Category: News

Below is the report published in the October 2021 issue of Nacelle, which covered Branch activities in August.

Raindrops kept falling on our heads at the Bike Megameet at Popham Airfield. This is probably the largest bike show in the area. Despite the torrential rain in the morning, a group of Branch members rode there on classic bikes to go on display on our stand. There was a good turnout from other bike clubs and traders, but attendance was down and a lot of the visitors came in cars.

The rain held off during the middle of the day, so we were able to enjoy wandering around the other stands, but it started again as we packed up, ensuring that we got completely soaked again on the way home. One of our member’s chain broke near the venue, but a quick phone call enabled another member to pick him up in his van rather more quickly than the official recovery services would.

We had a good turnout for our ride to the Super Sausage Café near Towcester and we all got there without mishap, but we did manage to get split up on the ride back and even met each other riding in opposite directions later on. Probably something to do with the curvature of the earth. Modern bikes normally outnumber classic bikes on our rides, but six of the nine bikes on our last August ride were classics.  Other rides in August included runs to: the H Café in Berinsfield, the AV8 in the Cotswolds, Saddleback Farm and the Court Hill Centre.

Keep on rolling! 

Ton-Up Ted

Don’t believe a word!  Weather forecasters warned of torrential rain for our Old Motorcycle Gathering on the 24 July. Fortunately, lots of people ignored them, so we had a good turnout for our first real show for two years and it barely rained at all.  It was good to be back!!! With a beautiful collection of bikes, a bar, hot food and good turnout of fellow bikers, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

Congratulations to the prize winners which were:  Best Triumph: 1970 Trident; Best British: a BSA Twin; Best Foreign: a Suzuki TR750 XR11 race bike; and Best in Show: a 1951 Ariel.  The Steve Butcher memorial prize for Best Branch Member’s bike went to the first Thruxton produced in 1965. It was signed by Ray Knight, who used to race it, and has been fully restored by Berkshire Branch member Greg, who rode it to the show.

We’ve gone on rides to the Haven Café near Salisbury and the Court Hill Centre near Wantage.

Thursday nights are back to normal. Drinks can be ordered from the bar. There is outside seating and on sunny evenings, expect to see people by the bikes outside, chatting together with a beer in hand.

Our last ride of the month was to Sammy Millers Motorcycle Museum near New Milton. This has a fantastic collection of around 450 immaculate bikes, from the very first in the 19^th Century to the present day. We thoroughly enjoyed looking at them all.

Keep on rolling! 

Ton-Up Ted

Should we stay or should we go? Last month we announced our Old Motorcycle Gathering, expecting the Covid rules to be relaxed in time, but we have since had to delay it to 24 July.

Our first ride of the month was to Horsham, where we discovered the Torque Moto Café, which was full of car driving petrol heads, but very welcoming to bikers as well.

For our next ride, we stopped at a tea room in Thrupp before heading on to the wonderfully named Blaze Inn Saddles, finally getting ice-creams at Lechlade on the way home.

Rain stopped play the following Sunday, but we took advantage of a dry Wednesday to have a mid-week ride. On the last Sunday of June, we shrugged off wet weather warnings and had a dry ride, stopping at a garden centre in Bampton for a late breakfast.

We have re-developed our Branch website, keeping the same name as before, but with a new look and structure that will be easier to update. We’re posting news and photos of our activities there, so have a look at www.berkshiretomcc.org.uk. We have also re-launched our Facebook page, which is www.facebook.com/berkshiretomcc, so please follow us there. Ride-outs are still organized via dedicated Facebook or Whatsapp groups, so remember to ask to join one of them if you want to join our rides.

Remember we have weekly club nights on Thursdays where we get together, have a few drinks and talk about bikes.

Keep on rolling! 

Ton-Up Ted