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                 What We Did 2025

Keep an eye on this page for reports on our 2025 Events

Wednesday 16th July Club Night Gymkhana

Great night was had by all at our annual Gymkhana held in the Museums overspill car park field.

Thanks to Geoff Ansell for getting there early bringing his Bantams all the obstacles and setting out the field

As ever there were a variety of riders and a few novel routes.
One rider was overheard before his second run to say “Is it still one down?”

 

Winner, but loser by default, as he wasn’t present for the prize giving was Dave Thomas.
Stepping up to take first place was Geordie Steve, Second, by dint of all his early afternoon practice, Geoff Ansell, and third young Zac keeping the prizes in the Lambert family.




















 

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Breakfast Run Thursday 10th July.


This was the warmest (hottest) meeting this year so far.

The 20 strong pack assembled at the "Bulls Head" in Meriden, where early arrivals had to quickly take cover under a tree as it was a very warm start, but the pack was also hampered with a traffic incident on the M42 which meant many roads in the surrounding area were heavily congested.  

We assembled and patiently waited for a few late comers, but unfortunately one of the pack members suffered an overheating issue with his machine while sitting in a traffic jam. The jungle drums quickly confirmed that we should not hold the pack up any longer, for they too were starting to overheat.

After the short briefing, we mounted our machines and headed off on our 28 mile adventure, initially towards Tile Hill, Balsall Common, Beausale, Shrewley, Lowsonford, and Wooton Wawen.The going was perfect on good roads, gently twisting lanes and beautiful scenery. We were very fortunate that the mayhem that was building up on some of the A roads all around us did not affect us at all and we enjoyed every mile towards our destination. 

Our destination was changed at the 11th hour on this run, as I was informed that the chef likes to start at 12.00hrs and we were due to arrive at 11.00hrs, whilst I was happy to challenge the chef, I did not fancy my chances with 20 hungry and thirsty VMCC riders, so I moved the destination a few more miles, (I am happy and have suffered no bruising).  

Our destination was 'THE VIEW" at wooton wawen, and all 20 riders arrived in tight formation with no reported issues, (other than they were starting to get hot again).  One rider commented "are you sure we will be allowed in here”?

As he thought it was rather "up market for us "!!   I replied "our money is very welcomed here- trust -me"!

We were welcomed, and served quickly I thought in our shaded outside seating area to keep cool, however two of our members preferred the indoor seating next to the door for additional "draft" cooling effect, (very wise men).

Just as breakfast menu was finishing we were joined by rider No21, who returned home with his Italian machine that overheated earlier on this morning, and swapped it for another one of his many machines, which gladly got him to our destination to meet us, but sadly he was too late for the breakfast menu!!  (I seriously hope he has had better days).

The pack was pleased to see him, and a few of us ensured that he did eventually get his rather late breakfast sandwich. (That’s what friends are for).

 A big thank you goes out to Geoff Ansell, for being our tail end Charlie (again). And another big thank you goes out to Phil Allman, for being our Back Up rider, (again). And obviously a big thank you to everyone who turned out and made this another successful and very memorable Thursday ride-out. 

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Wednesday 9th July David Thomas Memorial Run.


Thanks to Jenny for stepping in and planning a route to the Case is Altered, one of Dave’s’ favourite hostelries.

 

Thursday 26th June Breakfast Run.

On this blustery, shower threatening summers day in June ( yes summers day), 19 riders met up at"Oakes Farm Cafe" on an adventure that had a few surprises in store.

 

After a short briefing and instruction the pack set off towards Balsall Common, Leek Wooton, and Warwick.

 

The pack managed to stay together in tight formation and luckily the traffic and light system were in our favour through Warwick.

 

We proceeded towards Barford, Wellsbourne and Compton Verney, where we took full advantage of the open countryside, by lining up with military precision for a group photo shot as suggested by young Zach, (what a great idea, one for the album),

 

After showing off our fine machines and smiles, we headed off again in great formation towards the village of Kineton, and specifically "Gilkes Garage Cafe" where were warmly welcomed by the owner and his staff.

 

The food and refreshments were 1st class, as was the full English breakfast commented Frank ! some members of the group also managed to take a few trinketry items away too,

( paid for of course).

 

All in all this proved to be a memorable ride with great roads, and improving weather each mile along the route.

 

Thanks to Geoff for being our tail end Charlie and to Phil for being our back-up man.

 

There were no reported incidents.

Sunday 22nd June A Longer Run.

Sundays run was slightly longer than usual, and ran on open sweeping A & B roads (No grass and gravel down the middle) with not to many drop offs.

 

Destination was Tatenhill Aerodrome where they were hosting the annual Air Ambulance open day.

After a prolonged hot spell the weather broke as we arrived with a drizzle shower. Roads home were wet and greasy and the bike now needs a wash and polish.





 

Wednesday 18th June Club Night.

 

Tonight we were pleased to receive a visit from the Porsche car club, who attended in great numbers.

Not to be outdone there was also a large gathering of bikes of varying ages.

My personal favourites were the mid engined 914s but there were a variety of different models on display, as well as a couple of interlopers, which included a huge American cruiser which was too long for the parking space, (See Pictures)

 

Thanks to, ex section member, Julian and Siobhan from the Porsche Car Club who arranged everything for a hassle free evening. Maybe something to be repeated.


 








 

Saturday 14th June Echills Railway

 

Our regular run to the narrow gauge railway at Kingsbury Water Park, organised by Adrian.

A good time was had by all and if anybody has some photos send them to me and I’ll happily post them here.

Wednesday 21st May Club Night David & Goliath

 

Weather broke today, but the afternoon rainstorm had dried so there was a goodly number of members on machines for tonight’s action.

 

Thirteen riders took part in the fun….a lap of the car park, break for a cup of tea and biscuit and another lap of the car park.

 

Winner is the rider who can most closely match the times of the two laps. This year’s competition was really close with three rides within a second or so.

 

Winner was Trevor on his Suzuki with times to within 0.09 of a second. Quite remarkable!

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 




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Thursday 15th May Breakfast Ride Out

 

It's was a slightly cooler start compared to what we have had recently, but extra layers applied some 25 riders set out on another mystery adventure, we departed from the Smoke house restaurant in Shirley . Unfortunately, It was noted very early into the ride that we lost two of our very experienced riders due to a very bad signal from one of our visiting members. (Very unfortunate).

 

Enjoying the long winding lanes near Ullenhall and Lapworth, and luckily avoiding roadworks and road closures once again, we ate up the miles until we encountered a very hazardous black spot crossroads . I decided to inform the pack earlier on about such a hazard and the drop off man would also be our signal man at this point, and as luck would have it that responsibility fell onto young Zach, who parked up his bike and ensured he signalled all the riders across this black spot safely, ( well done Zach).

 

We proceeded towards our destination and at our second last drop off our two riders who got misguided suddenly approached us from the opposite direction( well done Wally & Ryan), you done a great job in re joining the pack.

 

After some 23 miles our destination was in sight, it was Stlonleigh Park, where we were warmly welcomed for good food and beverages .

 

After some chatting we found out how we lost Wally and Ryan so early into the ride and apologies were accepted.

 

 

A big thank you to our tail end Charlie (Phil) and back up rider (Aidrian) for taking this responsibility for this ride.

 

Thanks to everyone for taking part today.


 

Sunday 18th May Tiddler Run

 

The titles a bit of a misnomer really as any bike of any size is welcome, but this run is specifically aimed at a slower pace on roads less well travelled. From our usual start point at Meriden to Middleton Hall we were out in force with 30+ machines, numbers being swelled by a couple of additional riders from the Warcs Section.

 

All was not well en-route as a road open on Friday had been closed necessitating a mass U turn and a diversion through Dosthill, which cut out the country lanes section round the Belfry golf course. There’s a chance the HS2 works will have moved on by next year and we can revert to the planned route.

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Thursday 22nd May Coach Trip Sammy Millers
 

This was our 3rd coach trip down to Sammy Miller’s museum in sunny New Milton in the heart of the New Forest, and clearly enthusiasm was still strong as we had 30 souls eager to go.

 

The new café was very welcoming and helpfully reserved sufficient tables for those wishing to eat there, and in return we provided our food orders soon after arrival so that they could plan ahead.

 

The museum has an eclectic mix of manufacturers from many different countries but predominantly from Britain, Japan, Italy and Germany. There are road racing machines as well as, of course, competition trials bikes including the famous Ariel HT-5 (GOV 132) campaigned by Sammy to huge success in the late 50’s and early 60’s. It was also fantastic to see the 1957 Moto Guzzi V8 timed at 179mph all those years ago.

 

During the afternoon Sammy rounded up as many people as he could for a tour of his workshop and latest restoration activities by the man himself. Most of our group were included and the sprightly 91 year old had plenty to say especially

about the rare green 2 stroke 1967 Ducati 50 SL/1 he had acquired at the recent Stafford auction.

All too soon it was time to head for home, and although we had a few ‘challenges’ on the way back our driver, Gary, did a fantastic job of getting us all back safe and sound.

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29th May Breakfast Run Yeomans.

 

A dry day during the recent spell of unsettled weather saw 25 eager souls assemble at our starting point; The Olde Pounde Café at Liveridge Hill near Henley-in-Arden. After many of us had taken early refreshments,

 

Geoff took us on a meandering route to make a good ride for everyone doubling the time it would have taken using the shortest route. Everyone arrived safely at this rather hidden away location, and we were now 26…picking up a ‘lost soul’ along the way…
 

Sam had kindly agreed to open his main storage areas for us all to look around, outside of his normal opening times. Not only that but he had also laid on a fantastic selection of free cakes and biscuits along with endless cups of tea and coffee.
Everyone had a great time wondering around the nooks and crannies of this olde worlde museum/storage areas/workshop. 
Many thanks to Sam and his family for allowing us in, and taking such good care of us.

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Saturday 31st May

Attendance at the 2025 Kenilworth Agricultural Show.

 

Making an exhibition of ourselves in Kenilworth!

 

The arrival of our new gazebo earlier this year has enabled us ‘get out and about’ to promote the VMCC Midland section at various events.
 

After attending some motorcycle events, Saturday 31st May saw us take up an invitation to attend the 2025 Kenilworth Agricultural Show and so at around 7.00am Geoff found himself in a field near Stoneleigh.

After being directed to our allotted space, Geoff was soon joined by an intrepid band of helpers, including Andy W, Steve and Mary, Andrew W, Ian T, Frank, Richard, Mick, Ryan and Phil and we soon had the gazebo set up and the bikes displayed. Nigel, Viv and Lita joined later, whilst there were apologies from Jenny, Steve & Zach, Steve F and Martyn as circumstances prevented them from being with us.
 

After a cold and cloudy start the weather picked up, sunny with a nice cooling breeze, and we paraded our machines around the arena during the morning and afternoon sessions, in company of some classic cars. Nigel was delighted to get ride one of Geoff’s Panthers, whilst Frank treated Viv and Lita to a ‘three-wheeled experience’ in his BMW powered outfit!

The bikes were very well received with people waving and taking photos as we went, which resulted in the stand being very busy with interested visitors throughout the day.
 

However, we all got the chance to wander around the show, which was really well organised and attended, whilst also being relaxed with a great family vibe. The range of things to do was awesome, from air rifle shooting, laser clay shooting to sheep shearing, birds of prey demonstrations and many, many food stalls offering a wide variety of fare, three beer tents, two cider tents and the WI doing tea, coffee and cakes to giant combine harvesters (and I mean GIANT) and vintage tractors.

The Bold Dog FMX stunt bike team put on two incredible shows, and we were pleased they never asked us to demonstrate our bikes in a similar manner. We talked all day with others, picked up a few ideas for future ride out venues, and finally started packing away at 5.00pm, and we were away at 5.30pm.
 

A long, but very enjoyable day.








 

Wednesday 4th June Case is Altered.

Approximately 19 riders met up at the "Bulls Head" in Meridan, for another adventure ride out this time led by route master "Jenny" . After a short briefing and a little starting hick-up with one of the machines which required a "bump start"we were led off through some glorious tarmaced lanes, roads and villages and one or two roadworks on the way. We encounterd another machine hick-up but volunteers soon had the bike "bump started" again. 

 

We were on the road again, and all was going very well and we were enjoying the ride and especially dry warm weather, until approximately 4 miles for out destination when someones wiring harness developed a dead short and consequently flattened the battery completely, if that wasn't bad enough, our "tail end charlie"  (me) stopped to assist!!!!!!!!!  well you can imagine the confusion I caused, sorry everyone.

 

Amazingly all except one rider and a failed machine eventually made it to the "Case Is Altered"pub, where liquid refreshments crisps, and small pork pies were enjoyed by all. 

 

Our lonesome rider did have A.A. recovery insurance and the first recovery van attended in approx 1.5hrs, but unfortunately his bike recovery trailer was not complete ??!!!!!  and therefore another A.A. van had to attend, unfortunately this took a long time and our rider with his machine  eventually arrived home at 03,00hrs. ( not the best service in my opinion).

 

Thanks again To Jenny for volunteering to plan and lead this pack at short notice, and thanks to Zach, Steve Fenton, Geoff and others who assisted with the bumpstarting and breakdown assistance, 

 

Appologies again for leaving my responsibilities as "Tail -End -Charlie" this hopefully will never happen again!

 

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Sunday 8th June Banbury Run.

 

Once again the “Old Relics” were out in force for the world famous VMCC Banbury run.
 

Many thanks to our support team Geoff Ansell Peter Hutton and Charlie Turner who once again had a wasted journey as all the runners and riders made it back to Gaydon in good time.

 

It wasn’t all plain sailing though, as a huge pothole had Nigel’s feet off the pegs, and Andrew, following him at speed also hit it, and smashed the mounting of his wooden topbox. This promptly flew off and overtook him as it came to rest in the middle of the road. Safely retrieved and left with a little old lady at No22 it was collected later by car.
 

We all plan to be back next year, let’s hope the council spend some budget on road repairs in the interim.


























 


Breakfast Run Thursday 12th June

We set out from the "Oakes Farm Cafe " in Balsall street and continued on our 26 mile adventure, passing through Shrewley, Claverdon, Langley, Norton Lindsey, Sherborne, Charlecote and finally our destination in Wellsbourne.

 

Apart from a young lady controlling two horses who were not happy with our machines, and a large tractor who thought he owned the road, the run went extremely well ( as always), and all riders demonstrated great skill , care and consideration, ( well done everyone).

 

Then to top it all for our efforts ,we were greeted with friendly prompt service from the staff at the (Touchdown Cafe) at Wellsbourne airfield, who even managed to bring our refreshments in numerical order.

 

I hope everyone arrived home safely before the thunder !!!
















 

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Saturday 28th June Ride a Bike Day.

Members were out in force to assist the Museum in running one of their regular “Friends Ride a Bike Days”

There was a good selection of pre and post war machine, a few minor problems, but these were soon overcome.


It was a hot day for pushing and kick starting.

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Coach Trip to York 3rd July.

 

A very early start from the National Motorcycle Museum, but the weather was good and everyone including our coach were on time. The trip to York is always well attended, particularly with other half’s coming along, and this time we had 38 folk as there is so much to see and do in York. 

We had 15 people heading straight for the National Railway Museum, and although the tickets are free, we made a donation from our funds to help keep the Museum running.

In addition to the museum, several people enjoyed a river cruise in the great weather, or wondered around York Minster. The Shambles and the Little Shambles are always a popular destination together with the surrounding quaint shopping areas with everything from the Harry Potter shop to very unusual Gothelie Station shop with recreations of a Victorian Train Station and selling some very unusual items…

With lots of restaurants from just about every corner of the world, together with interesting pubs and street food, lunch was always going to be a pleasant experience.

All too soon it was time to regroup and head for home.

Thanks to Geoff for great organisation again, and to our driver for an uneventful trip

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Wednesday 30th April Hoar Park

Our second visit to Hoar Park to promote our section and try and gather some new members.

As ever things went well with 3-4 potential joinees, time will tell.

We have some more promo visits with the Marquee planned for May June and July so keep an eye out for email invites.

Thursday 1st May Breakfast Run.
 

On a blistering Thursday morning, some 24 riders braved the scorching sunshine and chance of sunstroke to take part in this VMCC (Midlands) section ride-out, after my short briefing to old and newer members, and some visitors from two other sections, we departed from "the Olde Pound cafe" and headed off on our 24 mile adventure. The roads and lanes were generally good and obviously dry, however, we encountered a short stretch where the council decided to dress the road surface and so we encountered some "loose chippings", but being all skilled riders that presented no issues to anyone.

 We rode through beautiful country side and took in some great scenery and fresh air, ( unless you were behind a two -stroke). I have to mention my appreciation to young Zach who quickly spotted that one drop off rider missed my drop -off signal, and he quickly took the initiative to "voluntarily drop -off" well done Zach.  
 

Our final destination was only a few miles from our departure point, but again presented a brilliant view, well, it was aptly named "THE VIEW" at Wootton Wawen, where we received a warm welcome and good food too. Plus a great outdoor seating area for us to enjoy the views and our own company.
 

A big thank you goes out to Phil Allman for being our "tail end Charlie" and especially to Adrian for being our "back -up" man, who unfortunately had to offer his assistance to one of our riders right at the entrance to our destination, he was assisted by Phil, Nigel and young Zach and together they managed to get our members machine running, Adrian also further assisted by making sure our member got home safely, - (well done Adrian). 
 

Thank you everyone for your participation & appreciation on this run, and also to the two other section members who expressed their great experience and enjoyment on this/our run-out.   















 

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Sunday 11th May Stratford Auto Jumble

 

Once again we were out with the Gazebo promoting membership of the section this time at the Auto jumble held at the racecourse in Stratford on Avon.

Super turn out and really good response for the public. Early start to get set up but well worth it, Auto jumble finished mid-afternoon: back home in time for tea.
















 

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Derek Bent did a video of the meeting at Hoar Park on 9th April, where we had our first outing for the gazebo.

Quite a few members can be spotted, although there was some old grey-haired bloke impersonating Geoff!!

Well worth a watch, the link is

                                               https://youtu.be/BA_XDyWl2nQ
 

Sunday 27th April C2B Homage Run

Our traditional weekend run down to Brighton, staying overnight and returning the next day was not going ahead this year for various reasons. So we decided to have a run at around the usual date that we would have gone to Brighton, and as a homage to that run we rode to our traditional 1st stop on that route, which is the Deddington Arms pub in Deddington.

The weather was perfect and we had a great turnout with a number of bikes being ridden 2-up, and a vast range of age and makes of machinery. Bob on his AJS led us with a minimum of drop offs required to Deddington.

This run had set off a little later than our usual Brighton run, so unfortunately we missed out on a breakfast at the Deddington Arms, but all enjoyed a refreshing coffee, tea or soft drink sitting outside in the warm sunshine and chatting.

Afterwards, we all went our separate ways with some small groups looking for food on the way home.

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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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