What We Did 2023.
Here’s the last entry for 2023 and this page will now be frozen in time.
Look out for the What we did(are going to do) 2024 page which will follow much the same format.
Tuesday 26th December Boxing Day Run
A great turnout oun or annual Boxing Day Run to The Dog at Nether Whitacre.
Weather was warm and dry although Bob’s route took us through another underpass water splash much to Geoff’s dismay as he’d only polished his Panther the day before.
Numbers at the Dog were swelled as this is the regular haunt of the Tamworth & district motorcycle club.
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Thursday 7th Dec Charabanc Trip.
Off we all set on another of Geoff’s trips out, today’s destination was the Haynes Museum at Sparkford near Yeovil.
Slightly smaller turn out than normal with a few having to drop out at the last minute. Johnston’s sent one of their larger coaches so the 19 of us were treated to a row of seats each. For what was, as ever, an early start (7:00) and late finish (19:00)
The Haynes Museum put on a new exhibition entitled “Life on Two Wheels, The British Motorcycling Story”. As well as their usual superb display of motor vehicles, both exotic and more day to day.
Wednesday 20th December Christmas Ball.
Club night saw our annual Christmas dinner held in the Winter Wonderland at the Museums Conference centre.
70 Guests had a superb meal and were wonderfully entertained as Elvis was ‘Back in the Room’
Loads of excellent raffle prizes, with some contestants winning twice, and one lucky contestant three times.
In addition each table filled in one of Bobs ‘Kryptic’ quizzes between courses with the winning table getting raffle tickets for the Spring win a bike competition.
As ever our thanks go to Bob for organising everything and acting as Host and Compere for the evening.
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Wednesday 15th November 2023 Club Night.
We held our ever popular, ever frustrating - indoor team Treasure Hunt at the National Motorcycle Museum. With six questions in each hall, all you need to win are 30 correct answers. There was no need for technical or engineering knowledge to take part as all the answers were clearly (hidden) for all to see within the 5 Halls.
There were Crazy questions each with Crazy clues to ‘help’ you find the answers among hundreds of British Motorbikes, Pictures and Display Cards on show.
After trawling through 5 Display Halls winners were.
1st. Grumpy Old Git Socks
Steve, Mary, Pete, Ian,
2nd. Back Scratchers
Nigel, Vivienne, Keith, Deb, Neil, Jane
3rd. MARSvellous prizes!
Stevie, Zak, Joan, Ian, D'Arcy
Wednesday 6th December Museum Volunteers Christmas Lunch
Today saw our annual volunteers' Christmas lunch, hosted in our very own Winter Wonderland suite, and is a gesture of our gratitude for all their hard work over the last year.
We simply couldn't do what we do without them!
Saturday 14th October Klondyke Mill.
Our second visit of the year to the Steam Up with Geoff as Pack Leader. And another new start point, Bikers World near Coleshill. A damp start soon turned into a glorious day.
The Klondyke Society is dedicated to the preservation and restoration of all manner of vintage items.
The site allows members the space to store Tractors, Steam Rollers, Live-in Vans and Static steam driven Engines of yesteryear.
Twice a year they have a Steam Fair where a number of full size and miniature steam powered vehicles are on display and inoperation including a steam driven circular saw. There are also classic and vintage cars, Tractors, heavy commercial vehicles and static steam powered working engines.
An onsite Kitchen provides hot and cold refreshments during the day.Come and see this myriad collection of Steam Powered GIANTS and Dwarfs.
The 28 mile route on well surfaced road took about 45 minutes.
As always photos below:-
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Wednesday 18th October Club Night is Film Night.
Traffic Mayhem as Club Night coincided with the Caravan Show, an ABBA Tribute concert and torrential rain.
The motorway was chocker taking an hour to get from the slip road to the Museum Door!
Members arrived in drips an drabs, and a little later than planned we got the film show underway, a series of shorts focusing on amusing motorcycle adverts from the past, a documentary on the demise of BSA, and another detailing ”10 Reasons Not to Own a Classic Motorcycle” and early finish beckoned in case we all got caught in the ABBA exodus traffic jam.
Sunday 8th October Jim Fellows Run.
For 0ur annual Jim Fellows Run. We met, as usual at the Lay-by on the B4101 Balsall Common to Knowle road, just past the Saracens Head Pub.
In the past Jim and his wife Gill, always generously supplied riders with Coffee and Biscuits from their cottage in the village of Barston prior to the start of this run and in remembrance of Jim we now ride to his granddaughters farm at Umberslade for free Coffee and Biscuits in the same generous tradition set by her Grandad all those years ago!
A torturous but picturesque route of about 32 miles with a Ride time of 1hour 20minutes. BUT the for return journey home, only 10 miles to our start point just 20 minutes away.
Unusually we had a breakdown on this run, only minor, closing up of points causing one bike to drop by the wayside, but soon back on the road. Rumour has it that the unfortunate rider also ran out of fuel 3 miles from home.
Sunday 24th September Tour from Birmingham
On what can only be described as a “soft” weather day 14 riders turned up for today’s run, one, who forgot his waterproofs decided to pass, and the rest of set off Sheepy Magna, Fenny Drayton, Market Bosworth. Highlight of the trip was the two foot deep ford under a railway under pass, we all made it through safely, although Steve’s Triumph stalled half way through, but successfully restarted. It was persistently wet and as its harvest time the roads had a light coating of mud. Needless to say the bikes were less than pristine upon arrival.
Final destination was the Triumph factory at Hinckley. We all though Bob had arranged for us to use a special VIP gate as we sailed past the entrance, but no, he was fixated on the road ahead. A swift U turn and we were back in for a tour of the Museum Exhibition and Café for Coffee and Cakes (or Soup). Also there were the Ultima owners club, see photos.
Thursday 21st October Breakfast Run
Today, for the first time we had a combined VMCC APMC run. Starting from Walsh Lane Meriden we had one of our traditional “Mystery 11s” run, but this time with a defined finish point in Appleby Magna, where we met up with the APMC guys and had a second run round the lanes to the west, passing through Seckington Walton on Trent and a host of other picturesque villages.
Club Night Wednesday 20th Sept Paragliding
Tonight was supposed to be a wheel building demo by Central Wheels, which has had to be rescheduled for October.
Step forward Big John who gave us an excellent multi-faceted presentation on Paragliding, sound vision and anecdotes as well as a chance to see just how big a paraglider wing is and a look at his back mounted PowerPack which he uses for Paramotoring for self-launching flights.
John went into detail on how to get started training and the best ways to gain experience.
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Thursday 5th October Breakfast Run.
Slightly longer run today to an upmarket Biker Venue KOTI (kotiautotalli.com) in Chipping Campden.
New starting point - the Car Park of the closed down Fish and Chips Restaurant on your riding the A3400 near Hockley Heath and a longer than Run of 21 miles with a riding time of around 55 minutes with only 7 Drop Off Stations.
Eleven intrepid adventurers set off for the unknown destination - well it was unknown to 10 of them. This turned out to be Koti Autotalli in Chipping Campden which combines a workshop, bikes sales and a cafe. The weather was mostly dry but with the occasional lapse in slight dampness - and the hot coffee was very welcome once we had reached the end of this longer-than-usual Elevenses run.
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Weds 9th August Fish and Chips.
We ran our annual Mystery Fish and Chip run Ending up in Alcester
Weds 16th August Kart Night
Tony brought two of his vintage karts for those of us with slim hips to try on a circuit set out in the conference centre cark park.
For those of us ‘wider in the beam’ there was Andrews Senior Rotax.
All went well, although the course size kept speeds relatively slow there was still a chance to feel the G force and wind in your face and keep the speed merchants satisfied.
Sunday 20th August The Long Run
Todays long run started from the McD at Bassetts Pole Island. A 55 mile route was completed in a little over two hours and took in the sights of Blithfield Reservoir, Abbotts Bromley, Tutbury Castle and Swarkstone Bridge, before arriving at the Donnington Aeropark, where for a mere £5 we were able to see some wonderful vintage aircraft.
For a coffee and cakes (or Full English) refreshment we adjourned to the MotorBike Superstore in the Old Wheatcroft Donnington Museum Building, where there was a huge stock of bikes for sale.
Thursday 24th August Breakfast Run.
Eleven intrepid riders met at Shustoke Reservoir for todays Elevenses Run Event. The Sun God Ra beamed down on us, and we set off with supplies of Kendal Mint cake and flasks of hot sweet tea.
Bob was resplendent in his Dunlop Trials Welly’s and full Barbour off-road kit together with his portable hydraulic winch for any really serious mud. As requested, we had all changed our tyres for competition knobblies as this was to be one of Bob’s ‘special’ routes through the lesser known pathways and tracks of South East Birmingham. No one had thought to bring a compass, but the sun was out so that would do!
After little more than an hour of this fun, and a few feet up sections past some large vehicles that should never have been on our pathways, we emerged back on to a sealed tarmac road surface. And soon afterwards we saw the sign for ‘Shustoke’ and rode past our starting point to the Bulls Head cafe about a mile further on.
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Breakfast Run Thursday 7th Sept.
Here are the photos from todays’ run.
Nick led the pack today in the sweltering heat, a very scenic run of 30 miles. Geoff was the tail end Charlie and we all stuck together with no problems.
To quote one of the riders:-
“I’m not 100% sure where we ended up but it was a transport cafe near Cheswick Green I think.
There were barriers that we had to go through. But the food and coffee was good.
All in all another, brilliant run out"
DOT Museum Sunday 17th September.
Numbers had to be limited as this a private collection, however, a small but highly select group of 6 set off from Jon Weavers old Meriden Motorcycle factory site on a 90 minute ride to the Dot museum.
Dot Motorcycles was originally founded by Harry Reed in 1903 and had produced their first motorcycle by 1906 using a Peugeot engine with their first (and only) TT win coming soon after in 1908. They started using the strap-line ‘Devoid of Trouble’ in the 30’s and somehow survived the Great Depression and WW2 and have recently had a relaunch with the help of Guy Martin.
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Wednesday 19th July Club Night Gymkhana.
Geoff Ansell generously supplied two Bantams for anyone who wanted to attempt this minefield of obstacles and Bobs 1953 AJS was there if anyone wanted to ride up and down the field.
There was a Slalom to start with – then a Drop a Tennis Ball into a Bucket, take 3 goes at the Hoola Hoop throwing test, negotiate the Rumble Strips, the See Saw and the Balance Beam before moving the Water Torture Glass from one small elevated platform to another without spilling a drop, Score a Goal, Limbo under the Low Bar then through the Slalom to the finish where you can get a refreshing Rub Down with an oily rag!
Our 4th Gymkhana event at Club Night yesterday was a roaring success.
Martin Wardle a clear winner with 20 points, Richard Price, 18 points and Trevor Jackson in third Podium Place with 17 points.
Thanks to all who supported the event with 13 Riders taking part - our biggest entry of Riders since we introduced the event in 2019.
David Skett was officially warned for Dangerous Riding when threatening to demolish the heavy wooden fence bordering the car park and almost squashing Trevor Jackson up against the said fence (but very entertaining to watch)!
Big Jon Hunt retired hurt after a nasty fall riding his own Big Triumph.
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Breakfast Run Thursday 27th JULY.
Here are some photos from todays breakfast run, which went to Chataways Tea Rooms at Tardebigge.
Aidrian took the lead bike and Bob was our tail end Charlie for a change.
We had a super Ride out this morning on Ade Thompson's 20 mile marathon through dark lanes inhabited by horses and their very attractive jockeys, swamped roads from last night's rain and riding past and around closed road signs - great fun.
Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the route and our Drop Off system worked perfectly.
I think our Tail End Charlie was the best we have ever had and our leader was unquestionably superior in every way to the idiot that usually heads up our brave adventurers.
Thanks again to the 14 brave souls who turned up on time and a special thanks to Ade for planning and leading the pack.
A great run out with the usual closed roads and threatening rain clouds but all worked out brilliant.
Club Night Weds 21st June.
To mark the 75th Annual Anniversary (+1 Day) of the founding of the VMCC Midlands Section we held a gala dinner in the Bracebridge Suite of the National Motorcycle Museum.
We were pleased to welcome Steve Allan (Titch Allan’s son) as our Guest of Honour who also made a short presentation on the life of the clubs founder.
Breakfast Run 29th June.
The meeting point was at the "Harvester" pub/restaurant at Shirley, with approximately 13 bike and riders taking part.
Adrian & Phil were some of the last ones to arrive which was a bit worrying as they had organised this run and only they knew where the destination was.
We all set off and followed Adrian as the lead bike, we had Geoff Ansell as tail-end-charlie, the "drop off system" worked well as usual, the country lanes and tracks were brilliant especially as we had heavy storms the day before, and some parts however were covered with loose gravel but there were no mis-haps thankfully.
All was going perfect, and then we came to Airian & Phils worst nightmare, yes the council decided to close the country road for re-surfacing !!!! ah ! all the group waited patiently while Adrian & Phil quickly put their back-up plan into action !!!! and within minutes we were off on the final leg of our 27 mile run out.
The destination point "Yew Tree Farm and Antique centre" at Wooton Wawen was venue we had visited before but it was always a pleasure to re-visit as the cafe always welcomes us and caters for us all, they also served Geoffs favourite sausage sandwiches ( ask Geoff for details).
It was agreed by all that this has been yet again another brilliant run out and opportunity to meet everyone socially.
Adrian, Phil and myself were having such a good time that we decided to further extend this run as the weather conditions were perfect, we chatted bout steam trains, canal boats and things in general, when Adrian suggested a brilliant view point that he knew where we could see Trains & Canal boats from a single point he knew, so off we went to our next destination not too far away near "Little Alne" where we walked across the canal Aqua duct and watched the occasional train pass by, but sadly no steam trains today.
Our day ended with a conversation with 3 members of the "Northampton Fire & Rescue Service" who apparently lost their way but managed to have their lunch at this brilliant view point !!!!
Thanks again to everyone for a great run out, and a big thanks to Aidrian & Phil.
Breakfast Run Thursday 13th July
Todays run started out from the Harvester . 20 mile run in brilliant sunny dry weather.
Our destination was a brilliant cafe at Kenilworth sport and recreation ground.
Unfortunately our ride home was hampered with torrential rain.
Thursday 15th June Breakfast Run.
Once again our motorised bank of Gnomes and Ogre’s were out and about. This time they ended up at the Warwickshire Fairy Trail at Whitacre Hall.
To quote one of the riders:-
I have to say the route today was brilliant with interesting lanes and country roads. Well done Bob.
Sunday June 18th Banbury Run.
We entered a team in the world famous Banbury Run
See dedicated web page for a report. Click Here for
Sunday 4th June Klondike Mill.
Low numbers for today’s run, the first of two visits planned to the steam fair at Klondike Mill this year.
A chilly start from Shustoke Reservoir saw us traversing the multitude of speed humps Tamworth Council have seen fit to put in around Polesworth. Once clear of the urban areas a brisk run past Catton Hall (once home of Velocette Owner Bertie Goodman), and over the river at Walton on Trent onwards to Draycott in the Clay.
As always the organisers gave us complimentary entry and we parked on the edge of the central arena. Engines large and small were in steam and moving around the site. Also on display were a selection of vintage tractors and cars.
Thursday 18th May Breakfast Run.
A new meeting point of Shustoke Reservoir was the starting point for today’s run.
12 adventurous souls set off at 10:30am and had a wonderfully warm and sunny ride through the countryside, mostly on B rated roads, and after a little over an hour were rewarded with our 6th mystery destination of the year. This was the Canalside Cafe at Fradley Junction in Staffordshire near to Lichfield. It is situated just by the junction of the Coventry canal and the Trent & Mersey canal - so lots of boats to watch manoeuvring through the locks and changing from 1 canal to the other.
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Sunday 21st May Maurice Sommerville Memorial Run.
9 riders and 1 passenger set off in perfect weather from Jon Weavers old factory site in Meriden.
(Which has now been flattened).
Wending our way through leafy lanes and picture postcard villages. The traffic was relatively light, and around an hour later we arrived at our revised destination of Ellenden Farm Shop & Cafe - just north of Evesham - where we all sat outside in the sunshine and tucked into breakfast - mostly locally sourced.
On his ‘check’ run a few days before, Bob had discovered that our traditional destination of Raphael's Cafe on the banks of the River Avon in Evesham was also to be the destination of one of the Distinguished Gentlemen's runs with around 200 bikes expected, and so decided to find a ‘quieter’ stopping place.
Sunday 28th May Wings & Wheels Bidford.
Us Oldies on Bikes had our annual jaunt to see Old Planes and Old Cars at the Wings and Wheels Show near Bideford on Avon.
This event is usually held on Bank Holiday Monday but this year it is was day earlier. The Route Master lead us on a Route not used before using 14 Drop Off Stations over a 25 mile distance with a Riding time of 70 minutes.
When we got there the turnout was much larger than in previous years with a good selection of classic cars and aircraft on display.
Figure you’re getting fed up with pictures of rows of bikes, so participants mug shots only today, trust they aren’t to shocking!
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Thursday 1st June Breakfast Run.
Due to Bobs hectic transcontinental preparations we had a change of system for this breakfast ride out. Instead of follow the leader with the “Drop Off” system it was make your own way there.
Geoff Ansell arranged for a meet fellow Members at the Pound Café at the top of Liveridge Hill on the A3400, between Hockley Heath and Henley in Arden at 10:00 for a mug of Coffee or Tea or a Full English Breakfast.
Great turnout with 14 people plus 1 young passenger arriving in cool but dry conditions.
After a lengthy chat we all disappeared indoors for a hot drink and breakfast.
Afterwards a few small groups headed off for their own scenic rides.
Also included 3 pics of a short stop our some of the riders made at Caffeine and Motors on the route home.
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Saturday 21st June Echills Railway Play Day.
With Bob away on holiday and his reserve leader otherwise occupied: thanks to Phil for stepping into the breach and leading todays ride to Kingsbury Water Park.
Once there Adrian and the members laid on a feast of Coffee and Cakes, but the main reason we were there was to participate in the Echills Railways ‘Play Day’ where the tracks are closed to the general public, and the members get their own locos out to run them around the track.
We are fortunate to get behind the scenes access to the workshops and enjoy rides along the scenic track.
Observant among you will notice Bob in some of the photos, due to a technical problem (with a Honda!) he had to make a premature return, whilst his bike continues to enjoy the sights and sounds of Zurich.
Sunday 14th May Tiddler Run
A slightly cool and misty start soon gave way to warmth and sunshine and the 10 riders had a great saunter along the country lanes to the River and Roads cafe near Atherstone. The traditional route and destination for this run of Middleton Hall had to be amended when Bob did his checking and preparation run a few days before and found some road closures and other issues.
There were 10 bikes with 5 of them of 350cc or less, and the blue haze 2 stroke contingent was represented by 2 Japanese 250’s and a British 175, perfuming the route to the delight of everyone.
Weds 17th May David & Goliath
Scrutineer has checked the time keeper’s competition figures and listed below are the corrected placings.
Kudos to Wali Taylor who completed the course on his Vintage Ariel Bicycle, even completing the course three times due to a navigation error on his second attempt. Clerk of the Course being particularly stringent on even minor deviations from track
NEIL DAVIS (David's Stone)
TREVOR JACKSON (David's Sling)
STEVE FENTON 3rd
STEVE MALIN 4th
COLIN HORNBY 5th
IAN TANSLEY 6th
GEOFF ANSELL 7th
DAVE THOMAS 8th
NIGEL LANE 9th
STEVE LAMBERT 10th
MARTIN WARDLE 11th
WALI TAYLOR 12th
BIG JON Disqualified, technical infringement.
5th Elevenses Run 4th May
We had a lovely sunny day for our our 5th Elevenses Run, which brought out 17 happy souls.
Due to the numbers, Bob had to do a quick route-map re-calculation in his head as the planned destination would not have been big enough for us all. No one was lost along the way and we were rewarded with some great food at Global Moto in Coventry and also a look around their huge showroom.
4th Elevenses Run 20th April
Brilliant weather today and a great turn out, with just 1 bike needing a bump start to coax it into life at the meeting point.
I don’t know how Bob finds these places…
There were no obvious signs that I saw at the time: It was next to the Football Development Centre Academy and it may have something to do with the Football Academy as it had lots of toilets and changing rooms next to it. Also the names of things on the menu generally had a football related theme.
Anyway a fantastic cafe with the big ‘kick off’ breakfast chosen by many of us
Saturday 22nd April Coventry to Brighton Run
See Dedicated Web Page
April Club Night Wednesday 19th Titanic Made in Birmingham
Tonight’s presentation was a dramatized audio visual production on the birth of the world’s most infamous passenger liner.
Belfast and Southampton claim the Titanic as their own, but over 70% of the ships interior was manufactured in Birmingham. Everybody knows that that the Anchor and Chains were made in the Black Country but there were a vast number of other items locally made, from Pots and Pans to Plates, Beds and door furniture, even weighing machines produced by Avery in Witton, whose Managing Director was on board and one of the unfortunate ones who did not survive.
Based on the Presenters (Andrew Lound) own research we were told the story of the Midlands industrial work on the ship and the fate of local passengers.
It was dramatic presentation in full White Star line Uniform using rare images, audio and numerous props.
Wednesday 15th March Club Night
Quadrent Quadrant and Rocket 4.
For tonight’s club night we had a presentation on fabled British 4 Cylinder Motorcycles.
The Quadrent created George Pooley (a private enthusiast), The Quadrant the secret factory prototype and the Rocket 4 which is reputed to exist, but nobody seems to know where it is.
Thanks are due to John Young, who told us all about the Triumph 4-cylinder ‘triples’. He brought with him a 4-cylinder Triumph, built from original Meriden parts in the early 2000’s. At first sight it resembles a T160, but look closer to see that there is much more to it than that.
John had been asked by the enthusiast who built the bike to put a few miles on it as he is well known for his ‘Iron Butt’ challenges in the USA, and has previously completed 11,000 miles in 11 days on a 1969 Triumph Trident,.He test rode the bike on a Lands End to John O Groats challenge in the middle of November.
Alongside this was the NMM’s own Quadrant prototype Triumph 4-cylinder bike built by Doug Hele in the early 1970’s, allowing all to have a good look at the different approaches taken.
John provides the talks free of charge but he always collects for his local charity and we are pleased to say that the night raised £180.76 for the Donna Louise Trust.
Thursday 23rd March. Two Events!
3rd Mystery Elevenses Run.
7 Members out on our 3rd Thursday run of the year. An hour and a half’s run to get to a café 4 miles from the start point. As usual the route was down (at Steep) hill, up a (Muddy) vale and along some ‘Badland’ dual carriage way (Tarmac with grass down the middle). This was a replacement for the snowed off run originally scheduled for 9th March.
Geoff’s Tours.
30 Souls set off on Johnsons top class (£350K) luxury coach for a trip to the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu. There’s so much more to do than “just” a Motor Museum. Walk around the lake, past figures carved into trees; to the Art Exhibition in the Gate House. Across the drive to visit the ancestral home of the Montague family, round the house to the Abbey and Parish church, ride around the estate on the elevated Monorail.
Of course what we all went for was the Museum and Top Gear exhibition.
Writer was dismayed to find two of his past pride and joys (Maserati and Matra) were part of the Top Gear Junk exhibition.
Museum was superbly presented with a vast range of cars and bikes on display and some very nice vintage garage tableaux’s.
As always loads of photos below:-
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Wednesday 15th Feb Club Night.
For tonight’s club night we had free range of the Museum and unlimited use of the SEGA side by side arcade racing game. Most of the members did a few laps (of the easier Laxey Circuit) whilst the rest contented themselves with a and chat the free coffee and biscuits.
Mystery Elevenses Run Mk3.
Great turnout today with 14 bikes setting off in glorious sunshine. Still not quite summer temperatures yet and so just to get some of the riders warmed up a little, 1 reluctant bike needed a little helping hand.
Our final destination was Cottage Farm Stables cafe in Hockley Heath.
Thursday 9th February 2nd Mystery Elevenses Run.
Dave, Frank, Steve, Ade, Rob, Tony Nick and Wali tagged behind Bob for a 19 mile Mystery Run to a destination about 3 miles from our starting point.
The destination, the sailing club at Shustoke, looked picture perfect and the bikes ranged from a 1927 Ariel to a beat up 2013 Honda Pan (still looking more battered and worn than the Ariel)!
Thursday 26th January First Mystery Elevenses Run of 2023.
With the weather having turned a little milder +5 as opposed to -5 two days ago, our first Elevenses Run of 2023 took place.
Eight keen Riders (including 5 APMC Members) turned out for the adventure. We had a 1953 Panther 600cc single a 'Small' 350 cc single Panther of 1946 vintage, a pair of Hinckley Triumphs, a 1986 Moto Guzzi a 15 year old Kawasaki and the oldest on the run a 1927 Ariel, Bob tagged along on his knocked about and much abused 2013 Honda Pan European - it and him looking a lot older even than the Ariel
The destination was somewhat ‘up market’ so some decided to have only to have a cup of tea or a mug of coffee rather than a full English breakfast!
It was a ‘shortie’ but 'twistie' only 13 miles but with 14 Drop Off Stations!
Another good ride out although a little on the chilly side.
Wednesday January 18th Auction Night
For our first Club Night of 2023 we had a super response from Members who supplied an amazing array of items for auction.
The event was really well attended with 66 Members and their guests, who bid for items as large as a four stroke lawn mower engine, push bike and hydraulic work bench; down to a brand new set of Ducati Spark Plugs and a selection of carburettor bodies, needles and floats. Talking of floats there was even an inflatable Life Jacket!
Our thanks to previous auctioneers Alan and Richard who due to circumstances were unable to carry out their duties this year.
Geoff Ansell “stepped into the breach” and can vouch for how difficult it is. Trying to ensure all “bids” are seen, with some more obvious and vociferous than others.
Also a bit of an apology as the Auction was going so well, time ran out and the raffle was not drawn!
A great night out and our thanks go to all who attended and those who provided a stunning range of items to help club funds.
Thursday January 12th Brass Monkey Run.
A pleasant surprise at the healthy turnout of Riders for our inaugural Brass Monkey Run this morning - so my thanks go to Jon, Phil, Rob, Tony, Richard, Frank, MotoGuzzi Nigel and Nigel Kawasaki for their support on what was a bit of a damp day!
8 of us assembled at the start point in Meriden, and picked up a stray (Mr. Weaver) along the way.
It was a great run ending up at Global Moto Coventry.
The group picture below was taken by David (who works there)
We were made very welcome at our destination and the Bacon, Sausage and Egg Baps washed down with piping hot mugs of coffee were very well received.
The Cafe management were so taken with such a collection of handsome bikers - they insisted on a group photo to go onto their Website!
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