Category: Rides

Around 20 Berkshire Branch members rode to the Triumph Day at Sammy Miller’s Motorcycle Museum in the New Forest organised with the TOMMC. We met up at the cafe at Popham Airfield and many arrived early and had breakfast there. We then took a scenic route down to Sammy Millers. As usual there was big turnout of visitors, with the courtyard and car park in front of it reserved for Triumphs only. The South Hants had a stand there and it was good to meet up with some of their members. Here are some photos of the day.

We had a great day at Jacks Hill Cafe’s Ton-Up day. The venue was packed with a cracking collection of bikes, lots of people and a live band. There was a big turn-out from the TOMCC nationally. The Northants branch had a stand and there were representatives from at least five TOMCC branches: Northants, Berkshire, Meriden, West Middlesex and South Lincs and several members of the Club committee, including the Chairman, Ian Waumsley. We managed to get a lot of them together for a group photo in front of the Northants stand.

Five members of Berkshire Branch rode up to the event together, meeting up at a BP service area on the A34, before riding up past Silverstone and to Jacks Hill and being directed by the marshals to park behind the cafe.

The organisers had reserved the parking area in front of the cafe for classic and custom bikes and there were some really good bikes on display, including some excellent cafe racer’s. A trailer in the car park was being used as a stage, and when we arrived there were a couple of DJ’s playing 50/60s records. Later on, a three piece band, The Stingrays, came on to play live music from the same era.

We took a more scenic ride home, riding down the A5 and then stopping at the Super Sausage, another famous biker cafe on the way home and then heading off via Buckingham and Aylesbury on the way home, finally stopping in Nettlebed before splitting up and going our separate ways home.

Every year in June the legendary Ace Cafe has a Sunday dedicated to Triumph Motorcycles. which they call Triumph Bike Day. This year it was on the 14th June and a group of Berkshire Branch members met up to ride together to the event. It was sunny weather and there was a great turn-out of bikes at the event. There were lots of Triumph’s of all ages to browse around at the car park and Triumph West London had a stand there selling Triumph clothing and merchandise. There was also a live band, The Smash, a five piece band playing the New Wave sounds of 70-80’s Britain.

See a selection of photos from the day below as a slide show.

The Ace is a great destination and has a special place in the history of British motorcycling and the Rocker culture in particular. But ride there is an urban ride through built up areas. But that too, perhaps, has its own nostalgic charm, because its location on the North Circular Road was largely what attracted the bikers of the 60’s to the cafe as they and rode their Cafe Racers along it.

Now the Ace Cafe is in the ULEZ (Ultra Low Emissions Zone), which means there is a £12.50 charge for bikes for bikes to go there that don’t meet the emissions standard. That may have put some people off, but most bikes manufactured after 2013 comply, and so don’t have to pay. Also, any bike classed by the DVLA as historic, which means any manufactured before 1986, is exempt. So that allows a lot of Triumph’s to go there without paying.

Our members took the direct route there along the M4 and M25, but chose a scenic route through the leafier suburbs on the way home. It was a great day.