along the route. As many of you know this

start was not a good one. Unfortunately,

Roger and Sue Hutchcraft had an accident

on the A14 which resulted in their lovely

Gold Wing being a write off. Roger suffered

four broken ribs, a punctured lung and a

ruptured spleen whilst Sue sustained

various cuts and bruises and both were very

very badly shaken. Roger was hospitalised

for 13 days and is still recovering, but is now

on the mend. Sue's bruises took a while to

disappear along with the shock of it all, but

it seems now to be OK. We took the

decision to carry on with the trip, but it did

feel weird seeing our friends going one way

in the ambulance and us the other. Jim and

Debra met us at the scene so three couples

again headed off to Folkestone to catch the

shuttle to Calais. The other two bikes were

waiting at Lakeside services, but we had

phoned and told them what had happened;

they actually caught the train after us and

we all finally met up French side at around

6pm French time.

We headed off to Ypres to the Ambrosia

Hotel, a little family run affair which was

lovely. After a quick shower and change it

was into the town, which was about 300

yards away, for a late dinner. It was Paul's

birthday so we had to celebrate with a few

drinks, which no one minded, and then

headed back to the 24 hour shop for drink

supplies which we opened in the reception

of the Hotel for a nightcap.

We had breakfast at 9am and it was

suggested by Debra that we have a walk to

let it digest. This was a very good idea as

during our travels we stumbled across the

Anzac parade. We followed them to the

Menin Gate where the National Anthems

were played and wreaths laid. The Belgian

Pipers played and a lady with an

extraordinary voice sang Abide With Me; it

got a bit teary here. The rest of the day was

spent looking round the Museum which took

a while as a lot happened in Ypres during

WW1. If you have seen the Cathedral in

Ypres you will know that is looks really old

but in fact it was blown up in WW1 and

completely rebuilt, not actually being

finished until the late 60's.

On Sunday morning we departed to the

Cemetery, as Debra had traced a relative

and wanted to visit. It was an emotional

moment and we left Jim and Debra to go in

alone for the initial find. The cemetery was

well kept, as they all are and I always find

them a humbling experience.

We then headed off to the Blockhouse

where they made the V2 Bombers.

Apparently 22,500 were made here and

over half were launched on London! It was a

very imposing building and you could feel

the sombre atmosphere; it chilled you and

was not a nice place.

We left for Calais for a late lunch but

found a lovely restaurant willing to take eight

hungry bikers. The meal was excellent and

it just finished off what turned out to be a

really good trip despite the start. On the

way home we stopped at Thurrock services

for a coffee and said goodbye before we all

went our separate ways home.

CAMBRIDGESecretary: Kim Woodruff - 01353 740883


46 SUMMER 2009

The BMF Show was once again a great

success, and we were very pleased with our

stand. Roger H had arranged for some

artists to come in and paint our back drop

this year and it definitely had a WOW factor

of 100%. I could not get the day off for the

set on Friday 17th this year due to work

commitments, but was kept in touch with

things going on by Roger H who went as

chief cook and bottle washer. The back drop

did prove difficult to get up so that

everything was leveled up and I know that it

was a fractious day. We headed off early on

the Saturday morning and I was well

impressed with what our members had

done the day before. It looked great and the

finishing touches of the hanging baskets

and pots courtesy of Mrs Nina Burgess did

the job. It was busy despite them saying the

attendance was down, and our Marquee

was filled with lots of people showing

interest AND we had 28 new members sign

up. I know Graham Gull was especially

pleased with this.

I did get some funny looks from people

when I went round with the sweetie bucket

asking if anyone wanted sweets but most

took some anyway. Palma Violets were by

far the most popular as they seem to bring

back childhood memories.

The Regalia sold well, turning over just

under £400, which was excellent, and we

raised £333.34 for M.A.G.P.A.S through the

tea, coffee and cakes so thanks everyone

for your generosity. Paul and Fiona White

sold nine books of draw tickets for Riders for

Health with a chance to win a CBR600 so

well done them. If you visited the Marquee

perhaps you could contact us and give your

views on it and let us know what you would

like us to show in future. I would like to thank

Dave and Jackie Harris for the lovely special

cake that they presented us with again this

year. It was covered with an iced copy of a

photograph of the tea stand of last year and

the chocolate cake underneath was quite

delicious! Well I had to try it. Thank you very

much everyone.

We had a ride out to the Norfolk Broads

on Sunday 24th May, Paul and I led this

from Ely Services leaving at 10am. Eight

bikes left for the meander through the

scenic route through Brandon onto Watton

then onto Bramerton where we had lunch

overlooking the river. Stephen and Joyce

joined us in the car so we had thirteen for

lunch, and it was lovely. We did feel sorry for

the waitress who was a little fractious as it

was so busy. I had to sample the Whiskey

infused Bread and Butter Pudding with

cream, and have to report that it was

delicious. We said goodbye to Dave who

was heading home while we headed further

round to Wroxham for another drink by the

river and Ice Cream. It was another lovely

day helped along by the brilliant sun shine

that we had for the whole of the bank

holiday weekend; unusual I know.

By the time you read this we will be back

from our holiday in Normandy. We depart on

Thursday 4th June on the 11pm ferry from

Portsmouth to Caen for the D Day

celebrations. There are sixteen of us going

over and Roger and Sue are coming in their

VITO, so it will be good to have them with us

while still recovering from their accident. We

are so glad they are still able to join us, and

we’re really looking forward to this and we

will be reporting on it in the next issue so

watch this space. Dave Furness is off to

America where he is riding Route 66, and as

he has my mobile number and I am hoping

to hear from him during his travels; have a

safe time Dave. I understand Dave is not the

only one doing this route this year!

May we thank everyone for their good

wishes to Sue and Roger since their

accident and for everyone's support with the

BMF, we couldn't do it without you and we

hope to catch up with many of you again

soon, and look forward to hearing about all

your holidays and trips around too.

Take care and safe riding.

Love

Kim x


SUMMER 2009 47

Honda Test Ride Weekend

20th-21st February

Although both Minions in Derby and

Pidcocks in Long Eaton were approached

regarding the Test Ride Weekend we were

only able to attend Pidcocks due to Minions

not having a very good response and only

having a few people booked in.

Friday 20th was covered by

John Measures and Ken &

Margaret Wells, when they received

a lot of positive interest in the club

from the people that they met

during the day.

Saturday 21st was covered by

Phil Hammond and Steve & myself, where

again we received a lot of interest and had

11 people leave their email addresses for us

to send out more information about the club.

All in all a successful PR weekend for the

club. All we have to do is wait and see if any

were interested enough to come and visit us

at the Royal.

Thanks to everyone who gave up their

time to help.

Al’s Mystery Pub Ride Out – 29th March

A good start to the first Pub Ride Out of

the year, 9 bikes gathered outside the Royal

Hotel waiting to see where the ride would

take us on one of Al’s Magical Mystery

Tours.

True to form the route found us winding

our way around the Leicestershire

countryside with the occasional foray into

South Derbyshire. We passed many road

signs pointing to familiar place names such

as Shepshed, Copt Oak, Quorn &

Markfield, finally ending up at the Griffin Inn

at Swithland where we met up with Ken &

Margaret.

Ironbridge - 5th April

Another bright sunny morning saw 10

bikes starting off from the Royal Hotel and

heading off through some winding country

roads, there was an 11th bike joined us a

short way into the ride.

The 11th bike was a potential new

member who had said that he might turn up

for the ride, weather and wife permitting, but

he had been delayed by a dodgy wing

mirror.

Unknown to Steve and I, an incident

occurred at the rear of the party which

meant that we were 2 bikes short – Walter,

a friend of one of our members,

had missed the bike sat

marking the junction and gone

straight on leaving John

Measures (or Shep as he’s

now known) to chase after and

retrieve him.

cont....

Secretary: Steve Pugh – 01332 515767EAST MIDLANDS


48 SUMMER 2009

We had a stop for an hour or so at

Amerton Farm and Craft Centre where

we were all re-united for a well deserved

cuppa and cake (or in one person’s case

a full breakfast). There was time to

wander round the garden centre, take in

the pottery, glass making or jewellery

shops and of course the ever welcome

ice cream shop.

Fed and watered we all set off again

along our designated route, until one

minor glitch when we were nearing

Eccleshall, previously when we were

planning the route there had been a

diversion in place at the roundabout before

Eccleshall with a

notice saying that

it would be there

until May 2009,

when we got

there this time the

diversion had

been removed so

we followed the

correct route into

the village.

Approaching the

cross roads from

a different angle

caused a slight

delay while we re-orientated our selves and

worked out the correct turning to take (the

sign post was of no help at all as it didn’t

mention the road number or our next

reference point).

The remainder of the ride passed

without incident and we all arrived in

Ironbridge. Parking was a bit of a

squeeze as there seemed to be a lot

of other bikers having the same idea

for an afternoon out and all of the free

bike parking had been taken, but

eventually we all managed to wedge

the bikes into the designated

motorbike parking space in one of the

car parks.

After a wander along the river, around

the shops and over the bridge, it was time

for another cuppa and the usual photo

opportunities.

Back at the bikes, there was the usual

donning of various bits of aparel and then

we all set off for home in a more direct

manner, peeling off along the way as we got

closer to home.

Thanks to every one who turned out for

the ride, it made it all worth while.


SUMMER 2009 49

Dave Sansome’s Memorial Run

18th April

It was nice to remember an old buddy

who was sadly taken away from us last year.

The best way of doing was to do what he

loved, riding bikes. A ride out was planned

and the weather was excellent. Thanks

Dave for organising that!! 24 bikes and 28

bikers left the Six Hills Hotel, lead by

Captain with Lynn as pillion, riding over to

Melton Mowbray where we stopped for

coffee at Len Manchester Motorcycles.

From there, we rode Dave’s favourite route

The Langtons. Dave and I rode this road

regularly and I will always remember the

smile that was beaming all over his face

every time we got to the other side and he

took his helmet off.

We were joined on the Ride by Andrew,

the Landlord of the Coach & Horses,

Kibworth. We stopped at his pub and a

hearty lunch was had by all.

From there, we rode by Gartree Prison,

up to Husbands Bosworth and then to

Wigston Cemetery. Jay from the Christian

Motorcycle Association said a short prayer

and this gave us time to remember Dave.

Now, Dave did have his little ways and you

were right as long as your opinion was the

same as Dave, otherwise you were wrong.

You never needed a map when you rode

with Dave as he had an inbuilt SatNav. If the

chips were down and you rang Dave for

help, you knew that even before the phone

went down, he was in his car to come over

to you. He was a diamond geezer and we

will always remember him.

The nice thing about the ride out was

that there were a number of bikers there that

didn’t even know Dave. It didn’t matter...he

was a fellow biker and a friend that they did

not have the opportunity to meet. We were

blessed with that privilege.

God Bless

you Dave and

just remember,

let the Almighty

be right once in

a while.

Thanks to John Measures for the write

up about the Memorial Ride Out.

That’s All For Now Folks

Rita


50 SUMMER 2009

The Eastern Branch has made a very

promising start to 2009. We have a few new

or potential new members turning up at

meetings. The club adverts in Motorcycle

News have helped with this.

On a fine Saturday 7th March Martin,

Lorrie, Graham, Paul, Phil and me met up

at the Caenby Corner Café for our

afternoon run; travelling from Market Rasen

on the B roads via Wragby, Bardney,

Metheringham and Sleaford to Grantham

Honda.

The following day was cold & wet and

found Lorrie, Martin & I looking around the

Newark Auto-jumble. There were good buys

to be had, especially someone looking for a

bike to restore or for a get to work hack.

Fortunately we had excellent weather

the following Sunday for the 3-Shires

Sheffield Easter egg run. The turn out was

truly massive. For me, Lorrie & Martin a

memorable event to take part in, with the

police blocking junctions allowing the run to

pass through the red lights and the police

helicopter swooping overhead. The event

had very positive coverage on the local T.V.

networks. Well done Three-Shire

branch for an excellent

event.

Secretary: John Hewson - 01469 560306EASTERN

Graham, Martin & Phil at Grantham Honda

James Toseland signs autographs

Fancy dress was fortunately not

compulsory for the egg run


SUMMER 2009 51

On the 21st March Martin & I had a run

to the Yorkshire Dales. We set off from

Barney’s Café and road over the Humber

Bridge before taking the B-roads from

Beverly, Malton and over Sutton Bank to

Thirsk. At Masham we headed south for

Lofthouse via Leighton Reservoir, stopping

for lunch at the Howe Stean Gorge Café.

Unfortunately the road from Pateley Bridge

to Grassington was closed at Greenhow Hill.

This meant a diversion down to the A59. We

refuelled at Settle and headed north up the

B6479, stopping for a coffee at the

Ribblehead Viaduct. We followed the road

down the picturesque Dentdale to Sedbergh

and turned east on the A684 to Hawes,

Leyburn and Northallerton before turning

south and heading home via Thirsk and

York, a good run with little traffic on the

roads and bright dry weather.

We had a fine if windy day for our

run to the last Sand race of the

season at Mablethorpe on Sunday

29th March. Unfortunately the

races didn’t get started until late

due to the on shore wind keeping

the water level up and that was

despite changing the track

orienation. The racing was

enjoyable to watch and it was good

to see the level of support shown

by the number of spectators

gathered on the sea wall.

cont....

Ribblehead Viaduct

Spectators at the sand races

Martin, Lorrie, Graham, Paul & Phil at the

Caenby Corner Café for the sand race

Sand racing

Paul (above)

Phil (left)


52 SUMMER 2009

The weather gods smiled again on Ray,

Phil, Martin, Lorrie, Paul, Ann, Andy and I for

our run to the highest pub in England at Tan

Hill for lunch on 5th April. We covered about

250 miles by the time we got back to our

start point of Barney’s café just south of the

Humber Bridge; enjoying some of the best

roads the Yorkshire Dales have to offer.

On Good Friday, Martin, Lorrie and I met

at the assembly point for the Scunthorpe

Bikers egg run. Unfortunately I had to leave

just after the start due to an electrical fault

on my BMW. Yes, the Michael has been

taken at every opportunity.

On Sunday 26th April Lorrie & Martin

called in on me on their way to meeting up

with Phil, Paul and Ray for our run to the

Stafford Classic Bike Show. I didn’t get very

far, about 5 miles in fact, before re-

occurrence of the electrical fault forced me

to return home and complete the journey in

the car.

The Classic Bike Show

was very well attended and

this year proved to be very

popular with continental

visitors, probably aided by

the favourable exchange

rate.

On the 3rd May Martin &

Lorrie had a run down to the

Japanese Motorcycle show

held at Donington Park.

Martin, Lorrie, Phil and me made

our annual trip down to the BMF show

at Peterborough. I was disappointed

there was no discount for members on the

gate and even more so when I found the

only manufacturer with a display was

Triumph. Martin, Lorrie and Phil all found

bargains on the stalls, more than saving

their entrance price.

Martin, Andy, John, Ann, Phil, Ray

Paul & Ann on their Pan

Paul & Ann on their Pan


SUMMER 2009 53

I just couldn’t help but feel I had

some how materialised at the Tailend

rather and the BMF show. The Honda

Owners Club stand was magnificent. If

it didn’t win best stand I don’t know why

not.

I saw nothing to compete with it.

Any branch is only as active as its

members. If you want to have your voice

heard and make suggestions for activities

please attend the meetings. If you have

difficulty attending meetings contact me via

email from the Eastern Branch website or

on the above telephone number.

The most important thing is to get out

and ride no matter on what and who ever

you choose to do it with.

Cheers

John

Lorrie, Martin & Phil

at HOC tentInside the HOC tent

Ray, Phil, Phil’s mate, Paul,

John, Lorrie, Martin

Branch Secretaries:

The deadline for the next Golden Wing is;

1s1st Sept Septtember 2009ember 2009

These pages are your advertising space, to let

members who are local to you know the real

benefits of active membership. Tell them what is

happening in your area


54 SUMMER 2009

LAKES & COASTSecretary: Mike Bell - 07738 830917

Already the months are flying by, and

soon the nights will be getting longer, where

has the summer gone?

Still, lots to plan for in the future. For the

last week-end of July, we have booked the

RAF Red Arrows to perform overhead for

our HOG Roast event, yes, we have, and

we shall prove it by sending in the photos for

the autumn issue. We will also have a

recently restored XH558 Vulcan Bomber

which will fly over Windermere on Saturday

afternoon

On both days we will see a display by

the BBMF (Battle of Britain Memorial Flight)

Spitfire, Hurricane & Dakota. In addition to

these highlights, there will be some stunning

aerobatic displays from the Yakovlevs and

the Pitts12 pilots. Also not to miss is the

daring and beautiful wing-walkers from

Team Guinot who display not only beauty

but courage on top, or hanging beneath,

their Stearman Biplanes. The old favourites

will also be back including the privately

owned Jet Provost, the RAF Hawk and the

Chinook helicopter.

Now what other Branch event can boast

all that?!

Let us know, and join in all the fun

[email protected]

We continue to get out and about in this

The Most Beautiful Corner of England, and I

make no apologies that everything is very

last minute, but with the weather pattern

being as it is, long term planning is difficult,

especially when we are a “designation”

branch. One of us is out most week-ends,

email us for details.

On the 25th of May, many of us took the

opportunity to go to the official opening of

Lloyd Honda at their new Carlisle

showroom. It was a great day, and there

was even the Honda Demonstrator unit in

attendance. There were demo and test

rides, which many enjoyed and a great hog

roast was provided free of charge by Antony

and his team. There were loads of soft and

hot drinks available too. Paula, having

bought a new Arai helmet a few weeks

earlier took the opportunity of making it fit

her head, without all the problems she was

having getting it off. Well done to Arai

technicians who made it fit her.

We had a super Burger in a Bun Run, in

mid June, when the idea was to ride to

B o w n e s s - o n -

Windermere, for

what became a

great evening

while watching

the sun set on

the Lakeland

Hills, and Lake

W i n d e r m e r e

simmered in the

evening natural

light. Did you join

in? but did you

email us first?

Lloyd Honda Opening Day


SUMMER 2009 55

Sunday 13th September will see us

joining in with another local bike club for a

charity run for the Great North Air

Ambulance Service, (GNAAS), which

operates from its new base just outside

Penrith.

We will be out again into the English

Lake District, The Scottish Borders and the

Yorkshire Dales. These are our usual

playgrounds when they are not shrouded in

mist and clouds, the roads wet with stones

and puddles, and as for the potholes! But

still the roads are fantastic, and the views

amongst the best in the UK. If you don’t

believe me, come and have a look, and I will

prove it! Devil’s Bridge at Kirkby Lonsdale is

another popular meeting place, together

with Hawes, Middleton Teesside, Hartside

and Glasson Dock and we hope to get over

to Squires Café again, and up to Tan Hill.

Come and join us, send me an email, at

[email protected] and lets meet up in

2009. We are a large geographically area,

but what fun we have in that area. It is not

just for the tourists; we can and do enjoy

ourselves!

Meet soon

Peter & Mike

Paula with the helmets


MANCHESTERSecretary: Stephen Davenport - 07968 810435

Our year is going well, we are getting

plenty of interest in our club via dealers, the

internet and so far 7 from MCN. This has

meant plenty of new faces. Our meetings

are still pulling an average of 15 people and

our ride out’s more so.

We have found the only

down side, if you can call it

that, is our ride out’s are

proving to be a bit too popular. Gary our

rides coordinator now has his work cut out

looking into how we make our rides

manageable.

We have had 7 ride outs and 1

weekend away to Tintern Abbey, all

have been a success, even the

British weather seems to have been

kind to us so far. We have had an

average of 10 bikes per run and

some pillions have braved it as well.

The calendar is all set for the rest of

the year, with the exception of a

destination and meeting point for the

Sunday Dinner run, this is to be announced.

I may look to head south this year in the

hope of meeting other clubs, or we might

just invite you to come to us

Our trip to Montigny-le-Bretonneux in

France is now organised. We have been

invited, by a French bike club, to join in their

towns celebration of their link’s to other

towns in Europe. There are 9 of us

representing Manchester and we will be

staying with various families in the town.

The only board required is a small gift of

something typically English costing around

£5.00, a bargain. Just don’t know whether

the fish & chips I am picking up in Dover will

last. There are two other

clubs from Europe

joining us and they are

from Marostica in Italy

and Kierspe in Germany.

We have been sent

pictures from the

German club so we will

be able to recognise

them when we get there,

though I thought the

brown leathers that

German bikers allegedly

wear would be the give

away. Lionel, our main

host has a full list of events for us over the

three day’s we are there including a visit to

the palace at Versailles.

62 SUMMER 2009


The whole town is getting really excited

about all the festivities and it’s all backed by

the local mayor. In France I believe there is

not much of a bigger endorsement. I will

organise a full article for the Golden Wing

which should be in time for the Christmas

edition.

After this we still have a full ride calendar

and a weekend coast to coast run in

September. Still if the summer is as good as

we hope we will have plenty of extra day’s to

ride bikes.

Only a short article this time I’m afraid as

I forgot about the Deadline, sorry. Till the

next edition, all the best for a good summer

to all branches from Manchester.

Steve


64 SUMMER 2009

Secretary: Karen Angela - 01624 629299MANX OFFSHORE

At the risk of sounding repetitive, I can’t

think of anywhere better in this universe

right now where I would want to be other

than right here in paradise! Glorious

weather and even more glorious racing

classic bikes down at Castletown on the

Billown circuit during the day and practice

on the TT mountain course tonight.

The only downside, and there has to be

one or you might forget to appreciate the

good things, are those pesky little midges.

Still, I’ll be safe tonight plastered in oil of

citronella, the smell is a bit pungent but it

works.

I now have proof positive that John is a

party animal, albeit part of a stretcher party

but it’s a start!.

This all began on Saturday night, the

first practice session for the TT. An

American rider, Scott Jensen, failed to make

the right hand bend through Union Mills

where we marshal and hit a Manx stone

gatepost head on! Fortunately, he was not

seriously hurt and after a check up by the

doctor on duty with us, he was stretchered

off to the ambulance and rushed to Nobles

hospital. Released on Sunday, he was back

out on the Course tonight, Monday, for more

practice. These racers must be made of

rubber.

Highlight of the Saturday night practice

was a visit by Shaun Harris, a well known

racer who had a very serious accident at

Union Mills in 2007. After spending around 8

months in Hospital before being sent home

to New Zealand, he has only just reached

the point of being able to work again.

He is on the Island again going round

thanking all the people who helped him and

has signed on as a marshal to help out.

It must have been a shock to him seeing

Scott hit the wall, as he is a friend of his, and

it must have stirred a lot of painful memories

because this was where he came off

himself. That was why he was there in the

first place, to meet the marshals who picked

him up.

He must be OK though because when

we talked to him he said he was thinking

about trying sidecar racing, and they said he

didn’t have brain damage any more!

The last three months have all been a bit

of a blur of DIY jobs for us, but we have

finally got the top floor shower installed and

the room tiled. If you want some tiling doing

I’m your girl, but I don’t come cheap! Every

where else has been cleaned up and / or

repainted and I think we are now ready!!

During April I finally managed to get the

bike out and test ride the new heated

gloves, they work, thank god, so I can now

ride again, although as we are now in June

and the weather is hot I don’t need them,

hey ho!

Once TT is over I’m going across to the

adjacent Island, where you live, to visit

family and friends and attend the christening

of the new grandson, well nine months old

now.

Whilst I’m over I’ll be attending

Donnington for the WSB races to marshal

for them, well it gets me in for free, although

I do have to work hard as I found out last

year at the Moto GP. John can only come

over for a long weekend for the christening

so will have to miss out on the fun, still, he

will be able to play with the bikes at home

for a while on his own.

We were thinking about coming to the

National Rally again this year but

unfortunately wont be able to make it, as for

John’s 60th birthday I’m treating him by

having most of the sash windows refurbed!

He’s really looking forward to it, it’ll be

warmer this winter, only two jumpers and a

fleece! This also means we wont be getting

married this year as this is the wedding fund

spent yet again.


SUMMER 2009 65

No pictures to send again this month but

we are trying to get some racing shots of our

new branch member, Jim, on his VFR400

racer up at Jurby road circuit to send,

maybe a front cover shot if there any good

enough, will try for next Golden Wing.

Meanwhile, we have got his partner, Mary

hooked on marshalling. My finger, by the

way, is still hovering over the keyboard

(John types all this) but I will try, I promise,

to send an E-mail myself soon.

Apologies if this is a little brief compared

to normal, but we are in the middle of

practice week as I write so hopefully a full

TT report and more local news next time.

This is MOB signing off,

Be safe, be happy.

Karen & John

Do you provideproducts

or services for bikers?

Have you thoughtabout an advert in

Golden Wing?

For details of alladvertising options andcosts, please contact

Erica Gassor [email protected]


66 SUMMER 2009

Contact: Julian Richards - 07717 306 201NORFOLK

Like many branches we seemto have a magical diary list, themore we do, the longer it gets, butthat can only be a good thing.Many members, me included,work shifts, therefore cannot andare not expected to attend allevents and meetings but withsuggestions coming thick and fastthere should be something foreveryone.

Since my last report we haveindeed visited QuidenhamHospice to see their fantastic work, we hada good informative tour around and decidedthat this was definitely a great place tosupport, we have also helped with their“Ride for Life” but more of that later.

Geoff led ten of us on a ride-out toWalton-on-the-Naze, on Sunday 26th ofApril, leaving the Apollo, Harleston at10:30am threading the route through somelovely Suffolk and Essex countryside andvillages.

We met the usual motorists who turnedwithout indicating but arrived safely atWalton just after midday then had the usualcoffee and loo stop. Splitting up some of thegroup found something to eat while othersenjoyed a stroll along the pier and the restjust sat and chilled out watching the worldgo by.

All too soon it was time to meet up andenjoy a nice relaxed return home ride, whichwe did, thanking Geoff forhis efforts.

O nWednesday 6th of May

was the branch ride to watchspeedway at Kings Lynn, I metRoy and Lesley on the outskirts ofNorwich and we enjoyed the fortyodd mile ride along the A47

without too much traffic. Once parked andinside we met Dave and Sue on corner no.3and settled down to watch the parade ofriders and then the racing. A depletedBirmingham side put in maximum effort andwe saw quite a few exciting and close races,the final score of Kings Lynn 63 toBirmingham’s 30 didn’t really reflect thenight’s racing.

Meeting at the Apollo

Walking along the pier.

Ready to start for home.


SUMMER 2009 67

It has been some time since I went tospeedway and forgot just how much Ienjoyed it but would thoroughly recommendit, so go along and support your local team.The return journey from Kings Lynn toNorwich in darkness was with quite ablustery cross-wind but we made it safely toour homes. We have two moredates for the speedway in our diary,one at Ipswich and the other atMildenhall.

On Sunday 17th of May thevolunteers for the E.A.C.H. “Ridefor Life” on behalf of QuidenhamHospice were all up very early aswe had to meet by the HQ tent inSanton Downham near Thetford at7:00am for a briefing. For thosewho do not know, Thetford forest isthe largest lowland forest in Britain,I’ve been lucky enough to havevisited many times and always rememberthe heady scent of fresh pine on a zephyr ofa breeze, the springy feel of walking on athree-inch deep carpet of pine needles, thetrees majestically reaching for an azure bluesky and the sunbeams cascading down

through the canopy of leaves. And today itwas a memory as the waves of wind lashedthe cold rain across our faces again andagain, but heh, we’re British and this isnearly summer so what the heck!! Briefingcompleted we set to work erecting gazebos,furnishing them with tables and chairs,

assisting with moving boxes, plants, and allthe things which you know only to well whensetting anything up.

We then turned to carpark duties andmarshalling the entrants. Around 1200

participants hadpaid their entryfee for theirchoice of variouson and off-roadcycle rides andtwo walks ofd i f f e r e n tdistances, all setoff with greatenthusiasm inteams of friends,families, ororgan isa t ions ,the age andcondition of thebicycles wasreflected in thatof their owners,but all had as t e e l ydetermination.

cont....Rob, Dave, Sue, Jessica, Lesley & Roy

Branch members at the briefing

Another group starts.


68 SUMMER 2009

We also set off with enthusiasm as ateam for the barbecue which we helped sellout during the afternoon, we didn’t get amedal for that though! Sue walked aroundand around the green selling raffle tickets toboost the funds a little more. In no time at allthe first of the road racers had returned andwe were pressed into service presentingmedals to all the mud-covered finishers, thetriumphant look on their faces of young andold was a story in itself and gave us a verysatisfying feeling of a job well done.

This fundraising event is the largest onthe E.A.C.H. calendar, last year raisedsome £60,000 towards the annual£5,000,000 they need. Even the sun madean appearance when the Morris dancersstarted entertaining all of us on the villagegreen. Our work done we squelched ourway back to our vehicles and made our wayhome. Dave sent a group photo to Jessica,one of the helpers and fundraisers atQuidenham and received a very nice letterby return thanking us for all our efforts.

The branch badge competition has beencompleted and the winner chosen, I am atthe moment looking for someone to helpwith the artwork so we can then send it tovarious companies to manufacture badges,

patches, and clothing for us. The subject ofthe badge is a secret and we will unveil it tothe world once everything has been sorted.

The next ride out is on May 31st which,as I write this is in the future, following thatwe have a day out at Snetterton on 7th Junewatching club racing with the BMCRC.

A little more in the future is yet another“diary lengthener” the “East CoastChallenge” where groups can ride approxtwo-hundred miles around Norfolk andSuffolk for charity visiting places which

begin with the letter “S” viz,Sheringham, Swaffham, Stalham,Southwold, and Stowmarket. Weare meeting at the café in thesquare in Swaffham on July 12th,more details can be found at:www.eastcoastchallenge.co.uk

That’s about it really for thisreport, of course we are stillweaving in our meetings at theApollo Harleston on the secondThursday of the month with all theabove, so if you’re in the area,please come along.

Safe riding to you all, I’d bettergo now to see if I’m needed to addanything else to the diary!

RobRide for Life medal

Are you selling your bike?

Want to get rid of some kit?

Too many spares cluttering

the garage?

Members can advertise in the

Free Ads section of Golden

Wing simply be emailing the

Editor on [email protected]

or writing to the address on

page 2


SUMMER 2009 69

NORTHUMBRIASecretary: Graeme Burrough - 07050 158 381

HARTZ MOUNTAINS TOUR

(FORMER EAST GERMANY)

Saturday 23rd May

We set off lunch time heading for Hull

ferry port picking up on the way and

eventually twelve bikes 18 people arrived to

book in. Because Graeme Burrough is so

well organised and had all registration

details booking references and names all

listed on one sheet booking in was a doddle.

After tying the bikes down and making

sure everyone was happy their bike was

going to stay shining side up we all made

our way to the cabins to shower, change and

get ready for the start of our holiday.

Sunday 24th May

A good meal and few drinks and a

reasonable night’s sleep (who can sleep on

a boat?)

We docked at Rotterdam Euro Port and

emerged from the boat to a beautiful sunny

day. After all getting through customs etc

and taking liners out of jackets and changing

to summer gloves etc. we set off to do 370

miles to our hotel for the next six nights.

Everything went quite well only two minor

slip ups, Mattie decided he wasn’t quite

ready for a stop and went past the marker

for the services but we all knew he would be

waiting at the next services for us. Sure

enough there they were Mattie and Paula,

ice lolly in hand and grinning at the next

services, yes we believe you when you said

you weren’t quite ready for a stop and

wanted to go further on!!

Only other minor problem was after

leaving the services after being suitably

refreshed Graeme’s Sat Nav decided not to

even turn on. Luckily Ian has the same one

and had all the routes so a quick swap

meant we were soon on our way again

except Ian has an external aerial on his and

there’s only so many times you can listen to

“lost satellite reception”! So at next stop the

aerial was put onto Graeme’s bike too.

We arrived in Bad Harzburg and found

the first hotel for George and Tim quite

easily (they do work well sometimes these

Sat Navs) arrangements were made to meet

up later and we found the other hotel just as

easily all arriving suitably tired, hot and

ready for a cold beer. Rooms were

allocated, bikes unpacked and

arrangements made for a time to meet later.

A good meal and few (yes only a few)

beers later everyone was suitably refreshed

and ready to start our adventures.

Monday 25th May

Breakfast was arranged for 8.00-8.30am

and a very good breakfast it was too, lots of

choice of teas for anyone interested, hot

coffee, cold meats, cheese, eggs, bread and

home made jams. After everyone had been

satisfied we met at the bikes to another

beautiful sunny day and all 16 of us set off to

meet George and Tim at the other hotel to

find they have been served Bacon and

Eggs!

Because of the long day yesterday it had

been arranged that a short but interesting

day would be put together. So after

refuelling we left Bad Harzburg (what did I

say earlier about Sat Nav’s working ) only to

find that the sat nav wanted to take us back

to the hotel! After a couple of U turns, which

can be fun with twelve bikes! We pulled into

the side of the road to reset the sat nav and

try to find the way when all of a sudden a car

pulled up and a man was asking if we were

looking for the Autoban. After numerous

times of Graeme trying to pronounce the

place we were looking for to no avail the

man got out looked at the sat nav went to try

and direct us. Then with a lot of pointing and

waving of the arms jumped in his car and we

all followed.

cont...


70 SUMMER 2009

He actually took us up onto the dual

carriage way and travelled quite a few miles

out of his way to put us on the right road and

all we could do was all wave our thanks as

we went past. These trips always seem to

show us all that there are still some nice

people in this world.

Now on our way we found Weinigroder

and after checking with a taxi driver found a

free parking place for all the bikes. As

planned we found the train station and

bought our tickets for the 1936 steam train

to take us up the mountain!

An interesting trip up the mountain to

Brocken taking 2 hours and lots of photo

opportunities, Graeme being told off for

hanging off the foot plate, there’s always

one trying to get you into trouble! We arrived

at the top to thousands of midges but

fantastic views and opportunity to sample

the German Sausage which most of us took

advantage of, with a couple of us even

having sausage soup which apparently was

very good even when flavoured with a few

midges. The journey down in the train was

just as good as on the way up even though

it was packed and we all had to stand most

of the way out on the footplates. This is true

East German territory, as was!

Back to the bikes and Ian and George

decided that they were ready to return to the

hotel so made their own way back the rest of

us went off the explore the National Park

and the interesting roads. After a few twists,

turns, bends and even a couple of hairpins

Graeme and I stopped to let everyone

regroup, Mattie was the first to pull up

behind us and was heard to shout “Graeme

I “*!!@@ ing love you!! We took it that he

had enjoyed riding the roads!

After showering and meeting up in the

garden of the hotel to have a couple of

beers before leaving it was discovered that

it was in fact Sue’s birthday, she kept that

one quiet so everyone decided a Chinese

would be a good celebration so off we set.

Lovely meals were eaten and a happy

birthday sung and even

whiskeys passed around by

the owner to toast Sue on her

birthday.

Tuesday 26th May

After another good

breakfast we set off collecting

Tim only as George had

decided not to join us today, a

fall earlier in the month had left

him with a very painful knee

and as today was a longer day

he had decided to give it a

miss.

The plan was to visit

Colditz Castle and was to be a long day

(turned out to be much longer for some than

others!). It was another very hot day but it

was also very humid and along the way we

encountered a couple of thunderstorms but

not really getting that wet.

Part of the route was to go through

Quedlingburg which has a very nice

Cathedral, but on entering the town it was

found to be having major roadworks carried

out and we ended up in the middle of the

town with no visible way out.

Graeme went off to find someone for

help and came back with a town map with a

route out drawn on it, so map in my hands

behind Graeme we set off with me telling

him which way to go until the sat nav could

pick it up without roadworks blocking the

road. Why do they close roads and don’t

give you an alternative route????


SUMMER 2009 71

We eventually arrived at

Colditz much later than

planned and very hot. Few of

us changed into jeans and

shoes etc. and everyone

tried to put as much of their

kit as they could in the bikes.

After a climb up steps and

banks we arrived at the

entrance of the Castle to be

a little disappointed that they

had painted and rendered it all white so it

didn’t quite look the way we were all

expecting.

Ice creams were the call of the day, after

all getting what we wanted we all decided

after coming all this way, a tour was

definitely the way to go so purchased our

tickets and found out the time of the next

tour and then all visited the museum which

was very interesting. We were called

together a little earlier than first told which

was good and the poor lady tour guide was

confronted with Jim - pants down in his

boxers cooling his bits in the archway where

the cool breeze was blowing so she soon

realised what kind of crowd she was dealing

with. It was a very good tour giving us all a

lot of information we didn’t know and a lot of

funny stories about attempted escapes etc.

also demonstrated the difficult times too,

showing us a tunnel that took 9 months to

make and was only a short way of being

finished when it was discovered.

The tour ended and we made our way

back to the town for refreshments,

sandwiches, cakes coffees etc., Poor

Lindsay was ill with a

migraine and needed to get

back to the hotel and we

were supposed to be

meeting George for a meal.

So Graeme and I, Lindsay

and Paul, Ian, Tim and

Ritchie set off the and rest

decided to stay and have a

meal in Colditz village. John

was confident him and his

sat nav could get them back to the hotel.

At the petrol stop Lindsay was still very

poorly so Paul wanted to take it slowly and

also had sat nav to find his way back. Tim

was staying with him and that’s were things

went wrong, to put it mildly.

Graeme myself and Ian set off back for

the hotel thinking Ritchie was staying with

Paul and Tim but no he had set off after us

and when we left the motorway to change to

another, no-one marked the turn and he

went on ahead.

We knew nothing of this until after a very

quick shower and change and a quick call to

George we were sitting in the restaurant

when a telephone call came through from

Ritchie to say he was lost!

The problem was he didn’t know where

he was, so Graeme told him to find out

where he was and call back. A call to Paul

to watch out for Ritchie was also made.

To cut a long story short, Ritchie was

sent up and down the same motorway by

numerous nice? people. With

Paul chasing around the

countryside trying to find him.

Eventually Paul found John

etc. who then called Ritchie

again to be told he was in a

motorway services and after

getting the post code and

putting it in the sat nav, all was

sorted. Yet again the sat nav

came good, and he was found.

However, it was 12.45 in

morning before they all arrived

back at the hotel, and all in all Paul

managed to do 500 miles or thereabouts in

one day!


72 SUMMER 2009

Wednesday 27th May

A quiet day was obviously in order after

yesterday so after breakfast it was decided

to have a walk into town and have a trip on

the cable car. Tickets were kindly given to

us free of charge by the Hotel.

Couple of us girls had to buy flat shoes,

any excuse I know but they were necessary

for the walk!

The trip up the cable car was very good

and there we were around the obelisk

shouting to each other “you can see our

house from up here”!

A few of us decided to have a run out on

the bikes in the afternoon and the rest

decided to have a quiet day around town.

So off we went 5 bikes to have a run in

the mountains, we visited two of the local

dams and while at the second Graeme went

off to ask a local paramedics team if Paul

who works for the ambulance service in the

UK could look at the ambulance, so there

are a crowd of bikers looking into an

ambulance and Paul was having a lovely

time!. Busman’s holiday or what?

Off we went again on our travels and

stopped at the picturesque town Goslar so

typically German it was a delight

Thursday 28th May

After breakfast we set off for Belsen

Bergen and on the way stopped off at

another lovely town Celle most of the bikes

got parked in the street in allocated bays but

three or four parked on the street opposite,

a man came out of the casino and informed

us by of course the normal sign language

that it was not a good idea to park there and

there could be a fine, so back on the bikes

and moved to safer parking.

We arrived at Belsen Bergen where

there is a very large area which was of

course the concentration camp but there is

also a very large exhibition/museum which

was so very informative and at times a little

distressing. Obviously the sight of all the

mass graves giving the quantity of bodies

buried in them was also very distressing but

a reality of the bad times of 1939-45.

We left Belsen feeling very humble and

thoughtful and a stop at Celle for

lunch/afternoon tea brightened us up once

again.

Friday 29th May

Because we would be having a long

journey back to the ferry it was decided that

a reasonably quiet day was in order.

So off we set to visit Mittlebau Dora

where the V2 rocket was developed and of

course another concentration camp. On the

way a few nice roads were used giving all

the lads the chance to enjoy their bikes on

the way.

Upon turning one bend we found a

police officer in the road telling us to pull into

a car park, obviously we all parked up. We

got off our bikes and they were surprised to

find twelve British bikes facing them, they

were pulling in bikes to have a chat about

safety etc and were happy to tell us we

hadn’t been speeding (phew!!) and were of

course we were all wearing the correct gear.

After a couple of photos with a couple of

the officers we were on our way again.


SUMMER 2009 73

Unless you did research as Graeme

obviously had you would never find

Mittelbau Dora, tucked away at the back of

the town. Another interesting and very

distressing place to visit but it should never

be forgotten what happened to these people

and the sacrifices that were made for us to

be living in the way we are used to today.

Another trip through the National Park at

the way home to enjoy the local roads but

after being warned by the owners of the

hotel we stuck very rigidly to the speed

limits. We even got stopped by the old

“East” German police and what for? For

riding so well and to compliment the fact we

were all riding with the correct kit on!! (see

photo).

We did of course still enjoy the roads

and the fantastic scenery stopping off on the

way for a coffee stop – these are essential

to catch up with everyone and make sure all

are enjoying themselves.

Saturday 30th May

After having an early breakfast which the

hotel kindly arranged for us and all packed

up we set of for the journey back to the

Ferry port. We arrived at the ferry port in

plenty of time and booked in with no

problems.

Sunday saw another lovely day to finish

off our journey a good time had by all.

Joyce WearnHOC Northumbria


76 SUMMER 2009

Hi All, we have had some eventful

months of late.

On Wednesday 4th March we had a

presentation by Mark Talbot from WNAA

(Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air

Ambulance). A packed bar enjoyed a very

interesting and informative evening and we

learnt that despite costing

over £2,000,000 a year to

run, the WNAA receive no

Lottery or Government

funding. We, as a branch,

have raised just under

£26,000 which in theory

means we have saved six

lives. Incidentally the majority

of all call outs are not Road

Traffic Accidents but Horse

Riders!

The following week we

had another guest in the

guise of John Measures who

treated us to a very

interesting and thought

provoking evening.

Our AGM was held on Wednesday April

8th, and the Committee remains the same

with Stritchy as Chairman, Sue Beck (me)

as Secretary and John Childs as Treasurer.

The following week saw the 1st EOR of

the year led by Stritchy and ending up as

usual at Stibbington Diner. Twenty three

bikes including three new comers enjoyed a

gentle bimble about before consuming a not

very healthy but delicious Mega Breakfast.

One of our new members Andrew coped

really well on his CBF125 considering he

had only been passed his CBT 2 weeks

earlier.

Our 2nd EOR on 29th April led by Dan

was a mixture of small twisty country roads

and a few slightly bigger faster roads,

finishing this time in Spratton. Again twenty

three bikes, thirty one people and this time

five new comers.

On Saturday May 9th, a bright but

slightly windy day saw a few of us enjoy a

ride to the Heart of England Bike Show at

Gaydon for quite an enjoyable day.

On Wednesday 13th May the 3rd EOR

led by Shaz was

attended by twenty one

bikes and two new

comers. On the 27th

May John led the next

EOR, despite the

weather being

somewhat dodgy ten

bikes enjoyed the ride

out.

Now something

special happened on

May 30th.....STRITCHY

and RUTH GOT

MARRIED. What a

fantastic day, the

weather was perfect and

Ruth looked gorgeous,

Stritchy scrubbed up pretty well too.

We still have plenty in the diary for the

coming months including the HOC Roast on

Sunday 26th July. Have a look in the diary

pages or on the website for more details.

On a downside, we have had 2 bike

thefts within the branch this year. Scott had

his Blackbird stolen from outside his house,

and it is still not recovered, and Jason had

his CBR1000 also stolen from outside his

house, he has been lucky enough to have it

returned with only minimal damage.

Here's hoping for a fantastic summer of

riding, especially if this good weather holds

out

Ride Safe

Sue

NORTHANTS & M.KSecretary: Sue Beck - 07863 599992


SUMMER 2009 77

We are a very fortunate group here in

North London as we continue to get new

members turning up each week for our

meetings at the King’s Oak.

This is very heartening for us and

inspires the whole group. We have a very

diverse mix of members and everyone that

joins is given a warm welcome and follow up

later with e-mails and information about

events that may be coming up (we are not

too formal here in the forest).

After our special night when

we went to the famous Romford

Dog track our next main event

on bikes was our trip to France

codenamed “The Ride of the

Few” when about 20 of us

invaded the Gallic Roads and

headed off for a slap-up lunch

at Le Touquet (or Le toupee as

one of our follicly challenged

members insisted on calling it).

Despite having had

turbulent weather the few days

before we travelled we had a

damp start to our meeting point

on the M25 at Brentwood but it

quickly dired out and we

enjoyed good weather all day.

That is until we arrived a bit early at the

docks in Calais for our return journey.

If I say that the heavens opened up and

it poured all its wrath onto us – you get a

picture of what it was like. Not “Die Hard”

but certainly “Weather With a Vengence”. If

the ship would have been there it wouldn’t

have been as much of a problem as it turned

out to be - but we were in the rain for about

30 minutes and had to get all the wet

weather gear out and tog up.

The crossing home was, as a result of

the bad weather, a little rough, but we

returned to Dover and dry weather quite

safely. Yours truly had an idea we were

going to see more bad weather and spent

the usual 15 minutes longer than anyone

else togging up again just in case we hit it on

the way home (about 2 hours from Dover to

the Forest). Sure enough the deluge

returned about 40 minutes from the Dartford

Tunnel and it didn’t just rain but snowed and

sleeted as well. We all made it home safely

– let’s just say some a little drier than others.

Well, what do you expect in March?

The 14th of April saw a dozen or so of us

turn up at the Annual Southend (on Sea)

Shakedown which is actually a mass ride to

the seaside from the Ace Café in North

London (see below).

We were too smart to go half an hour in

the opposite direction to the start of course

as S-o-S is 35 minutes up the road from our

little house in the forest - but we did all meet

up near “The longest pier in the world”.

Loads of great and strange looking bikes to

oggle at – bit like some of the people there!

cont....

Contact, John Saffer 020 8505 3664 NORTH LONDON

Southend Shakedown


78 SUMMER 2009

On the 19th of April twelve of us plus two

from Kent Branch (who we obligingly

allowed in) had an exclusive BikeSafe

session with the boys in Blue from North

London group at the Ace Café. A good time

was had by all except one whose bike failed

to start in the parking lot just before the

assessed rides took place. A bit

disappointing for the individual concerned

but he’s able to do it again later.

The only

downside to the

day was that it

coincided with

another event at

the Ace; so space

there was limited

and, as a result the

group had to

change classroom /

chat location to one of the local nicks - which

was not as congenial as the café. Anyhow –

circumstances beyond anyone’s control

really. Everyone had a good time though –

maybe a tip for next time is to have it in an

area that’s more suburban.

One of our group, Mike Barrat was also

busy on the 19th April, when he was asked

to be lead biker in a the Stratford (London)

10K Classicroad race promoted by

Olympian Tessa Sanderson because the

Police were unable to attend. She needed

an advanced rider for the event. This race is

planned every year in the build up to the

Olympics.in 2012. Mike’s not used to riding

his CBR 1100 at 16mph so it was a big event

for him too!

We had a presence (Graham actually)

on the 26th of April for the Bikers in

Paradise (Wildlife) Show organized ) by

Herts Bikers near Hoddesdon. This was a

good opportunity to draw in some new

members at this event.

Towards the end of April we had a quiz

night organised by Tony Q which raised a

significant amount of money for charity.

Thanks for that Tony!

The event was treated non-too seriously

by everyone except our Group’s

Headmaster (see website for details of who

that is). Keith’s partner Mary again provided

food which went down very well – thanks

Mary.

Thanks also to the internet for helping

the winning team secure a good victory over

the general memory retention of the rest of

the group! I’m sure no one noticed…..

Ace Cafe

Ace Cafe

Aryeh at Ace Cafe

Graham at the

Wildlife Park


SUMMER 2009 79

The event of the year for four of our guys

at the NLHOC was to make an epic trip from

London down to Lands End to start their End

To End Run up to John O’Groats (E-2-E or

LE/JOG) covering a route of 1,000 miles

which they aimed to complete in under 24

hours and so qualify for membership and

accreditation by the famous Iron Butt

Association of America. This had to be done

without exceeding speed limits and was

made doubly difficult because of excessive

road works for most of the journey requiring

extremely long periods of filtering on

Motorways choked with road works.

The four who earned our respect by

completing this journey just before this

edition went to press and doing it within the

time limit were: Steve Saffer, Russ

Ruttledge, Roland Murphy and Mike

Dignum. Between them they raised very

significant sums of money in aid of the

charity SERV (The Blood Runners) who

came to give us a talk a few months ago

about their work providi9ng blood from

bloodbanks to hospitals out of hours when

the ambulance and usual medical services

clock off. The only alternative is for very

costly taxi services to carry the blood hitting

the NHS very hard. Very well done to these

guys.

As it happens we had a surprise when

Russ who came up with the idea of the

LE/JOG told us just, before the ride, that he

was actually leaving these shores soon to

go and live back in the States.

Russ was in our “Band of Merrie Men”

for about 3 years and was a very

experienced long distance rider having been

a Harley man and Chapter Ride Planner in

America for a long time. However, he loved

his Honda Deauville and found it ideal for

English and European roads. Read about

his exploits in our Branch report of last

Summer 2008. Good Luck mate and we

hope you appreciate what you’re missing

over here when you take up residence in

Las Vegas. It’ll be very dull

after North London I can tell

you ! Russ’s home address

and contact details will be

available from me at a

price….

A small number of us (Phil, Jim, Keith &

branch sec.) took a trip the day before the

Bank Holiday (hottest day of the year) to

Aldeburgh on the East Coast in Suffolk – a

ride suggested by Rob.

cont....

The End of the Road

Lands End


80 SUMMER 2009

We had a good lunch at Wally’s Shed in

Acton, Nr. Long Melford, Suffolk then on

towards Ipswich and through to the coast.

The roast lunch with drinks and pudding at

under £5 had the branch sec. feeling a little

sleepy just as we got to Wikham market

before our destination and he just had to

stop and grab some shut-eye.

With due regard for parking in permitted

places he was asleep instantly. Just around

the corner from this stop point was a lovely

little pub with beautiful lawns and chairs

outside…. ah well that’s the way things go –

how were we to know?

Just under 300 miles that day and great

fun – particularly when we pulled up at the

seaside next to a neat line of Harley’s that

were grabbing the tourist’s attention. We

obviously upset their party because 20

minutes later they decided to push off – our

real-life bikes were too much for them

obviously.

Our next few events are: attendance on

20/21 June at the National BikeSafe Day at

Hendon Police Training College followed by

our SECOND French Trip 28th June - 17

bikes and a few pillions are booked for this

invasion via Eurotunnel.

Eight bikes are booked for The

ACU National Rally on the 4th July

followed immediately (on the

Sunday) by a display of some the

NLHOC bikes at Haven House,

Woodford Green, Essex (a local

Children’s Hospice in need of

funds) for the kids to see and sit on

the bikes.

The HOC Roast will be with the

Bedfordshire Group up at The

Chequers Pub,Streatley at the end of July.

Further rides etc., have to be arranged

but with individual holidays coming up

August will probably be a bit quieter with

more impromptu rides taking place... This

will give us time to think about our next

events.

I urge all the members who are on our e-

mail circulation list to keep in touch with the

regular attendees up at the King’s Oak in

High Beach, Loughton, every Thursday

evening from 8pm. We get good numbers

along each week and if you want someone

to join you for a ride-out you stand a much

better chance by coming along and

mentioning it to the group. We know some

good roads and are always open to new

routes.

Keep up to date with all our exploits on

our Award Winning website at

www.nlhoc.org.uk. “What New Website”

said of our site “The NLHOC website is the

best North London Honda website this side

of North London. It beats South London into

a cocked hat and should be top of your

Christmas Wish List” how’s that for a

recommendation ?

Have a KOOL summer everyone

JohnEast Coast Ride

John asleep


SUMMER 2009 81

THE BOY DID WELL

Reading this headline, you would all

make your own assumption as to whom it

refers.

Rossi must be in contention as the most

outstandingly successful rider of the

decade. Even though Rossi is now

encountering tough competition, his

success, skill and courage are indisputable.

There are however, other contenders for

this accolade. Like his self assured attitude

or not, Lorenzo is doing exceeding well as

one of the new comers in the GP and when

you look at the courage of riders such as

Pedrosa and Stoner, riding well before the

doctor’s all clear from their injuries you can

equally state that ‘the boys did well’ even if

a little fool hardy. Again staying with the GP

riders, look at Dovizioso his ‘never give up’

attitude, and Milandri on the well

acknowledged below par Kawasaki. Nor

must we overlook the grit and determination

of riders such as Capirossi and Edwards.

Possibly coming to the end of their riding

careers, they still fight for every position.

To really get a feel of the grit,

determination and bravery of all the riders,

everyone should take the opportunity of

attending at least one live Moto GP race in

person, not only for the amazing

atmosphere but also to appreciate the sheer

speed of the bikes. Watching them side on

it is almost impossible to see which rider is

which as they zoom by at amazing speeds,

seemingly to hardly slow down for the bends

and chicanes.

‘The boys did well’ could also apply to

the 125 category and our own Bradley

Smith. Calculated, calm smooth riding has

resulted in the podiums he so justly

deserves and it is great to see this popular

young man standing with such pride singing

the National Anthem. Alongside the other

young Brits, Webb and Reading, they are

seemingly fearless in making a name for

themselves on the GP circuit.

WSB and BSB also have their valiant

achievers and we can again name those

who have ‘gone the extra mile’ in their

efforts and who would well qualify for this

title. Spies coming over from the States and

taking the WSB by storm with his calm and

measured approach, dogged by the

determined and gritty Haga who’s quest for

the title has kerbed his wild and flamboyant

style of riding …. just a little!

In amongst the rough and tumble of the

BSB there are some great characters and

riders who have overcome much adversity

to maintain their riding career. Stuart Easton

and Chris Walker immediately spring to

mind as we recall their expressions of

ecstatic delight when they make the

podium.

So come on, who would be your

nominee in this current season for the title of

‘the boy did well’ – would it even be in the

major racing or would it be someone from

Superstock or Supersport?

The Stiggette


82 SUMMER 2009

Where do I start? Hardly had time to

breath! Firstly I should officially welcome all

the new members who have joined the

Branch and who come along to our

meetings and ride out’s. It’s great to see so

many alongside our stalwart, hard working

regulars.

We have had lots of fun times – see

separate article on the trip to The Biker’s

Loft in Belgium, and another fantastic test

ride day at our local dealer Abingdon

Honda, trying out all their demo bikes.

Seeing the weather forecast we were

slightly worried that we were going to get

drenched but no, a nice day ensued and the

rain held off.

Our first ride out, lead by Pete, was to

Jack’s café. Some 19 bikes from Oxford

met up with the guys from the Bedford

Branch and we had an excellent get

together and some good value food at the

café. We then joined up with Reading and

West London and went to Box Hill on a

lovely sunny day, which meant

that there was a great variety of

bikes to view when we arrived.

Oxford and Wiltshire Branch

members enjoyed another

excellent ride to Lulworth Cove

and Tyneham Village lead by

Don, when again we had good

weather (is this the weather

trend for the year? Yes

please!). Even on the second

Bank Holiday weekend when

thunder was forecast for the

Monday, Terry lead us down to

Cheddar on some lovely roads

and the rain and storms held

off until well after we arrived

home.

We have had very

interesting presentations at our

well attended meetings. One of our

members, Les, went on the fund raising

Enduro Africa expedition and spent part of

the journey in the company of the two young

Princes, Harry and William. Les gave a very

interesting talk and slide show, telling us of

his plans to do a similar adventure in Brazil!

We have also enjoyed a presentation from

SERV (the local blood runner bikers). Pete

our ride out co ordinator is already an ‘on

call’ rider for them.

Secretary: Erica Gassor - 07799 49 2235

OXFORD


April saw another well attended and

keenly contested quiz night which tested our

knowledge to the limits! Good job we have

some meetings where we can just all sit

around, chill and chat otherwise we would

be worn out!

Arrangements for Rob’s

Charity Run and our Oxford

Rally are coming along very

nicely with lots of fun and

laughter planned, and hopefully

good weather! We also have an

inter branch skittle match, an

Aunt Sally with Wiltshire and

other joint ride outs on the

agenda over the next few

months.

So with the Summer sun

shining, we at Oxford are

looking forward to having a

great time out on our bikes and

seeing lots of folk from the other

areas.

Erica


84 SUMMER 2009

The Reading Branch

has been very busy during

the spring of 2009, with

substantial changes to the

management committee,

and many ride outs and

social events taking place.

The new management

committee consists of;

Chairman, Justin “Taz”

Bellhouse; Secretary, Chris

Ward; Ride Out Co-

ordinator, Bryan Moody,

with Marion Ward retaining

her role as Branch Treasurer. The branch

membership has also increased significantly

over the last three months with 28

attendees’ at the most recent meeting.

On the 25th of March we were visited by

Ian “JJ” Jarvis of the British Legion Riders

Branch. JJ gave us a very informative and

interesting talk on the activities of the British

Legion and how the Riders Branch came

into being and has grown. The proceeds of

our branch raffle were donated, which

together with a collection made on the night,

raised £64.00 for The British Legion.

An Inter Branch Ride Out was organised

for the 29th of March with Wiltshire, Oxford

and West London joining us at the meeting

point, the services on the A33 south of

Reading. The plan was to ride to the

Newlands Corner and Box Hill bike meets in

Surrey. The ride started badly by trying to

exit the services through the car wash, an

omen of things to come. There was some

confusion with the drop off system and the

ride became separated in Farnham town

centre.

Some of the group made it to the first

stop at Newlands Corner while the majority

headed straight for Box Hill.

We all ended up at Box Hill in the end by

various routes including passing through

Hampton Court and Aldershot which are

miles apart. It was a shame as some of the

best parts of the ride were omitted, but in

typical HOC fashion, we all had a good

laugh about it. And of course there’s always

next time.

Our EGM to elect new committee

members took place on the 8th of April and

was followed by an Easter themed quiz

prepared superbly by Bryan and Colleen.

The quiz was won by Bob, Jayne and Andy

who naturally had to accept the challenge of

organising the next one.

The Easter weekend was busy for

Reading Branch, with us attending two

events at Reading Abbey Rugby Club.

The annual Egg Run took place on Good

Friday. I met up with Steve, Maureen, John,

Jude and Michael from West London

Branch and we rode over to Bracknell,

where Reading members Taz and Andy

were waiting for us. We then rode to the run

starting point in Reading where Dave and Di

joined us. Although the weather wasn’t

brilliant there was a good turnout of around

250 bikes bearing Easter Eggs for

distribution. We rode through Reading in a

large convoy having right of way at all

junctions, much to the annoyance of some

other road users.

READINGSecretary -Chris Ward 07899 967327

Group gathering at Box Hill


SUMMER 2009 85

At the rugby club two Gladiators from the

TV show were on hand to sign autographs

and keep the crowd amused. Over 3500

eggs were collected this year from trade and

individual donations.

The Reading MAG Bike Show was held

on Easter Sunday also at the rugby club.

Bob, Jayne, Marion and I went over on the

Saturday afternoon to set up the HOC

Stand. After we erected the gazebo we

pitched our tents inside it and headed to the

bar for a good evening. We woke on Easter

Sunday to find it a little damp, which

unfortunately would limit the number of

visitors to the show, however after breakfast

we set up the regalia and waited for the

rush. We were pleasantly surprised by the

interest in the HOC stand and lots of visitors

requested information. We have since had

a few new members join the branch from the

show. We also sold £70.00 worth of regalia

which I felt was quite a bonus. There were

a lot of varied trade stands at the show and

also a bike competition which attracted

some nice bikes of all

ages. During the day

the weather did improve

and we were joined by

Bryan, Roger and Krys.

We were made most

welcome by the

Reading MAG

members and are

looking forward to

attending the next show

in August to which we

have been invited.

Saturday 18th of April saw a bowling

evening take place with Wiltshire Branch at

the Lakeside Super Bowl in Thatcham. Bob,

Jayne, Ian, Angie, Colleen, her daughter

Jennifer, Marion and I represented Reading.

We had two games of individual bowling

with food and drinks as well. We had a

really good evening with the Wiltshire

members and have promised to make this

an annual event in future.

The next day saw another inter branch

ride out take place, this time organised

superbly by Wiltshire with members from

Oxford and Reading taking part. The

meeting point, Countess Services on the

A303 at Amesbury, was 82 miles from my

home and I made it there with five minutes

to spare, which was a bit to close for

comfort. Also on the ride from Reading

were Roger and Krys, Bob and Jayne, and

Dave and Di. After leaving Amesbury the 23

bikes headed south to our first stop at

Compton Abbas Airfield near Shaftesbury

for a tea, coffee and comfort break. We then

rode some beautiful roads through the

Dorset countryside to our next stop at

Lulworth Cove where of course fish and was

the order of the day. There was quite a

queue at the shop but the freshly cooked

fish was worth the wait. It was quite warm

and the refreshing sea air was welcomed as

we all strolled down to the beach. Soon we

were on the road again and heading for our

next stop at Tyneham Village. This village

was deserted around WWII and has not

been re-inhabited since; a fascinating place.

After our stop at Tyneham it was back on the

bikes and off to our

final stop at

Salisbury for a

drink. I didn’t get

home until about 8

o’clock having

covered 290 miles

and was thoroughly

tired out but it was

a great day and

thanks must go to

Wiltshire for their

great organisation.

Gladiators signing autographs

HOC Stand at the Reading MAG Bike Show


86 SUMMER 2009

At the branch meeting on the 22nd of

April we were treated to a very interesting

and entertaining talk on Gliding by Mick

Wells. If you thought that gliders were just

towed up to altitude and then floated

gracefully back to earth how wrong you

would be. Gliders can travel hundreds of

miles after launch and then turn around and

come back, absolutely amazing! We hope

to arrange a gliding evening with Mick at

Lasham airfield in the near future.

On the 13th of May we held our first BBQ

at The Swan and were joined by Michael,

John and Jude from West London. Jo Read

from Sue Ryder Care also joined us and

gave us an update of events at the

Nettlebed Hospice. The food provided by

our host Jenny was awesome and was too

much for some but not others. We had a

really good turn out for this meeting and

everybody enjoyed themselves. Our raffle

made a profit of £47.00 which was donated

to Sue Ryder Care who have now been

officially adopted as our branch charity.

The Honda Day at the Ace Café took

place on the 24th of May and Marion and I

along with Steve and Maureen Hill of West

London and Graham Gull of North London

represented the HOC. As soon as the HOC

gazebo had been erected and the stand

completed, Marion and I joined Maureen in

the café for a hearty breakfast. The

breakfasts at the Ace are to be

recommended and are reasonable value for

money. Quite a bit of interest was shown in

the HOC stand and four new members were

signed up on the day. Many more prospects

took away information on the club and

hopefully they will be seen at a branch

meeting soon. A ride to the Ace was

organised by Bob and left The Swan bound

for George White Motorcycles in Slough.

There, more riders joined the group for the

final leg into London. Reading branch was

well represented at the Ace with 17

members present and was responsible for

many of the HOC tee shirts that were to be

seen at the event. The day also featured the

London Monkey Run and a total of 47

Monkey Bikes from all over the country

attended. There were also some very nice

Hondas on display including many classics

and one very special piece off Honda

history, an NR750. The General Manger of

Honda (UK) Motorcycles, Steve Martindale

was also present at the event and visited the

HOC stand. The Ace Café was also the

destination of the Bedfordshire Rally

Sunday ride out and we welcomed the

participants and stored their helmets and

clothing in

the gazebo

whilst they

l o o k e d

around. The

weather was

superb and

there were

some very

red body

parts by the

end of the

day.

Bob, Krys and Roger at Compton Abbas

Branch BBQ HOC at the Ace Café


SUMMER 2009 87

On the 27th of May we had a quiz night

organised by Bob and Jayne. The quiz was

won by Bryan, Colleen,

Ian and Angie with a little

help from Jenny the

landlady. This meeting

also featured the highest

attendance of any

Reading Branch meeting

with a total of 29 visitors

which included 8 new

members.

Saturday the 30th of

May was our eagerly

awaited test ride day with

our local dealer, Reading

Honda. Many bikes

were available to test

during the day including;

CBR1000RR, CBR600RR, CBF1000,

CB1000R, VFR800F,

Varadero, Deauville,

CB1300S, Transalp and

Silverwing. Mark Clargo

from Oxford led the rides

which took us from

Reading down to the A30

at Hartley Wintney, along

to Hook and then back to

Reading taking in some

nice twisties. The rides

were great fun,

especially towards the

end of the day.

Everybody who rode the

Fireblade arrived back with an

inane grin and I think all agreed

that the CB1000R was a real

hooligan bike and provided a lot of

fun. Colleen and Erica supplied

refreshments which were much

appreciated during the very warm

day. We also signed up two new

members for the branch and a

number of others took away

information. Thanks to Reading

Honda for the loan of the bikes,

Mark Clargo for leading the rides,

Erica and Colleen for the lovely cakes and

welcoming cold drinks and Bryan for putting

the day together.

The Reading Branch looks forward to

making more friends over the next few

months and watch out for us at the National

Rally in September.

Until then ride safely.

Chris

HOC at the Ace Café

The Amazing Honda NR750

Ready For Testing


88 SUMMER 2009

So far, this year, South Wales Branch

has had a busy and enjoyable schedule.

Gareth and I attended the management

meeting at Leicester once again. It was nice

to see people you don’t often have a chance

to catch up with and get the latest on HOC

news. It really makes you feel part of the

National Club.

However, as we were in Leicester, we

missed a very successful rideout with the

branch to Llyn Briane (or Lake Biriani as

Mick calls it), a very beautiful lake in mid

Wales. There was a good turnout and the

weather stayed fine. Several members

emailed to say how pleased they were with

the way Terry and Alun organised the day.

On 1st May, a group of us went to

Paignton for the Bike Festival. We booked a

few rooms at a very nice hotel and had a

really good two days. The weather was fab

and a good time was had by all. A highlight

of the day was the arrival of the Air

Ambulance to collect a cheque.

One of our social evenings was held at

our new meeting place. We went there for a

meal to suss it out. We had a very nice meal

and the staff at the pub were very helpful.

Although everyone is very friendly, it can get

a bit too noisy there to hold a meeting, so we

might have to reconsider. I’ll keep you

posted.

On 10th May, we went to a race meeting

at Pembrey. Once again, the sun shone for

all it was worth and we had a really good

day. We had a picnic and thoroughly

enjoyed the racing. Surprisingly, it was the

125s that were the most exciting to watch.

On Sunday 24th May, Gareth and I went

up to the Ace Café for the Honda Day. North

London Branch were manning the HOC stall

and it was nice to catch up with them. There

were bikes back and forth all day. There was

a really good turnout; probably because of

the fantastic weather. There were lots of

monkey bikes there, which seemed like a lot

of fun. The others in the branch went on a

rideout that day, too; taking in Mid Wales

and ending up in Porthcawl for fish and

chips. Lovely!

SOUTH WALESSecretary: Donna Richards - 01639 766406


SUMMER 2009 89

I am writing this having just returned

from our annual weekend away in North

Wales. We couldn’t believe our luck with the

weather. It has been wall to wall sunshine

for the full weekend. Something really

strange happened on the way there on

Friday. Gareth was leading and I was on the

back. Suddenly, as we were gliding through

the beautiful Brecon Beacons, Gareth

announced that he could see a wallet

resting on the boot of the Merc in front of us.

He started trying to signal to the driver,

indicating for him to pull over. However,

being a car driver, and totally prejudiced

against bikers, he decided to pull away and

dangerously overtake the car in front of him.

He must have thought that Gareth wanted

him to pull over so that we could pass.

Anyway, as he accelerated, the wallet flew

off the boot and emptied its contents all over

the road. Credit cards and money were

blowing all over the place. Some of our

bikes stopped to pick it up, (not for

themselves, you understand, but so that it

could be returned.) We chased after the

“Burke in a Merc” to tell him, but of course,

he just drove faster. Eventually, we

managed to draw level and I waved my

wallet at him. He got the message. We

managed to return it, and I think he really did

feel like a burke, then.

After that, things settled down a bit. We

had a lovely rideout on Saturday, around

Lake Bala and around Lake Vyrnwy, (as

seen on Springwatch). It was great. In

Wales, we have certainly got the best biking

roads in the world. We also visited Pistyll

Rhaedar, (Rhaedar Waterfall), which was

amazing. I’ve included a photo of some of us

walking up to the waterfall.

Of course, no trip to North Wales would

be complete with a ride around Bwlch yr

Oernant, (for those not familiar with the

Welsh language, that’s Horseshoe Pass).

Gareth and I rode ahead (and cut them off at

the pass), no really, Gareth took a photo of

the others as they made their way down.

Attached.

All this excitement and it’s only the last

day of May. We’ve still got our Summer

Holiday in Austria to look forward to, a mini

rally we have yet to organise, manning the

HOC stall at Llangollen Bike Show and, of

course, the Christmas Party to plan. I

haven’t got time to go to work. We need to

win the lottery!

Anyway, let’s hope the rest of the

Summer is as good, weatherwise as the

start has been.

Have a good one!

Donna

Do you provide products or services for bikers?

Have you thought about anadvert in Golden Wing?

For details of all advertisingoptions and costs, please

contact

Erica Gassor [email protected]


I was going to say “Hi” to everyone from

sunny Solent, but on reading the other

reports in this issue, it would appear that the

sun has put in an appearance right across

the country. Let’s hope it stays like it.

Solent branch have been up to our usual

tricks, with our midweek Wednesday night

runs and our first Sunday monthly runs. The

destination for these is always “somewhere

nice” depending on the weather, the

numbers who turn up and the consensus of

the group as a whole. The only exception to

this is when the event is a pre-planned

national event such as the HOC Roast.

One of our major highlights of the year

has been our New Forest Rally, which was

again a great success. Apart from a couple

of “sharp” showers, and some rain

overnight, the sun was out for most of the

weekend.

Those of you who are regulars know that

each year we tend to end up having to

negotiate our way through a number of

“issues” to enable the rally to run in the way

we wish. This came to a head in 2008, when

the stress and upset resulted in poor

Barbara not being able to enjoy the rally as

much as she would otherwise have done.

For this year, I tried to pre-empt any

problems by discussing with the powers that

be at Forest Holidays exactly how we could

achieve both our objectives and theirs. The

management of Forest Holidays were very

helpful, and on arrival, it appeared that this

had filtered down to the wardens who were

very amicable this year. There remained the

issue of the size of our marquee, and the

fact that we use a horse box to transport all

the kit, both of which would appear to

contravene the rules of the Verderers

(commoners with historic forest rights).

However, on the assurance that I would

accept personal responsibility for the

marquee if hauled before the Verderers

Court, all was settled. Or at least we thought

it was, until we met the site Health & Safety

Officer.

The Health & Safety Officer (I have

capitalised his title, as his status demands

it) had a uniform, and a vehicle, and I am

sure the vehicle contained a hat! Like Nanny

Ogg, the single toothed witch from the

novels of Terry Pratchett, he awaited our

arrival with clipboard at the ready.

Having informed us exactly where he

wanted us to pitch the marquee, and having

demanded that we complete a risk

assessment for its erection (complete with

full details of how pregnant women and

disabled persons were to be protected

during the task), he left us to get on with it

for a while. He returned a little later to check

we had the necessary fire extinguishers,

and reminded us how important it was to

ensure access to the fire engines that we

would undoubtedly be calling upon within

hours.

90 SUMMER 2009

Perhaps you have been onan adventure,

or taken part in something alittle different.

How about telling us abouthow it went?

We love to get articles frommembers, especially with

photos.

Please send to:[email protected]

SOLENTSecretary -Tim Lee 023 8025 2113


SUMMER 2009 91

On the Friday I had to leave the site to

fetch my bike, and returned to a very cross

and unhappy Barbara. Evidently, at the sight

of our meat delivery, our mono-toothed

tormentor had sped down the field in his

vehicle to announce to all and sundry that

there was no way we were going to able to

do anything as dangerous as cooking in the

marquee. With an Arne-esque cry of “I’ll be

back”, he sped off to consult his “bosses”.

At this point I must offer my sincere

apologies to both John Measures and

branch stalwart Tom Anderson. John is a

very accomplished solicitor, and Tom is

actually a health and safety officer for a

large regional newspaper. Unfortunately,

rather than greeting them with a cheery

“Hello, I hope you had a good journey” I

think my greeting was more along the lines

of “Thank goodness you’re here, I need your

help!” It had been a bad week for other

reasons, and I am sorry to both; I am sure

they will forgive me.

As it happened, not another word was

heard all weekend from Mr Health and

Safety, and we can only assume his

“bosses” cooled his heels. He did resort to

taking photos at a distance, and I know that

several members were keen to ask whether

he had obtained permission from the

parents of the children who were inevitably

included, but by that time the medicinal

effects of Hob Goblin precluded and further

action.

I suppose it wouldn’t be as bad if he had

somehow had an issue with motorcyclists,

but it would appear all were suffering. We

heard rumours of him publically

admonishing one camper who was helping

his son cast his fishing rod into the pond.

Fishing is restricted to under 14’s, and so

parents are not allowed to physically assist

their children without being guilty of a rule

breech; I suspect his remaining tooth will not

last the summer!

The upshot is that we will almost

certainly be looking for an alternative site for

next year. Wherever we go, the format will

remain the same but it will hopefully be a

little more relaxed for some of us.

On that note it is time to say cheerio and

hope to see some of you at the National or

before.

Tim

Take care Sam! Cows weren’t included in the risk assessment!


Hi Folks,

We’ve had a storming start to the biking

season with two more new members, Alan

and John, so welcome guys, and three of

the best ride outs so far.

First there was Barmouth on the 15th

March. We had a gorgeous day for it, the

sun was shining, it was warm enough for

leathers and three bikes turned up for the

jaunt. So off we trot down into Wales. First

stop was Rhug, an organic farm café on the

A5, which does the best food and hot

choccie; not cheap, but well worth it if you’re

ever up this way.

Brekkies and brew were had all

round. After we were suitably fuelled

up, we carried on our merry way and

found a few gorgeous roads that we’d never

been on before, including a lovely coast

road just underneath Barmouth. We got to

Barmouth and one of our guys had gone

there to meet us, so we had a catch up with

him as well as lunch in a fab café on the sea

front. We got stuck in some serious traffic

coming home

and spent

over 15 miles

filtering and

riding on the

wrong side of

the road LOL,

but hey we

got home

safe and

sound eventually.

Then it was onto our re-

scheduled run to Ashbourne,

known as the birth place of

Gingerbread men, hence the

name of the run. We had six

bikes and seven people on this

one, much more like it. We

should’ve had seven bikes, but

Colin’s CB1000 decided to

have brake trouble on the way

to the meeting point, so he went

home after waving us off.

92 SUMMER 2009

WEST COAST RIDERSSecretary: Phil Bell - 07900 507187


SUMMER 2009 93

Again another stunning

day weather wise and lots of

very nice roads, unfortunately

now being ruined by new 50

mph speed limits on them, but

gorgeous scenery and roads

none the less.

When we reached

Ashbourne we went to a

chippie for lunch, with some of

the guys having the biggest

sausages you have ever seen!

Then it was time to head home,

and Brian took the lead for a

while and stopped us at a

fantastic viewing spot with

amazing views over the

Derbyshire hills. Then it was a

quick stop at the services on the

way home before we all parted

ways.

The last ride we’ve had was

to Elan Valley on the 24th May.

Well what can I say about this ride….it was

perfect. What with cracking the pavements

weather, fantastic roads and scenery and

brilliant friends to share it with, what more

could you ask for. It all started at the Little

Chef at 9am

where we set off

with six bikes and

eight people. First

stop Rhug again

for the usual

brekkie and brew.

U n f o r t u n a t e l y

Colin turned

back, so we were

left with five bikes

now, and wow,

what roads we

found on the way to Elan Valley! I was sat on

the back of the bike, shutter bugging away

like a demon with the camera. The scenery

was to die for and so were the roads.cont....


94 SUMMER 2009

We stopped at a dam en route as well,

as the lake there was gorgeous, as you can

see in the photo. Then it was onto Elan

Valley.

After everyone stripped off for the

occasion we trotted off to the café for lunch

and THE best chocolate choux buns you will

ever taste. So it was now time to work off

those calories with a walk up to the dam

itself. I have to say that the water tumbling

down the dam was getting very tempting to

stand under by this point, it was roasting.

But we resisted the urge and eventually

went back to the bikes.

Back on the road and off up

the other side of the dam and

down the Elan Valley trail.

What a stunning place this

was. There were another three

dams to visit and photograph

and some amazing roads to

play on.

We ended

up back in

Rhaeder and

went to

the Kite

feeding

centre. We

got there 10 minutes before it

shut, so the lady only charged us £5 for

all of us instead of £4 each; we were

very grateful to her. We went for an ice

cream fix and wandered over to view

the Kites. There must’ve been about 30

or 40 of them flying around, and it was

totally awesome to see them. They are

beautiful birds.


SUMMER 2009 95

And so to

h e a d i n g

home. We

got to Rhyl

and decided

it was time

for supper

and I mean supper. By

this point it was 10pm

and we got a supper of

chips and gravy etc

and sat on the beach

watching the sun set

over Rhyl. As crap as

Rhyl is these days, it

was a totally cool

experience. As you

can see it was a very

long day, with Phil and

I leaving our house at

9am and getting home at just gone

11pm…..and it was worth every second. We

had a totally amazing day shared with such

good friends and weather to die for. So a

massive thanks to Colin, Gary, Lewis,

Richard, Graham and Su for making it a

definite day to remember.

The next highlight was Ruth and

Stritchy’s wedding on the 30th May in

Bedford. Phil and I spent the day at

Whipsnade zoo in seriously gorgeous

weather, then off to Graham and Jax’s

house to get changed for the wedding

reception. Thanks a million to Graham and

Jax as well for the lend of the house. Ruth

looked beautiful and

Stritchy had scrubbed up

well as well LOL. Nah you

both looked gorgeous

guys and congratulations.

Hope you have many

many very happy years

together. Love you both

xx

And that’s it from me for now…..so till

next time, I hope you all have as much fun

as we’ve had so far this year and that we

have that hot summer they’ve been

promising us for the last god knows how

many years!

Love Rona & Phil xxxxxx


96 SUMMER 2009

WEST LONDONSecretary: Steve Hill - 020 8291 5263

Firstly, I must say it’s nice to see a

Kawasaki on the front of the mag! Shows

that we are not too precious and stand by

our rulebook which (hopefully) still states

that to belong to the HOC you have to ‘own

or have owned a Honda’

Secondly, this is not Steve. He went off

to the IOM and forgot to write the Branch

report; tut tut Steve.

In March we had a joint run with Reading

Branch to Box Hill, which was quite

interesting! Sorry to the two guys that went

the ‘long way round’ to Box Hill from

Farnham!

In April we met up with Reading once

more to join Thames Vale Vultures Charity

Easter Egg Run. I love that run, loads of

bikes riding through Reading; brilliant. A

couple of ‘Gladiators’ were in attendance at

the end of the run.

In May we were back with Reading

again (getting a bit cosy this liaison!) for a

fab BBQ at their meeting place, The Swan.

We were made very welcome by all

members, especially Marion, Taz and Erica,

and the landlady who produced a mouth-

watering and substantial feast. Thank you

Reading.

That weekend Mike Jon and I went off to

the BMF rally. It was a bit of a strange

journey as Jon had tightened the chain on

the Kawasaki but had been a bit too

enthusiastic. It felt really weird and sounded

even weirder, not a pleasant journey! Still, it

seems ok now.

The following weekend we went up to

the Ace Café for Honda Day, featuring

Monkey bikes. Apart from not being allowed

to park in the car park (Kawasaki), it was

good to have a mooch around all the

different bikes, mainly Honda! I always

enjoy the Ace, it has a great atmosphere.

Well, that brings us up to date at the time

of writing. We’ve had a few new members

down, and some come back, some don’t.

We offer a varied runs list, so if you’re in the

area why don’t you come on down and

check us out.

Jude


SUMMER 2009 97

Well, last time I submitted a report for

Golden Wing (Winter 2008), I was strongly

promoting our forthcoming Wilts Rally in the

hope that many of you would not have been

put off by the wet camp field that year.

At the time of writing, we have just held

the Rally and I’m very pleased to report that

attendance was good (23 Friday night) and

our rally was a great success, thanks to all

the work our small committee (Claire, Robin,

Rob, Jim, Ian & myself) put into finding a

new site and planning this years Rally.

So what did we do?

Well after last year, it was obvious we

needed to find a drier site, so first exercise

was to ‘Google’ Wiltshire campsites, make

contact by phone and find out what ‘key’

facilities were available.

If it had no showers, it was rejected! If

there was not a pub within walking distance,

it was rejected! If there was, but the pub

didn’t do good food (or breakfasts), it was

rejected – that gave us a shortlist of 10.

Next we got on our bikes and took a look

– both during and after rainfall. If the ground

was too boggy, it was rejected! If there was

no space to play rounders, it was rejected!

Now that is how you ended up with the

Church Farm, Mildenhall site this year,

which seemed to fit the bill.

Likewise, thanks to John & Pam

Desmond at the Horseshoe Inn for getting

up early and making those breakfasts,

together with making us so welcome.

Clair, Ian, Robin & myself got to work the

Friday morning, setting the site up –

marquees to unbox and erect, banners to

hang, road marker posts to position, power

supply to connect and, most importantly,

kettle to fire up!

Our ‘Early Birds’ award this year go to

Phillip & Pauline Dowling who arrived at

1.30, only 2 hours after we had – and we

had spent the first hour getting Robin’s

motor home unstuck from a wet patch in the

top corner of the camp field (well it looked

dry!).

Upon arrival, our guests were forced to

commit themselves to a choice of

athleticism for that evening – playing pool or

shove ha’penny. To my surprise, most chose

the shove ha’penny and after dinner that

night the competitions began – 14

challenging for the shove ha’penny title but

only 8 for the pool.

At around 11.15 we heard the ‘victory

roar’ as the competition winner, Dave

Andrews, did his lap of honour around the

table. The shove ha’penny competition

however was more a marathon than a

sprint. Some even tried to ‘throw the game’

just to get to bed earlier, but by around

midnight, we had our winner – our very own

chairman, Ian Hammond. Winners took

prize monies of £5 & £10 respectively –

mine’s a pint Ian!

Come Saturday morning, we started our

first ride-out, ably led by Robin, who gave us

a great tour of northern Wiltshire, taking in a

tour of Wilton Windmill mid morning and

leading us down to Old Sarum (an ancient

Hill Fort near Salisbury) for lunch.

WILTSHIRESecretary: John Theobald 01793 853701

The Horseshoe Inn


98 SUMMER 2009

Here we could sit on top of

the embankment, watching light

aircraft taking off below us then

climbing over our heads, whilst

munching our sarnies – could

almost see the pilots faces!

By mid afternoon, the tour took us to a

regular stop-over of Stonehenge, where we

wrestled with international tourists to get a

coffee & use the loo.

Our ride out ‘drop off’ system had

worked well all day, keeping everyone on

the same route, but as we left our fuel stop

in Devizes, later that afternoon, although 18

bikes correctly turned LEFT, a certain rallier

decided to turn RIGHT, taking 3 other bikes

with him! Can’t say too much….but now I

know why they call our HOC secretary ‘Mr

Right’! (first name Always??)

Once this ‘splinter group’ realised their

error we successfully brought them back

into the fold in time for a group photograph

in front of Silbury Hill, another of Wiltshire’s

mysterious ancient monuments as nobody

knows why it’s there (except us locals – cuz

it was really a Lardie Cake mine!)

We then finished off our route, passing

through the stone circle at Avebury and past

a White Horse at Hackpen Hill, before

returning to the campsite and falling hungrily

upon our first batch of lardie cakes.

As the weather was too good to miss, we

pretty soon fired up the

barbeque and yours truly

to a “booze cruise” into

Marlborough to get our

guests suitably refreshed

by the drinks of their

choice. One particular

member of our party

decided that port was to be his “tipple” and

proceeded to put away a bottle of it (with a

little help) before demanding that a game of

rounders needed to be played!

This Rallier, now affectionately known

as “Steamin” Glyn Davis began to

demonstrate his hand to eye coordination

skills followed by his remarkable turn of

speed around the rounders circuit – yes

literally “steamin”!

Nobody can quite remember whose

team won as bad light stopped play, but

Glyn's performance was truly 'memorable'.

Wilton Windmill

Silbury Hill

Lardie Cake

Trout Spotters


SUMMER 2009 99

Hangovers were promptly dealt with

next day by a good full English breakfast in

the pub before 'Spot on' Don Heaver led our

Sunday ride out around other areas of

Wiltshire, not normally found by tourists.

Don led us on some great roads at a

'brisk pace' until our lunch stop at Compton

Abbas airfield (again one of our favourite

places) where we annoyed the catering staff

by actually creating a queue - some

businesses just hate customers!

Our mid-afternoon stop took us to the

Army Air Museum at Middle Wallop where

the coffee was good and the planes were

even older than my CB250RS

At 17.05 'Spot On' Don led us back into

our campsite to fall upon our second (and

last) batch of lardies - and this is where Don

got his handle because 17.05 was precisely

the time he said he would be back on his 1st

Ride Out Schedule - now that's timing!

Not having the energy for a 2nd bout of

rounders, our post lardie exercise was to be

a walk down the nearby River Kennet,

where we happily played 'spot the brown

trout', but nothing like as exciting as 'will

duckling number 13 (lucky for some) ever

get back up the rapids to his/her mum and

siblings??? After what seemed an eternity of

natural history tension, we were all relieved

to see mum & siblings slide down the rapids

to meet and collect the 'prodigal duckling'

which otherwise would not have lasted the

night out!

After dinner we split into 7 teams in the

pub to test our mental prowess with a quiz

night. After two rounds and the usual batch

of queries, arguments, 2nd opinions and

offers to hang the quiz master, I have to

report that our HOC Chairman's team stole

the show - nice one Dibble!

A few more drinks followed, the midnight

oil was burned back at the campsite and

what seemed in no time at all we had started

our Monday rideout, led again by Robin

(Radar) Williams - who seems to know

every road and footpath in Wiltshire (he

needs no maps)!

Our last (half day) rideout took us to the

Crofton Beam Engine near Great Bedwyn

where we had a wonderful tour by the

Charity's Chairman, Ray, who explained the

amazing workings of this two cylinder steam

engine which ran at 11rpm, each cylinder

stroke lifting 1 ton of water from the canal

below each time! Our route to this, however,

had been preceded by a 5 mile trek (@

20mph) through the centre of Savernake

forest - an ancient hunting forest - but never

saw a deer once!

Lastly, before returning, we called into a

beautiful wood (at Clatford Bottom) to

marvel at the carpet of bluebells which were

just coming into their prime (I told you Robin

knows all the best footpaths as well as

roads)!

I got told off recently by 'Big Jim' for not

putting a report into Spring 2009 Golden

Wing so apologies for the length of this one

as it's making up for that.

This will be my final report as Branch

Secretary as I am stepping down after 3

years in the job to let 'younger blood' take

the branch forward. I hope I have introduced

some fellow members to the wonders of

both lardie cakes and shove ha'penny as

well as some of the delightful roads and

sights within my beloved Wiltshire.

I intend to remain an active member and

hope to continue to enjoy the future

meetings with my many new friends.

Best wishes to all,

Theo.

Bluebell Girls


100 SUMMER 2009

THE MANHOC LONG WEEKEND AWAY

IN TINTERN

Saturday

So, the day arrives and with it, the nice

weather. We all meet up at Poplar 2000

services and make ready for the journey

down South. The part consists of: John &

Judy, Paul & Jackie, Malcolm & Val, Peter,

Tony, Alan - all on bikes - and Geoff & Karen

in the car as our support vehicle (due to

Geoffs new hip, not because they don't

ride).

After a bit of banter and another check of

the route, we set off down the A49. I love

this road - it's fast, smooth, has twists, very

little traffic and no speed cameras (well, I

didn't see any). We carried on for about 70

miles until we came to the Craven Arms.

This is a village, not a pub and we found a

nice bikers cafe at the side of the road.

When I pulled in, the car park was empty. By

the time everyone had parked, we were

joined by two other biking groups and the

place was packed. But never mind; we sat

outside for a brew and some lunch

(remember that nice weather I mentioned

above - well, it was still here).

A splash of petrol for Tony and we

carried on. Geoff and Karen had set of

before us and we expected to find them

waiting when we arrived. So we shot off and

had a nice time down the twisty windy roads

of South Wales. Eventually we arrived at

Tintern and soon found one of the hotels.

We dropped half the group off here and

proceeded to the other one. But, no Geoff. A

quick phone call soon established that he'd

missed the turn and had found Newport - a

mere 30 miles away. Oops.....

Next piece of fun was parking the two

FJRs. The B&B owner (Ian) suggested we

use his driveway. This did not go down well

with John or myself since it was a steep 30

degrees with no wall. So, we put them next

to the VW garage assuming that no-one

would mind - WRONG! We got a call later to

move them. So, we had to park them on

heavy gravel - which was fun when it came

time to move them out. Note to myself -

check this out before we book!

But we were on holiday - so who cares.

Once Geoff & Karen arrived, we got

changed (in the lounge because the rooms

weren't ready) and walked back to the other

hotel to enjoy a nice drink before dinner.

Here we found a "friendly ale" - a real ale of

4.6 sg. Very palatable and went straight to

my head. Wonderful. By this time the sun

was blazing down and I could feel myself

burning a bit. But a makeshift cap soon

cured that problem and more drinks were

consumed (purely to restore the lost water,

of course.

The next thing we tried was the local

vinyard. This just happened to be right next

to the hotel and was offering free wine

tastings. How could we refuse? So we didn't

and walked up the hill to the shop.


SUMMER 2009 101

We did have a nice time sampling the

local produce and even bought some

bottles to take home.

Then, back to the hotel for another drink

before we ate. We booked for 7pm because

"the place can get very busy later on". [Ha

ha - we were the only people in the

restaurant]

This was followed by more drinks and

eventually bed. A great first day.

Sunday

Up late the next morning and

down for breakfast for 9:30. The fun

soon started with the "Fawlty

Towers" service. The owners were

very nice, but everything seemed a

bit disorganised. But the food was

excellent and there was plenty of it.

Once done, we went outside to wait

for the others to arrive before we

shot off to Bath for the day. [Just to

remind you - the weather was hot

and sunny all day.] The rest of the

party soon arrived and we headed

down the nice twisty roads to Bath -

over the Severn Bridge and along the M4.

Once in Bath, we were able to use the bus

lanes to bypass all the traffic (sorry Geoff!)

and we quickly got parked up in a town

centre car park. [This was where Peter tried

to head butt the barrier when it came down

on him].

We got changed and headed out into the

sunshine to find the Roman Baths.

Geoff & Karen went shopping, Malcolm

& Val did the open top bus tour, Paul &

Jackie did the tourist stuff and the rest of us

went round the baths. Which was very

impressive and worth a visit. Once we came

out, John, Judy, Tony and myself headed for

the chocolatier for a drink and some cake

and then we all met up afterwards to

continue our promenading around Bath.

Once that was done, we headed back to the

bikes and shot off back to Tintern.

cont....


102 SUMMER 2009

The evening was once again pleasant.Drinks before dinner (as normal), a quickshower and we all met up at the Rose &Crown "The best steak in Wales". Onceagain, we were asked to be there earlybecause it could be very busy later on.Once again, we were somewhat surprisedto be the last people to leave - at 9:30pm.Before that we had some great food - myfillet steak was lovely and most people reallyenjoyed it (Karens was a bitunderdone for her - so sheswapped with Geoff). Drink andconversation flowed well into thenight until it was time to leave.

We walked back to the nextpub and carried on. Ahah - we

have a pool table. It'samazing how well youthink you are playingwith a glass ofsomething inside you.Then, back to bed and get ready for the nextdays adventures.

MondayAn earlier start for Monday. 8:30

breakfast which didn't please some of ourparty - "I've only been up 5 minutes and youare lucky I'm not down in my nightie". Butshe soon woke up and we all enjoyed agood breakfast. Then, onto the bikes andhead 500 yards up the road to TinternAbbey - a fabulous structure which datedback to the 11th century. We all met up here.

Paul & Malcolm decided to head straightoff as it was spitting with rain. The rest of usbraved the elements and decided to stay. Atwhich point, it stopped raining!

We had a great time wandering aroundthe site, marvelling at the grandeur of thebuildings and wondering how they managedto build it all in those early days. Manyphotos were taken and much gazing wasdone. Eventually we tired of this and went

out to find Geoff,Karen and Petewho had parkedthemselves in anearby cafe andwere busy scoffingtea and cake. Wejoined them for awhile before we allset off for thejourney home.

Not much tosay here except that we stopped for lunch inthe Craven Arms Hotel - muchrecommended for its bucket of soup andvery large platter of potato wedges. Far toomuch for one person - Judy had to get Tonyto help her out. Then, a speedy run back upthe A49 and home.

In conclusion, we had a great three daysaway - everyone seemed to enjoythemselves and many thanks to Judy fororganising it all.

Alan Sharkey


SUMMER 2009 103

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104 SUMMER 2009

A question you get after most weekends

and more so after a Bank Holiday, especially

after a four day Easter break. Well the first

work colleague to ask that this very morning

made me ponder my reply and in a split

second re-live what I had indeed done at the

weekend.

It all started a few weeks back when

Erica, our dynamo of a secretary, sent out

an e-mail asking if anyone was interested in

taking a trip to Belgium to stay at the Bikers

Loft near Brugge.

Well here I have to confess a sad lacking

in my biking experiences. I have been

biking since the age of 16 and am now fast

approaching 64 and have never taken a bike

out of England, but always thought I would

like to. However, I certainly had a little voice

in my head saying things like “they ride on

the other side, not sure you could cope with

that, what happens if you forget, em head

on crash I suppose.” Well I mentioned it to

my wife of just on 40 years Sue, and what

do you think Sue said "Why don't you

go, you have always wanted to"

probably not quite what I expected if

she said "You can't do that we cannot

afford it or the garden needs digging

at Easter" I would have had an easy

out and still thought one day I will go

"if I get over these nerves". Well to

move on I like several others replied

saying "Yes Erica we would like to

give it a go"

Case in top box, tank bag in place

off I set on Good Friday morning at

08.30 heading to the Reading

Services to meet up with the others

at 09.00, at this point my mind pictured all

my travel companions, Erica and Gerald of

course, Pete and Jenny, Jim and Sue,

Richard and Maria, Ant and Richard who I

would be sharing a room with ( my first

conversation with Richard was at a club

night when he asks "Do you snore " to which

I replied " I have no idea as I 'm always

asleep at the time”).

Well into Reading services I headed to

meet up with most of them only to be meet

with our number one leader and expert front

runner Pete, at this point my confidence

took a trip downward as Pete had somehow

developed a whopping great black eye and

I was not sure if we would be getting into all

sorts of fights or lost at every turn being led

by a one eyed man.

Well as it turns out, one eye, three if you

count Jenny's and I think we must, was

more than enough to lead us in a confident,

safe and mile munching way, Thanks Pete

and Jenny - you’re the BEST.

WHAT DID YOU DO AT THE WEEKEND? COLIN


SUMMER 2009 105

A new experience at the Channel Tunnel

with booking in and loading the bikes on the

train but oh so easy you wonder why any

one would use the ferry. A quick,

comfortable 20 mins followed and we were

soon on our way, ON THE WRONG SIDE

OF THE ROAD! Actually, riding along with

the others it felt O.K. A few miles in and I

was relaxing thinking this ain't so bad and,

as already stated with Pete & Jenny's

leading and young Richard doing an

excellent job as our tail ender, I soon felt

‘wow this is good’ (by Monday left hand

seemed wrong!). A quick stop for petrol and

a drink had us laughing and kidding around

like schoolboys along with a feeling of

excitement that I really think only comes

from being BIKERS, then onto the Biker

Loft.

First impressions being ‘well this is

different but looks good’. By the end of the

trip the place had become a home from

home and I don't think anyone wanted to

leave. A few points of note:-

1. Food - cook your own microwave

dinner. These proved to be tasty and plenty

of choice and amount.

2. Rooms basic but clean and tidy - all

we needed if somewhat prison looking what

with the metal staircase to the upper floor.

3. Entertainment none this week - but

hey we made our own which was spot on!

4. Showers - 1 block, open topped,

looking like a Mexicans home 2 sides

Boys/Girls, water long time to get the heat

through but once it was you were up and

running

5. Bar maid- lovely Vanessa

6 Bike park - inside in full view.


106 SUMMER 2009

The ride outs included trips to Brugge,

Dunkirk, Knokke Heist, Namur, Waterloo,

Ypres, Passondale - I also got lost in

Brussels but I do not want to talk about that.

Moments and events to ponder:

Erica and Gerald made a trip toChurch on Sunday, managing to singalong with the hymns in English whichmay well have got the locals thinking.

Maria became our champion poleclimber. Her man Richard was thendetermined to get to the top of this piece ofequipment I could not see the use for - wellseveral tries later up he went right to the top.

Ant showing young Richard how to getyour knee down on bends seems to havetaught him a thing or two.

Jim and Sue's travel stories keeping usentertained.

Erica's emotions at the Last Postceremony in Ypres bringing home the recenthistory of the area we were in, Erica sayingsorry for that but I think she has the nerve toshow openly what we all felt and indeedshould feel in such a place. Well done Ericafor that "we should never forget"

Young Richard showing his lack of abilityat the game of Pool, beaten by a novice oldduffer, me – oh how we laughed and took

the P.2.00 o'clock drinking by the

bikes with Richard, Maria andyoung Richard. The rain hittingthe roof - not sure it gets anybetter than that.

Riding along by the Canalheading for Brugge a bikingmoment of pure pleasure.

We returned home on Easter Monday

having experienced, great riding, good

laughs, inspiring sight's and most of all

GREAT COMPANY.

Coming out of my internal thoughts,

each time I was asked the above question at

work today I said;

"HAD A BLOODY GOOD TIME"

Colin


SUMMER 2009 107

AAAAZZZZOOOONNNNIIIICCCC SSSSOOOOLLLLUUUUTTTTIIIIOOOONNNNSSSS

Mirror, Signal, Manoeuvre, Survive!

Motorbike Indicator Sounding Device to save lives

A new device is now available for all bikers which will virtually eliminate potential

accidents caused through biker error when failing to switch off indicators, thereby

causing motorists to pull out in their path at junctions.

All too often, bikers are injured or killed through motorists pulling out of junctions into

their path. This problem is compounded if motorists genuinely believe that the biker is

turning off the road when in fact he has no intention of doing so.

The new Indicator Sounder from Azonic Solutions fits any bike, trike or trailer. It

works on 6 or 12 volt, comes ready to fit and includes all fixings which take ten minutes

to fit. There is no soldering needed and no technical knowledge required.

Each time the indicator is switched on the Indicator Sounder will, at 12v, emit an 80db

noise which not only will be heard by the biker but also any pedestrians can be warned

that a bike is about to turn.

Standard or Advanced Model

As well as the standard model BISO1 which sounds as soon as the indicators are

turned on, there is the more advanced BISO2 which has a built in delay and only sounds

once the indicators have flashed 15 times.

Azonic Solutions, who have a proven track record of supplying reliable and functional

electronics which are used widely throughout the UK, are providing a simple, affordable

and reliable solution which should be welcomed by safety-conscious bikers from all

walks of life.

If you would like to know more about the Azonic Solutions Indicator Sounder contact

Stewart Lloyd, Managing Director, Azonic Solutions.

Tel: 01767 319191 Fax: 01767 319192 Email: [email protected]

HHOOCCHHOOCCOONNSSUUMMEERROONNSSUUMMEERR

NNNNEEEEWWWW PPPPRRRROOOODDDDUUUUCCCCTTTT NNNNEEEEWWWW SSSSEEEERRRRVVVVIIIICCCCEEEE????

IItt ccoossttss nnootthhiinngg ttoo pprroommoottee yyoouurr nneeww pprroodduucctt ooff

sseerrvviiccee tthhrroouugghh HHOOCCoonnssuummeerr..

PPlleeaassee sseenndd yyoouurr pprreessss rreelleeaassee aanndd pphhoottoo ttoo::

TThhee EEddiittoorr,, HHOOCCoonnssuummeerr -- GGoollddeenn WWiinngg,,

223322 LLeeiigghh RRooaadd,, CChhaannddlleerrss FFoorrdd,, EEaassttlleeiigghh,, HHaannttss.. SSOO5533 33AAWW

or e-mail it to [email protected]


108 SUMMER 2009

DDDDUUUUKKKKEEEE MMMMAAAARRRRKKKKEEEETTTTIIIINNNNGGGG

ONE DAY IN JUNE

The glorious return of one of motorcycle racing’s biggest names to the Isle of Man TT

is the stuff of legend, still one of the most talked about events at the fabled road race

more than three decades on. Now fans can once again relive the incredible return of

Mike Hailwood in the classic film One Day in June, at last available on DVD.

In 1978, multiple World Champion Hailwood returned to the iconic 37.73 mile TT

course, after a self-imposed 11 year absence from the world famous circuit. Few doubted

Hailwood still possessed the legendary skill which had brought him 12 TT wins, but a

comeback at 38, after more than a decade away, was still a daunting prospect.

With a fine handling, but under-powered Ducati V-Twin at his disposal, Mike the Bike

went headtohead with fellow great Phil Read, riding the much faster 4 cylinder Honda in

the opening race of the TT festival. Amazingly, Hailwood roared to victory in the Formula

One race. Fortunately a crew from Outrider Films was on hand to capture this historic

moment, and interviews with Hailwood himself as he explains how boredom with his ‘9-

5 lifestyle’ had brought him back to racing.

This classic film also includes footage from the Senior TT, where Hailwood raced a

Yamaha against legends like Pat Hennen and Tom Herron. In addition, this DVD includes

a bonus audio feature offering fans the chance to hear ‘Mike the Bike’ discuss a decade

of racing at the TT in the extraordinary Mike Hailwood: My First 10 TT Years. Recorded

at Hailwood’s London flat in 1968, this chat with Peter Arnold chronicles the highs and

lows of 10 years racing in the Isle of Man, from fresh-faced teenager to his apparent

retirement in 1967.

Digitally remastered from the original Stanley Schofield archive recording, Mike

Hailwood: My First 10 TT Years recalls the exhilarating battles, frustrations and

tremendous triumphs. It is a thrilling opportunity to discover how Hailwood managed to

stamp his authority on the event, and offers

revealing insight and first-hand accounts of

some of the most memorable races ever. The

soundtrack to the interview is provided by the

Hondas, MV Agustas and other glorious

machines that dominated the TT during

Hailwood's heyday, plus race commentary from

such luminaries as Murray Walker.

One Day in June is released 25 May 2009

on DVD, priced at £12.71 and will be available

from leading video outlets or direct from:

Duke Video:

Tel 01624 640 000,

Fax 01624 640 001

email - [email protected].

Visit www.dukevideo.com online.


SUMMER 2009 109

DDDDRRRREEEEMMMMEEEELLLL

DREMEL LEGO OFFER

Dremel has teamed up with the world-famous Lego brand to create a promotion that

kids and adults alike will love! The Lego Creator pack comes entirely free of charge -

attached to the packaging - with purchases of a Dremel 300 or 400 Digital multi-tool*.

The instant reward of the Lego Creator three-in-one pack means you can build a

monster truck, a fantasy sci-fi saloon car or your ultimate F1 driving machine as soon as

you get home!

The promotion runs until the end of August 2009.

Dremel multi-tools are used worldwide for creative, modelling and DIY tasks

including sanding, routing, polishing, drilling and cutting through all kinds of materials

thanks to Dremel's huge range of 150 different accessories.

The Lego promotion will run online at retailers such as:

www.tooled-up.com

www.tool-shop.co.uk

www.dremel-direct.com

www.axminster.co.uk

PLEASE NOTE NEW DREMEL WEBSITE:

www.dremel.co.uk

* Participating products are the Dremel 300 Series (300-1/55) and the Dremel 400

Series Digital (400-4/80) multi-tools - priced around £58 and £93 respectively.


110 SUMMER 2009

MMMMEEMMBBEERRSSEEMMBBEERRSS FFFFRREEEERREEEE AAAADDSSDDSSAdverts must be received by the 1st September for inclusion in the Autumn Issue. Email [email protected] to: Golden Wing, 232 Leigh Road, Chandlers Ford, Eastleigh, Hants. SO53 3AW

FOR SALE

HONDA CM125 1985

Restored in 2008New Seat Cover,

New Chain & SprocketNew Clutch Cable,

New BatteryNew Spark PlugsRe-sprayed Tank

£65001634 360227

[email protected]

HONDA 400/41976

BlueApprox 700 miles withproof. Fully serviced. Very good condition. 1 years MOT and tax

£3,30001493 722856Mike (15950)

Norfolk

ADS CAN BE POSTED FREE ON THE CLUB WEBSITE AT

www.hoc.org.uk/forum.html

ADVERTISING

IN MEMBERS

FREE ADS

MEMBERSfree all sections

must state membership

number

OTHERS

FOR SALE

(BIKES):

£18 1stinsertion-

subsequent free (includes freemembership)

OTHERCATEGORIES:

£3 per insertion

PARTS & SPARES

CB750K SOHCGENUINE WORKSHOP

MANUALNot looking for a fortune,

would prefer it to gosomewhere it will be of

use£5 + p&p

01388 [email protected]

Carl


SUMMER 2009 117

Tail LightsTail Lights

Motorcycle Rider the BMF magazine would like to carry

"Classic Owner Reports"

on early machines.

So if you own a classic Honda

and would like to see you and your Honda in the BMF magazine.

Please contact

Johnathan Lloyd - Assistant Editor

01652 680060

CLASSIC OWNERS REPORTS


Golden Wing - 2009 Summer

Documents

Transcript of Golden Wing - 2009 Summer