What We Did 2025
Keep an eye on this page for reports on our 2025 Events
Thursday 17th April Breakfast Run
For this ride-out the pack of approx 20 riders met at the popular" Oakes Farm Cafe" where some riders took advantage of a quick coffee/tea or even some toast too. The staff at this cafe we very welcoming as usual even if they were a bit slow haha.
Good job we were slightly late for our departure, as Aidrian turned up at the last minute on his new Royal Enfield, ( I would hate to leave him behind).
We had a quick pack briefing, then we headed off into the brilliant sunshine, this ride-out was originally intended to be approximately 13 miles long, with 20 drop offs, and to a new destination, but as the weather gods were shining upon us I got carried away and made a last minute decission to extend this ride to approximately 20 miles with more drop offs than a Royal Mail parcel van.
The roads and the scenery were fantastic with no issues at all, ( not even any irritating cyclists).
The final destination was the beautiful & popular "Hatton Locks cafe" which I was concerned about as we turned up unannounced, but the staff there managed perfectly and welcomed us 100% again. Everyone got their refreshments and some even had room for a full english breakfast.
It was great to welcome some new members on this run, and some members from other VMCC groups who confirmed to me that they fully enjoyed this ride-out.
Saturday April 12th Ride A Bike Day
Members were out in force to assist with the marshalling (and starting) of the bikes taken out of the Museum for one of their regular summer experience days.
There were 10 bikes out ranging from a 1914 New Comet to a modern(ish) 60s Triumph.
Two groups were run with 25 on the morning session and 30 on the afternoon session. It’s a great way to get a chance to ride a variety of old bikes.
Thursday 20th March Breakfast Run
Superb sunny weather brought out an eclectic mixture of 28 bikes, and many people turned up extra early.
A beautiful warm clear blue sky spring-day, and what a fantastic sight it was to see everyone and their bikes.
The starting point for this run was the familiar "Olde Pound Cafe" Liveridge Hill, Nr Henley In Arden, where some of the riders took advantage of the refreshments available "pre-run", then at 10.30 prompt I gave the group a briefing as there were some new members joining us today, plus some others I didn't recognise, so I thought it was necessary to ensure everyone was familiar with our "Drop-Off" system and the fact that we will also be having a "Back-Up" man/person just in case, (Thank you Geoff Ansell for volunteering for this run).
The ride consisted of 27 miles with some 24 drop offs along the way. the going was good with a few country "dual carriageways" but no flooding or roadworks, the weather couldn't have been better so what was there not to enjoy about this run?
It was stated in the run information sent out by Geoff last monday, that the destination today will be a good cafe and "close to the starting point", well infact, our destination was also our starting point, so you couldn't get much closer than that could you.( that supprised a few riders !!! didnt it .)
I watched as each rider returned safely to the destination cafe and counted them all in, and I am pleased to say all 28 riders returned safely and ready for more refreshments. A big thank you goes out to Richard who was 'tail- end-charlie" today and to Geoff who was our "back-up-person", and also very well done to our new members/riders.
And finally, I gave a personal thank you to the owners of the cafe for doing such a great job today as usual, but I feel they were a bit overwhelmed by the numbers! however, I didn't get any negative feedback from their cash register!!!!!
Wednesday 18th February Club Night
Tonight Steve Lambert gave us an excellent presentation on his Suzuki 250 GT.
Titled 17-70 it detailed the whole life cycle of the Bike he bought on the ‘Never Never’as a 17 year old apprentice in Newcastle, and how he quickly racked up 46000 miles in the first few years and a few fewer in the subsequent 40 years or so.
The story wove around the adventures and trials of long term ownership, storage and restoration
Quite remarkable for somebody to have owned a bike from new and still out and about riding it.
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Thursday 6th March Breakfast Run.
Being as it is still a bit chilly early on, we decided to meet up at the later time of 10,00hrs with bikes away at 10,30, this gave the riders a chance to have a cuppa and a natter before heading off, the bonus being that one or two riders just came for the meet-up and a cuppa as this suited them best on this occasion, and it was good to see them too.
25 Well presented bikes with their riders attended this meeting up point at "Oakes Farm Cafe" in Balsall Common, and once again the staff gave us a very friendly welcome.
The weather gods were definitely on our side today, with sunshine and increasing temperatures by the hour, this ride-out was 24 miles long with 23 drop-off points. The route was modified during a test ride out, as some of the lanes were very muddy and dangerous, (I did lose control of my Triumph during a test ride but luckily I managed to keep it upright). One rider came on his Royal Enfield combination so just as well I modified the route, he would never have made it through those lanes!.
The roads were all good mostly dry surfaces and only one "Road Closed" situation !!! - but thanks to Keith, we quickly got back on track to the original route.
We reached our destination at "The Barn" in Berryfields near Meriden, and it was a sigh of relief when Bob, our tale-end-charlie came into the car park as this confirmed that we never lost any rider. (well done everyone).
The staff at the Barn in Berryfield were very excited as the bikes arrived and the Butchers department left their shop counter to come outside and chat with us and view all the machines. All the staff at the Barn were really very happy and friendly and I thanked them all personally for their warm welcome, so I can imagine we will include this venue in a future ride out, either as a starting point or destination.
Thank you one and all for taking part in today’s ride-out, and thank for your kind words of appreciation.
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Wednesday 19th March Club Night AGM and Marquee.
Our annual. AGM has come and gone again with all officers being re-elected unopposed. This year we have two additional Committee Members Steve Lambert as Route Master. He is preparing a number of routes for Ride Outs and Breakfast Meetings. Phil Allman also joined, with specific responsibilities for Events & Exhibitions. Our core membership is getting older and we are having a push to recruit new younger members. To enable us to promote ourselves in a much more professional manner we have acquired a super Gazebo.
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Thursday 3rd April Breakfast Run.
With the weather picking up another good turnout for our bi weekly Breakfast run. This time to the Piston Club at the Stag in Stratford on Avon.
The pack met -up at the "Bulls Head"in Meridan, and after a brief warm up and briefing session of road conditions for this run, we started our machines and headed off into the bright sunny day, and to a new destination. The ride was 26 miles long and required 24 drop-offs, the ride took us through Berkswell avoiding HS2 road closures, we proceeded through Balsall Common & Meer End, but it was near Shrewley that we hit an unexpected "Road Closure" !!! (that wasn't there when I passed on my way to Meridan , (how do they do that ???), not that stopped this pack, we re routed past the approprately named "THE CASE IS ALTERED" pub, and proceeded towards Claverdon and Langley, and by this time the sunshine was positively warm.
Heading off towards Bishopton & Stratford Upon Avon, our last leg was via a short run along the A46 to our final destination at "THE PISTON CLUB".
It was with great releif that all 25 bike with their riders were counted in - all safe and sound, well done everyone.
Despite getting there at an awkward time between breakfast & lunch, the staff went out of their way to make sure our lads & Lady, all got their Tea/Coffee and sandwiches, so well done to Vicky and her staff at the Piston Club, great job done there.
The staff at the Piston club were that pleased to see us all that the manager took photos of some of our machines in the bike park, and I believe Geoffs Panther and Wally's Ariel may appear on their web site in the near future, and rightly so too.
well done everyone, and thanks for making this another enjoyable and successful ride -out.
Brooklands Veteran and Vintage Motorcycle Day
Sunday 6th April
Geoff had organised this coach trip, but hadn’t factored in a last minute unexpected social event on the same day in Bournemouth which he really wanted to attend. So, Nigel deputised for Geoff on the day.
The coach left the National Motorcycle Museum at 07:30 returning safely, and with the same 28 people, around 12 hours later.
The weather was bright and sunny all day and as the morning cool breeze faded it heated up nicely. There was so much to see, with various informative talks, gymkhana challenges, runs up the Test Hill, films of past events, motorcycle wheel building, explanations of early engines and ignition, and a host of club stands and mini shops and of course all the things that Brooklands has to offer on a non-event day. Plus there were old motorcycles and cars everywhere and the day was filled with the sounds and smells from a bygone era.
I was only aware of one unfortunate incident on the day when a Twombly (cyclecar) came to a stop on the steepest part of the hill, and on rolling backwards tipped over. Special mention goes to Dave Skett and John White who were very close by and quickly assisted the marshals to right the car and free the driver, who was able to walk away a little time later.
Overall, a really great day that everyone seemed to enjoy.
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Wednesday 9th April Hoar Park
Good to see some of you at Hoar Park this morning, admiring our new gazebo, and generally putting on a good show with bikes ranging from Steve’s 1923 Triumph right up to Andrew’s 2006 MV Agusta.
We were there to try and promote the Midland Section to the large number of attendees at the regular Wednesday morning bike meet. There were a few interested parties and we plan to do the event again at the end of the month.
All the bikes created a lot of interest and discussion, so thank you to everyone who attended, on a bike or not
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Wednesday 16th April Club Night
A small anniversary on Club Night this week. Eleven years to the day since we moved our monthly meetings to the Motorcycle museum.
The celebration was marked with Raffle Tickets being Free of Charge and along with the Free Tea, Coffee Soft Drinks and Hard Biscuit there was Fat Free Fancy Cakes for everyone.
Phil Allman provided a catch up on the latest news and plans for our Section’s future.
Afterwards Andrew and Steve carried out guided tours of the Museum for section members.
Wednesday 15th January Club Night.
Time for our annual Bring & Buy Action sale.
Time to offload all the Junk in your garage.
Time to buy a load more Junk to Bring back next year and off load
As always bid high, bid bold, all proceeds to club funds
First off, a big thank you to everyone who donated items for auction, also to those who bought these items, at the Bring and Buy evening. I am pleased to confirm that the Midland Section made a grand total of £482.85 at this event. This does not include any monies made “on the gate” or funds raised via the raffle, purely the Bring & Buy. Again, a big thank you to everyone especially the runners and carriers who helped the evening along.
There are no photos for this event as everybody was too busy bidding!
Thursday 5th February Breakfast Run.
Our first of the year!
It was so frosty that one member turned up in his car. There was some discussion about everybody piling in and having a warm journey to the café, but common sense prevailed (!) and they attendees rode to the café for a fine “English”
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