Last year we raised £165.00 for the Thames Valley Air Ambulance at our bike events and other events where we had our Branch stand. Their service helps protect, save and revive lives in emergency situations. See here for more details about what they do. See the letter of thanks we received from Thames Valley Air Ambulance below. We plan to continue to support the Air Ambulance service through 2024.
Category: News
Announcements, news items, Nacelle reports, articles
Supporting the NABD
Last year we raised £110.00 for the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD) at our bike events and other events where we had our Branch stand.
The NABD assists thousands of disabled people to enjoy the freedom and independence of motorcycling. They do this by enabling people to get the essential adaptions to their machines which will allow them to take their rightful place in the motorcycling community. See here for more details of what the NABD do. See the letter of thanks we received from the NABD below. We plan to continue to support the NABD through 2024.
Nacelle Report – March 24
Below is the report published in the March 2024 issue of Nacelle, which covered Branch activities in January 2024
Here we go, rocking all over the world!! The room was buzzing at our Thursday Branch meeting when “Glorious Adventurer”, Pete Rowe, gave a presentation about motorcycle tours in India. His fascinating talk fired our imaginations and several members chatted to Pete later in the evening.
Our first ride of the year was on the 7th January, when eight of us rode to Thruxton in freezing conditions following a week of torrential rain. All was fine until we came to a heavily flooded road. Three riders bravely rode through it, while the others, put off by the large bow waves created by the first riders, turned back and found another route. Happily, all were soon reunited at the Jackeroo Café for breakfast.
The following week we rode to TJ’s Café, and the week after that, rode to the Army Flying Museum. The last Sunday of the month the weather was dry and mild, so we set off for Loomies MotoCafe.
We had several new members joining our rides this month. A warm welcome to you all.
We’re having an indoor bring and buy sale for motorcycle related paraphernalia at our Branch night on the 7 March. If you have any motorcycle clothing, parts, tools, accessories or books that you no longer want, bring them along, lay them out on a table and see if anyone wants to buy them. Or just come along and browse through what is on offer. You might grab a bargain!!!
Keep on rolling!
Ton-Up Ted
New Committee – 2024
The 2024 Branch Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held on 15 February 2024 and elected the committee for the year.
See details of the new committee here.
Nacelle Report – February 24
Below is the report published in the February 2024 issue of Nacelle, which covered Branch activities in December 2023
It was a very good year for the Berkshire Branch. We’ve seen lots of new faces at both our ride-outs and club nights. We’ve met every Thursday with turnouts of 20 plus in the winter months, around 40 on soft summer nights and more than 50 turned out to hear Norman Hyde speak in March. Collin, our runs leader has excelled again, with 44 rides organised this year. We’ve also had two lunchtime bike meets, our own Old Motorcycle Gathering and we’ve taken our Branch stand to several other shows including the Swallowfield Show and Dr B’s. We started December by joining over a thousand other bikers for the annual Reading Toy Run in aid of Dr Barnado’s, riding with toys, acting as marshals and Derek using his van to provide extra transport.
We had a good turnout for our Special Christmas Club night, with music, a raffle and free hot Christmas buffet for members and partners.
We managed to fit in a couple of rides as well. Dire forecasts meant only four people turned up for a ride to Savage’s garden centre. They set off optimistically in the dry, but a deluge of rain meant they all got completely soaked. However, the following Sunday, with fine weather forecast, we had a good turnout for a dry run to the H Café and browsing in the motorcycle accessories shop next door.
We’re looking forward to another very good year, with lots of activities being planned.
Keep on rolling!
Ton-Up Ted
Bring & Buy Sale – 2024
We will be having a bring and buy (Swapmeet) sale for motorcycle related stuff at the BCSA on Thursday 7 March 2024 at our Thursday club night, from 8pm to 10pm. So if you have any: motorcycle clothing, parts, tools, accessories or books that you no longer want, bring them along.
Just turn up with your stuff and lay it out on a table in the bar and see if anyone wants to buy it.
Or just come along and browse through what is on offer. You might just grab a bargain.
Food, drink and endless chat about motorbikes is also on offer as on all other Thursday club nights.
See here for photos of last year’s Bring & Buy Sale
Welcome to 2024
Happy New Year to all our members. We had around 100 activities together last year. Have a look at our Review of 2023 to look back on some of what we got up to during the year. We are planning more fun for next year. Have a look at our Events page to see those that are already confirmed for 2024. There’s a lot more being planned and we will add them to the events page as they get confirmed.
Review of 2023
Looking back at 2023 we’ve seen lots of new faces at both our ride-outs and club nights. Its been a busy year for the Branch. We’ve met every Thursday with turnouts of 20 plus in the winter months, around 40 on dry summer nights and more than 50 turned out to hear Norman Hyde speak in March. We’ve had 44 rides organised this year. We’ve also had two lunchtime bike meets, our own Old Motorcycle Gathering and we’ve taken our Branch stand to several other shows including the Swallowfield Show and Dr B’s. We joined in the annual Toy Run and Easter Egg runs, went to Sammy Miller’s Triumph day and Bulldog Triumphs Launch day. We had a quiz night, a BBQ and a bring and buy sale. Altogether, we’ve had around 100 events for Branch members to meet together. See below for some photos of the year.
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
We’re planning another year full of activities in 2024, so we can all look forward to having more fun on our Triumph’s next year.
Nacelle Report – January 24
Below is the report published in the January 2024 issue of Nacelle, which covered Branch activities in November 2023
So here it is, Merry Christmas, everybody’s having fun!!
We kicked off November with a ride to Triumph Oxford to look at the new Triumph 400s they had for the day. We looked at them, sat on them and talked to their staff about them. The consensus view was they were good looking bikes that were comfortable to sit on and reasonably priced. The real test will be when someone gets to ride one. Afterwards, a few of us rode on to the Court Hill café near Wantage for refreshments.
The highlight of this month was our Thursday night annual quiz when teams competed to answer a tough set of questions set by our chairman Bob. We had an excellent turn-out and everyone enjoyed the evening. Congratulations to the winning team.
Despite a lot of wet weather, we managed to fit in some more rides. We had a mid-week ride to Thruxton. We also had a Sunday ride to Chopper’s Café, but arrived to find it closed. Undeterred we set of for a repeat ride to Thruxton and a late breakfast at the café there. Remember, we continue to have rides throughout the winter.
Thursday evenings continue to be well attended, although almost everyone is coming by car now the evenings are cold and often wet. We have got some interesting Thursday evening events lined up for the winter months including some visiting speakers and an autojumble. Keep your eye on the website for details.
Keep on rolling!
Ton-Up Ted
The Old Motorcycle Gathering 2024
The Old Motorcycle Gathering, our show for old bikes, will be held this year on Saturday 22 June 2024 at the Burghfield Community Sports Association (BCSA), James Lane, Burghfield, RG30 3RS. This is near junction 11 of the M4 and is where we hold our Thursday club nights. Click here to see the venue on a map
This show is for all bikes classed as “Historic” vehicles by the DVLA, which currently means bikes manufactured before 1984. The show is open to all marques, but bikes must be ridden to the show.
If you don’t have an old motorcycle, you can still come along on a modern bike. Just leave it in the car park while you look at the old bikes on the lawn.
A wide range of food and drink will be on sale at the bar.
Click here to see pictures from our Old Motorcycle Gathering in 2023 or read this article from Nacelle Magazine about our show.