Category: News

Announcements, news items, Nacelle reports, articles

Meet the editor – 29 Oct 26

Dave Porter, the editor of the TOMCC Magazine, Nacelle, will be coming to our Thursday club night on 29 October 2016 at the BCSA and giving a presentation to Branch members and any other TOMCC members who want to come along. This is a great opportunity to meet the editor of our magazine and hear what he has to say, ask questions, give him your feedback on the magazine and share with him how you think it should develop. Proceedings will start soon after 8pm. This will be an interesting evening.

Dave Porter is the editor of Nacelle, who will be talking about his new ideas for the magazine and seeking the views of Branch members.

Dave Porter took over responsibility for the magazine after the Club AGM in April this year. His impact is already clearly visible in the magazine, with a different font and style on the front page and articles about Triumph’s involvement in motorcycle racing and new developments from Triumph together with articles about Club activities. He has only been in the role for less than six months, so we can look forward to more exciting developments with the magazine in the future. This is a great opportunity to hear about those developments now and influence them. Don’t miss it !!!!

Nacelle Report – Oct 26

Below is the report published in the October 2026 issue of Nacelle, which covered Branch activities in August 2026

A happy tale to start with as a former branch and TOMCC chairman (Bill Sutton) was reunited with a Dutch mechanic, Piet Van der Steen, that had helped Bill when he’d broken down in Holland in 1973!  They met at the BCSA after Piet had contacted Bill via the club website.

Bill (arms folded) finally meets Piet again after 53 years

August was a good month for the branch with our stand in the Classic Bike paddock at Thruxton BSB.  With continued fine weather it was a great event.   What a shame more branch members didn’t take advantage of gratis entry and display their “classic” bikes.  With a 25 year old limit placed on machines, early Hinckley’s conform, so why not come next year, display your bike and enjoy some terrific racing at Britain’s fastest circuit?

Glorious weather at Thruxton BSB for the Branch stand

Similarly, the bank holiday saw the stand at Swallowfield Show, an event that we regularly attend.  Yet again, by displaying your bike (no age limit) entry is free.  If you’ve never been to this show you’ve missed a mixture of English village fete, horse show, fairground, all manner of vehicles, marching bands, stunt displays and endless side stalls that all ages can enjoy.

Looking forward into October we have a presentation that might be of interest to many members; entitled “A day in the life of a Motorcycle Riding Instructor”, it’ll  be a humorous account of what today’s learner riders get up to.  It will be held on Thursday 8th at 8pm at the BCSA.  We hope you can attend.

Ride fast and safe

Bibendum

Motorcycle Instructor talk – 8 Oct 2026

Chris Williams, a DVSA approved motorcycle instructor, will be giving a presentation at our Thursday club night on 8 October 2026 at the BCSA on “A Day in the Life of a Motorcycle Instructor” to Branch members and invited guests.

Ever wondered what really goes on behind the scenes of a motorcycle instructor’s working day?

This presentation takes you through the highs, lows and downright funny moments of life as a motorcycle instructor — from early starts and nervous learners to unexpected challenges, unusual characters and those moments that simply couldn’t be made up!

Expect a mixture of real experiences, plenty of laughs, a few frustrations and an insight into what it’s actually like teaching people to ride safely on two wheels.

Nacelle Report – Sept 26

Below is the report published in the September 2026 issue of Nacelle, which covered Branch activities in July 2026

With lawns looking more like cricket wickets and hose-pipe bans in place, is this perhaps the best summer, we in central southern England, have had since ‘76?  All I know is I’ve not looked for my waterproofs in several weeks and in the last week alone I’ve ridden over 600 miles.

July saw a busy month on the road for the branch, too.  The stand was at Wings & Wheels at the Army Flying Museum, Middle Wallop where everyone in attendance said what a great event it was and a must for next year.

A great day for all at Wings & Wheels, Middle Wallop

Then a very busy weekend starting at Calne bike day where we met up with the Oxford branch on their stand.  This was followed by Jack’s Hill Ton-up day, which proved to be a meeting of the clans at the Northants stand with Middlesex, Meriden, South Lincolnshire and Berkshire in attendance.

A meeting of the “clans” at Jack’s Hill Ton-up day

I’m sure that the weather has been all important to boost attendance figures at such events, although some may think it’s a tad too warm for bikes and much prefer an air-conditioned car!

So looking forward to the last Saturday of September (26th) sees our Autumn Bike meet at the BCSA, so spread the word as all brands and ages are welcomed, yes even BSA’s!  The normal facilities will be available from 11am at the club-house and the charity of choice for this occasion will be NABD (National Association for Bikers with a Disability); so please give generously.  Here’s hoping that you and as many friends as possible can make it…

Ride fast and safe

Bibendum 

Lunchtime Bike Meet – 26 Sept 2026

We are having a Lunchtime Bike Meet on Saturday 26 September 2026 from 11am to 4pm at the BCSA. It’s a great opportunity to meet other riders, see their bikes and have lunch and a drink . All motorcycles and riders are welcome. 

Hot food and drink will be on sale in the club house and the bar will be open.

A collection will be taken for the NABD (the National Association for Bikers with a Disability), which is a charity which assists disabled people to ride motorcycles, particularly helping to make necessary adaptations to bikes to make this possible. See here for more information about the NABD.

See here for details of the venue.

See here for pictures from last year’s September Lunchtime Bike Meet.

Here is a flyer for the event. Feel free to pass this on to other bikers in the area who might be interested.

Dr B’s Bike Show – 2026

This bike show raises money for the Dr Barnardo’s children’s charity. We have supported this show for many years and is always a good event with an interesting collection of custom bikes on show. We will have a stand at this show and a display of bikes.

See here for some photos and a video taken at a previous year’s show.

See here for more information about Dr Barnardo’s or here for more information about Highclose School.

Swallowfield Show – 2026

Berkshire Branch members in the main arena at the 2025 Swallowfield Show

We will have our Branch stand at the Swallowfield Show on Sunday 30 and Monday 31 August 2026 with a display of Triumph bikes. So if you are going to the show, come along to our stand and say hello. We will be in the “Classic Car” area.

Click here to see photos and a video from last year’s Swallowfield show.

Click here to see more information about this event from the organisers.

British Superbikes – 14-16 Aug 2026

We will have our Branch stand at the British Superbike Championship at Thruxton race circuit from 14 to 16 August 2026. We will be there for the whole weekend from Friday to Sunday. So if you are planning on going to the Thruxton BSB meeting, why not drop in and visit us at our stand.

Our stand with display of bikes at a previous BSB

See here for more pictures and a video of us at BSB in 2025.

See here for an article about us at the BSB which was published in Nacelle.

See here for details of the BSB event from the organisers

Nacelle Report – Aug 26

Below is the report published in the August 2026 issue of Nacelle, which covered Branch activities in June 2026

The bikes lining up for the Old Bike Gathering

The riding/event season is well underway now and weekends seem to be crammed with events to display your bike or ride-in meets.  So when we moved our annual Old Bike Gathering from it’s usual Father’s Day Saturday to the following weekend Sunday, due to a clash with other events, the committee was concerned that our normal healthy attendance would suffer.  Furthermore, as we were setting up on the day the sky darkened and then came the rain; not a downpour, just enough to dampen our bikes and our spirits.  But it lasted minutes and by the 11am start time all was dry, sunny and it turned into a splendid day.

The happy prize winners with their unique plaques

There was a cracking display of Triumphs and Greg, who was judging Best Triumph, had a very difficult decision to make.  Nonetheless, the 3 judges decided their categories and together made a joint decision for Best in Show.

Prizes awarded as follows:

Best British – Alan Monger, 1961 BSA B40

Best Foreign – David Cox, 1977 Kawasaki cafe racer Z750

Best Triumph – Ben Woodcock, 1968 TR6 Trophy

Best in Show – Dave Guttridge, 1976 Triumph Trident T160

Congratulations to the winners and many thanks to all who attended the event and also to those who donated to “Blood Bikes”, our chosen charity for the show.

Numbers were  slightly down, but there was a VMCC event on that day, which probably accounted for no pre-war bikes or the fact that there were only 3 British bikes to choose from.  All in all, it was a great success and many, I’m sure, will be looking forward to next year. 

Ride fast and safe

Bibendum