Author: Ton-Up Ted

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 7^th 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

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

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

Below is the report published in the December 2023 issue of Nacelle, which covered Branch activities in October 2023.

We do like to be beside the seaside!!!  So we started the month with a ride-out to Hayling Island for a stroll on the prom, ice creams and a couple of hours lazing on a sunny afternoon.

The following Saturday, we rode to Rawles Motorsports, an Austin Healey restoration specialist, for their open day.

They had a magnificent collection of beautifully restored Austin Healeys to look at. There were also lots of impressive classic cars brought by other visitors. Their workshops were open and they had staff on hand to talk about the processes they go through in transforming the rusty remains of old cars into the shiny finished beauties on display. There was a barbecue cooking burgers and tea and coffee on offer, so we had a great time.

We also had Sunday rides to Popham Airfield and the Army Flying Museum, both venues with good cafés and lots of big toys to look at it.

For the last Sunday in the month, we had a run to Savages garden centre. We got there in the dry, but on the way home we were engulfed by a deluge of rain and we all got absolutely soaked.

Our members have been rocking all over the world with two riding to Morocco and another group riding through Portugal. They all got back safely.

We’re having a special Christmas evening at our Thursday club night on 14 December. There will be no club night on 28 December.

Keep on rolling!

Ton-Up Ted

Below is the report published in the November 2023 issue of Nacelle, which covered Branch activities in September 2023

We were out on the road again this month.  Our first Sunday ride was to the Longstock Park café on Waitrose’s farm estate.

Our next was a ride to the iconic Thruxton circuit and the Jackeroo Café there. Later in the month we rode to the café at the Boscombe Down Aviation Collection.

Mid-month, we hosted our Autumn Lunchtime Bike Meet at our normal venue, the BCSA. The weather forecast showed rain in the afternoon, but there was a reasonable turnout, although most people left soon after lunch so they could make it home in the dry.

We ended the month with ten of us riding to the Triumph Day at Sammy Miller’s Motorcycle Museum on a selection of Triumph’s from across the Meriden and Hinckley eras. The group got split into two while negotiating one of the large roundabouts on the way, but after some confusion and a bit of help from a sat nav, everyone was reunited at Sammy Miller’s. It was sunny weather, a great turnout at the event and a fine collection of Triumph’s in the car park and we got to meet people from other TOMCC Branches there.

It will be quiz time again at our Thursday club night on the 9^th November, when Bob will once again challenge us with a mixture of questions on both motorbikes and general knowledge with fine prizes for the winners. Teams get formed on the night, so just come along and join in.

Keep on rolling!

Ton-Up Ted

Below is the report published in the October 2023 issue of Nacelle, which covered Branch activities in August 2023

Dancing to the jailhouse rock!! This month a dozen branch members went to prison. Not that they had done anything wrong, it was just a Sunday ride out to The Old Prison: a café and museum in a disused 18^th Century prison in Northleach in the Cotswolds. We had two new members on their first ride-out with us, the sun shone, we had great roads and an interesting destination. Earlier in the month, we joined up with the RAT group at Bulldog for a damp ride to Blaze Inn Saddles.

The British Superbikes round at Thruxton and the Popham Motorcycle Megameet were on the same weekend, as they were last year, when we had our Branch stand at both. In the end, we weren’t able to have our Branch stand at either this year, but we did have a number of Branch members meeting up at both of them and enjoying the day together.

We got the Branch stand out with a dozen or so members displaying their bikes on both days of the Swallowfield show over the Bank Holiday weekend and a few members rode their bikes in the arena parade as well.

We have had good turnouts on Thursday evenings with interesting selections of bikes.

We’re planning some special evenings on Thursdays in the Autumn, so keep an eye on the website for details. We continue to meet every Thursday and have regular ride-outs all through the winter, so keep coming along.

Keep on rolling!

Ton-Up Ted

Below is the report published in the September 2023 issue of Nacelle, which covered Branch activities in July 2023

C’mon everybody and let’s get together tonight! Lots of Branch members and their partners answered the call to our annual evening barbecue. Some staff from Bulldog Triumph came along as well. We invested in a new Branch barbecue and set it up on the grass next to some picnic tables outside the BCSA.  Bob, our Chairman, served out the food while Steve, our Vice Chairman cooked the burgers and sausages. Thanks to both of them for making it a great evening.

We had six ride-outs in July. Three of these were to old favourites, with a couple of rides to the Court Hill centre and one to TJ’s café. But we also went to some new destinations such as a Sunday ride out the Three Trees Farm Shop and Café near Swindon at Chiseldon. And then for something completely different, we rode out to Fort Nelson, a 19^th century military fort and a Royal Armouries artillery museum overlooking Portsmouth. It was a fascinating place to go to. We also had a mid-week run to a lunchtime bike meet at the George & Falcon at Warnford where we saw some cracking old bikes.

Our Thursday Branch nights have been thriving with lots of bikes in the car park and people standing around outside with beer in hand chatting about them  

We’ll be holding another Lunchtime Bike Meet on Sunday 17^th September from 11am to 4pm at the BCSA, so check out our website for more details.

Keep on rolling!

Ton-Up Ted

Below is the report published in the August 2023 issue of Nacelle, which covered Branch activities in June 2023

We’ll go motorbike riding in the sun and the wind and the rain. But we prefer the sun, and we had a lot of that in June. Our annual show for old bikes, The Old Motorcycle Gathering was fabulous. Lots of people got their old bikes out of their sheds, pulled their old blue jeans on and rode them to our show. What a cracking collection of bikes!!!  The Best in Show winner was a 500cc special built for the British Trophy team in the 1970 International Six Days Trial (ISDT). It used an Eric Cheney frame with a modified Triumph engine. This machine won a silver medal in the1970 ISDT and a gold in the 1971 ISDT. Other show winners were a Triumph Trophy 650, a Triumph Trophy 250 and a Kawasaki KH500. Congratulations to all the winners!!

Our branch stand was out at Dr B’s, a local bike show in aid of Dr Barnado’s, the children’s charity. Our Thursday club nights have become a little like mini bike shows, with lots of bikes in the car park, people sitting outside chatting and some new faces coming along.

We had three new members on our first ride of the month to TJ’s Café near Swindon. We also had a ride to Popham Airfield and ride to the Honey Street Mill Café this month.  

Coming up in August, we’ll be going to the British Superbikes at Thruxton on 13^th   and Swallowfield Show on the 28^th.

Keep on rolling!

Ton-Up Ted

Below is the report published in the June 2023 issue of Nacelle, which covered Branch activities in April 2023

It goes to show you never can tell! Heavy rain was forecast for our first lunchtime bike meet this year, but in the end, it stayed dry and we had a reasonable turn-out of people who ignored the weather forecasts and came anyhow. Bulldog Triumph, our local Triumph dealer, attended with some shiny new bikes to show off, we had new caterers serving up great food and everybody had a good time.

We joined hundreds of other bikers for the annual Berkshire Egg Run, meeting up west of Reading to ride a circuitous rural route to Abbey Rugby Club to drop off chocolate Easter eggs, which were then distributed to children in care. After the run, some Berks members rode on to the H Café in Berinsfield for lunch.  

Our Branch stand was out supporting MAG’s show on Easter Sunday. The following Sunday, three Branch members went up to Wolverhampton to attend the National AGM, while other Branch members rode out to a very crowded Iron Bull Roadhouse. Despite the variable weather, we also enjoyed ride-outs to Honey Street Mill and the Milburys pub at Beauworth.

The Old Motorcycle Gathering is our show for Historic bikes (pre-1983) and will be held on Saturday 17 June. If you have an old bike, bring it along and you might win a prize!! If you don’t have one, please still come and look at the bikes on show. There is no better way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Keep on rolling!

Ton-Up Ted

Below is the report published in the May 2023 issue of Nacelle, which covered Branch activities in March 2023

C’mon everybody and let’s get together tonight!!!  And we did!!!  We had a record turn-out of well over 50 people to our Thursday Branch night to hear TOMCC Patron Norman Hyde talk about “Triumph and Me”. It was a fascinating presentation, with lots of photographs and anecdotes and ended with Norman playing an impressive sound recording of his Word Record Breaking run.

Earlier in the month, Steve Yarwood, our Vice Chairman, entertained us all with an account of his intercontinental trip through 15 countries to Turkey and back on his Triumph Rocket 3.

With some rare fine weather, our first ride in March was to the Menza Café at Henley Rugby Club for lunch. The following Sunday a small group braved near freezing conditions for a short ride-out to the Court Hill Centre near Wantage, where we warmed up in the café. A week later we rode out to the H-Café at Berinsfield for tea and bacon butties followed by some shopping at the motorcycle accessories shop next door.

Our final ride was to the Boscombe Down Aviation Collection near Salisbury. We enjoyed looking at all the jets and other amazing exhibits there. A flat bike tyre didn’t spoil the day and was easily rectified by Steve who had a pump with him.

We’re looking forward to the weather warming up with more rides and outdoor activities. We’ll be holding our Old Motorcycle Gathering on Saturday 17 June 2023. Check out our website for details.

Keep on rolling! 

Ton-Up Ted