Category: Announcements

Announcements about Branch activities

Annual General Meeting 2025

The 2025 Branch Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on:

Thursday 13 February 2025 at 8.30pm

It will be held at the BCSA as part of our weekly club night. The AGM will start at 8.30pm. All Branch members are welcome to come to the meeting where we review the last year, present the accounts, elect a new committee and discuss plans for the coming year. Branch members can vote, ask questions of the current committee, put forward propositions and join in the discussion. This is an opportunity for all Branch members to have a say in the plans for the Branch during the next year.

People standing for the committee must be full members of the Branch and must be nominated by two other full members at any of the Thursday club nights leading up to the AGM on the nomination sheet that is on the notice board by the bar.

Come along and have your say in how the club is run. Consider how you may be able to participate more in club activities. Do you think you might like to be a committee member?

See the following links for more information.

Current Committee Members

Committee Roles

Richard Wheadon – TOMCC Machine Registrar

Richard Wheadon, the TOMCC’s Machine Registrar and a recognised expert on establishing the authenticity and date of old Triumph Motorcycles will be giving a presentation about his work to the TOMCC Berkshire Branch and invited guests on Thursday 30 January 2025, starting at 8pm at the BCSA.

Richard runs the Triumph Motorcycle Dating Service for the TOMCC. If the DVLA does not have records for an old Triumph motorcycle, they will issue an age related registration plate for it if the owner has a certificate from the TOMCC. This means that Richard has dealt with hundreds of application for these certificates over the years and has spotted many examples of “fakes”; bikes that purport to be a model or year that makes them more valuable than they really are. This is a subject which will anyone with an interest in classic motorcycles will find fascinating.

John Bottomley – GP Racing Development

500cc GP Race Bikes in action

John Bottomley will be giving a presentation to the TOMCC Berkshire Branch and invited guests on Thursday 6 March 2025, starting at 8pm at the BCSA.

In his presentation he reviews the 500ccc world championship from 1947 until the introduction of the MotoGP format in 2002 and traces the winning machines and the increase in engine performance.

He shows how Ducati fits into this picture and picks up the academic background of the key Ducati designers and the design aspects they introduced. He concludes with a look at as much of the technical detail as he has gleaned regarding Capirossi’s 2002/3 MotoGP bike.

In addition, he answers the question of why they had to put GPS on the bikes. I didn’t know they had. Did you? Come along and find out.

Welcome to 2025

Happy New Year to all our members. We had around 100 activities together last year. Have a look at our Review of 2024  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 early 2025 including a Thursday night Bring and Buy Sale and a talk on racing machines. There’s a lot more being planned and we will add them to the events page as they get confirmed. Remember, we continue going on rides throughout the winter and meeting socially every Thursday night. When the weather warms up we expect to have our Lunchtime Bike Meet, our Old Motorcycle Gathering and visit other local shows with the Branch stand and lots of other events like we did this year. Keep on rolling.

Merry Christmas 2024

We wish all our members a Merry Christmas. There will be no Club night on Boxing Day so our next Club Night will be on 2 January 2025. Our last Club of the year was a real cracker with more than 60 members enjoying an evening of seasonal food and fun together.

Our 2024 Christmas Club Night

There are more pictures of our Christmas Club Night here. We had a great year with lots of activities together and out on our Triumphs. See here for a look back at 2024.

See you next year.

Keep on rolling!

Toy Run – Dec 2024

The annual Reading Toy Run organised by Reading Christian Motorcyclists will be on Sunday 1st December 2024. As usual, we will be supporting this in various ways, with some of our members acting as Marshalls or supporting the event at the High Close School destination while others will be joining in the ride alongside thousands of other bikers in the area. Note that this year the ride will set off at 1pm, with riders congregating at the start point from 11am onwards. There is also a new start point, which is at the Thames Valley Science Park near Shinfield Studios.

Rather than organise a ride in, this year we will be meeting up at the at the start point with everyone else. Remember to bring a toy with you. We look forward to seeing you there on Sunday 1st December

See below for information from the organisers.

See here for more information from the organisers.

Quiz Night – 2024

We’ll be holding our annual quiz night at our Thursday Club Night on 7 November 2024 at the BCSA.

Once again, quiz master, Bob Cromwell will be testing our knowledge with questions on motorcycle related topics and general knowledge. Prizes will be awarded at the end of the evening for the winning team.

You don’t have to form a team in advance, just come along. Teams often get formed on the night, typically around three or four people each. You can also participate as an individual if you want. It’s a great way to get to know other people and have a fun evening.

See here for some photos of last year’s quiz.

Proceedings will kick off around 8.30pm so get there before that so you can get your team together and get yourself a drink from the bar.

Christmas Club Night 2024

The BCSA bar where we meet on Thursdays as it is now

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the club, with our room covered in Christmas decorations. We’re getting ready to make the last Thursday before Christmas on the 19 December a really special club night starting at 8pm at the BCSA. It’s open to all Branch members and their partners and there will be a complimentary buffet of festive food and Christmas music. The bar will be open as usual. We will be holding a raffle with some great prizes. So come along and enjoy a yuletide evening with fellow Branch members.

All members should have received an email about this by now. If you are planning to come and partake of the food, please reply to the email and let us know to help us plan for the right numbers of people.

Bring & Buy Sale – 2025

We will be having a bring and buy (aka autojumble) sale for motorcycle related stuff at the BCSA on Thursday 16 January 2025 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 our 2024 Bring & Buy Sale

Lunchtime Bike Meet – 28 Sept 2024

We are having a Lunchtime Bike Meet on Saturday 28 September 2024 from 11am to 4pm. It’s a great opportunity to meet other riders, see their bikes and have lunch and a drink . All motorcycles and riders are welcome. 

We will be holding a collection for Thames Valley Air Ambulance.

A wide range of food and drink will be on sale at the bar.

See here for details of the venue and how to get there.

See here for photos from our last Lunchtime Bike Meet earlier this year.