Category: News

Announcements, news items, Nacelle reports, articles

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.

Branch AGM 2025 – photos

The committee at the 2025 Branch AGM

The Branch AGM was held on the 13 February 2025 at the BCSA. There were 32 members in attendance. Here are some photos from the meeting.

The existing committee were re-elected to their existing roles with the exception of the Runs Coordinator role, which became vacant. Therefore runs will be organised by a number of different people going forward See here for more details of the current committee.

Lunchtime Bike Meet – 3 May 2025

One of our previous Lunchtime Bike Meets

We are having a Lunchtime Bike Meet on Saturday 3 May 2025 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. 

A wide range of food and drink will on sale in the club house.

A collection will be taken for Blood Bikes , which is a charity which uses volunteer bikers to deliver vital supplies like blood to hospitals. See here for more information about Blood Bikes.

See here for details of the venue.

See here for pictures from one of our previous Lunchtime Bike Meets.

MAG Riders’ Resistance – July 2025

Motor Cycle Action Group (MAG) has announced that 5-6 July 2025 will be marked as a Riders’s Resistance weekend to get across five key messages as shown above. There will be events all over the UK and these may also additionally focus on local issues, such as access to parking. See here for details from the MAG national organisation.

There will be protest ride on 5 July 2025 in Reading organised by Thames Valley MAG in as part of this weekends event. See here for more details.

Bibendum on Nacelle Front Cover

The front cover of the February 2025 issue of Nacelle, the Triumph Owners’ Motorcycle Club Magazine, featured a picture of Berkshire Branch Vice Chairman, aka Bibendum, with his well used 2007 Triumph Scrambler taken on a ride-out between Christmas and New Year. The picture was was in stark contrast to typical magazine covers showing shiny bikes. The bike was pretty filthy and Bibendum was dressed like he was going on an arctic expedition. But it did illustrate a point. The Berkshire Branch go on ride-outs throughout the year, even on very cold winter days. There is no pressure to do so. Many of our members only go on rides in warm dry weather and we all probably prefer riding in the summer. But some of us get withdrawal symptoms if we go more than a week or two without going on a ride, so we brave the freezing conditions throughout the winter. In fact, with the right kit on, riding in the cold when its dry is a lot of fun. So if you’re the sort of biker who can’t bear to give up riding just because it’s winter, you’ll feel at home at the Berkshire Branch. Our Club nights continue all year, every Thursday evening as well, whatever the weather, but in the winter most people do come to those in cars. We’re not completely mad !! See the full magazine cover below.

The front cover of Nacelle with Berkshire Branch Vice Chairman

Nacelle Report – Feb 2025

Below is the report published in the February 2025 issue of Nacelle, which covered Branch activities in December 2024

Happy New Year!  I guess I should have started last month’s report with this, but I’m sure you’d have read the report before Christmas had even taken place, so that would have been a little previous.

December started with the Reading Toy Run which many branch members either attended or marshalled.  The weather could have been kinder, but it’s winter, what do you expect?

He’s not really Santa, just one of his little helpers!

Mid-month and the Christmas buffet at the BCSA saw nearly 70 members and plus-ones enjoying a great evening together.  The raffle had some tremendous prizes and if you were lucky enough to win, then I’m sure you were well pleased.

The Christmas buffet at the BCSA saw nearly 70 in attendance
Great to see so many members at the buffet, it must be the lure of a free meal!

By the time you read this the Table-top Bring & Buy sale would have taken place, did you snaffle a bargain there? 

However, more importantly, on 13th February the branch AGM will take place and it has to be said that we need more committee members.  So why not put your name forward?  The role that really needs filling is Runs Co-ordinator, so if you’d like to lead any runs, why not have a go?   This could be a role filled by more than 1 person.  I know it would be difficult to outshine Zorro, who has done a fabulous job, but he’s also the Treasurer and needs a little slack cut.  Help and assistance would of course be given in any role, so please consider serving on the committee.  Do I sound like I’m begging?  You betcha!

Bibendum

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.

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!