Velocettes at Shiplake

 www.london-motorcycle-museum.org

Visit to the Thames Valley Velocette Owners Club

Tuesday 11th June 2013.

I was late getting to the Museum on Sunday morning. Last night we were at the Lion Rally. I almost leapt out of bed at 9:40 am and made good progress to the Museum on the Valiant. I was there before 10:30. This Sunday there was an exhibition by motorcycleart.com with hand painted views of many of the classics. A photographer was present to take appropriate pics of paying customers with some of the bikes from the Museum. I spent nearly all day talking to visitors and little time to have a chat with the artist. Even at lunch I was talking to people between mouthfuls of sandwich. When I came to go home the Valiant refused to start, the plugs were wet. Even when dried off it took a push start to get it going. I got home fine. I was back in again on the Monday morning but when I arrived the Valiant was peeing petrol over the ground. The float bowl needle had stuck and even when I turned off the petrol tap it still kept peeing. Finally a whack with a spanner on the carburettor stopped the flow. I still could not turn the fuel off. This was the reason for the wet plugs yesterday. One of the petrol taps was not working properly. That was not the only tale of woe for today. I struggled to get the bike on the stand. Eventually I did. At lunch time around 1:30 after the morning visitors had left and I had consumed my lunch I had another look at the Valiant. The centre stand was cockeyed. I pushed one of the legs into a safer position and then inspected why this was so. The cross bar that is welded to each of the legs had broken away from the right leg. Secure enough to get home safely but would need repairing before I next went out on it. Off home as soon as I could, the Valiant started fine and there were no more problems with flooding. Once home I drained the fuel from the tank, cleaned the carburettor removed the Ewart tap to find a little nick in the cork seal. I turned the cork around to a better position and this now sealed. The stand would wait for another day.

 

 Tuesday was on, off drizzlely sort of day so I thought I would try to repair the Valiant centre stand. I have never encountered so many bits involved with a centre stand it is no wonder Velocette went bust. Just look at the photo and even then the 1/2inch square bar that it all sits on is still on the bike being a temporary stand pushed out one side. With my inexpert welding I spent most of the morning getting the leg back in place. Cleaned up, I give the stand a coat of primer and discover the other leg is breaking away too. By lunch time it is all welded together and with a bit of rod that had long gone now replaced with a bolt shaft, painted and I am waiting for the paint to dry so I can refit the stand.

 

I wait for a couple of hours and catch up with Moto GP. The best time to fit this stand is when you have a bare frame to handle so you can turn it upside down like a bicycle. I struggle with it for a couple of hours and finally get it back together. Another job done and I get ready for my evenings visit to the Velocette Owners Club who meet up at the Plowden Arms at Shiplake not far from Henley on Thames. I set off about 7:30 on the Buell and again into bright sunshine like last Tuesday and the visit to Wycombe MAG. I almost go by the Stag but turn off just before and enjoy the country lanes to Marlow and Henley and then out on the Reading road. I arrive at the pub and am welcomed by the guy who I spoke to at Kempton Park. I take some picture of the bikes. 

They are all impressive and look in showroom condition. There was a 250 BMW single from 1964 there too and when he rode off it sounded very sweet.  I handed out a few fliers but more applications for the BMCT, a deal not to be missed and in return I received invitations for the Velocette day at the pub for next weekend and Bike Night at Stoke Green Cricket Club on Wednesday 19^th June and the Jam Pot Rally at Reading Abbey RFC over the August Bank Holiday.

 

I’m not sure what I will be able to get to. A very pleasant evening talking Velocettes before heading home following the directions of TomTom that lead me towards the A404 and then towards the M4. It starting to get dark so I follow the motorway only to find the slip road for the M4 closed so I fight my way through the traffic that has backed up and I go back up the A404 to the M40 avoiding the diversion and come home that way. I have done 76 miles in the evening and enjoyed every minute.

The Lion Rally

www.london-motorcycle-museum.org 

The Lion Rally

 I had a couple of trips out this past week on the Kawasaki one in lovely sunshine through London along the Embankment and Friday in the rain that seemed only to fall on me to get a haircut. I like to get out at least once a week to wrestle with traffic to keep my filtering skills honed.  Another cat table built and more decorating, a barbie at home to get me in the mood for my visit to the Rally in the evening. I persuade Gita to come along with the carrot of live music. I put the saddlebags on the Buell so we don’t have to carry much around and head off late afternoon into the sun. I looked up the location just before leaving and know pretty much where to go. It is not far from the 4X4 place at Pingwood. Along the country lanes near the site I’m enjoying myself too much and miss the entrance to the Rally. I do a quick u turn in the next gateway and come back to pass through the farm yard to the entrance. At the gate someone recognises me and they let me in for a donation. I park up close to the security tent and stow what we can in the saddlebags and I go back to the security tent to leave more filers.

 Pete, from Reading MAG, asks me for some fliers for the Newbury show on the 7^th July.  Today I have none to give him but I promised her would have some for the show.  Looks like I’ll be heading out to the Butlers Arms before that. On around the trade stands to the bar and hand out fliers to those outside and more inside. I chance meet Geordie, who has a session on Biker FM the on-line biker’s station. I give him a flier and he hands me his card and promises to do a radio link up with the museum. I have to get a tenners worth of tickets that I can exchange for drinks. Two pounds of which is refundable when I return the plastic glasses on the Sunday. I’m only there for the evening, so a shame that I won’t get that refund. More fliers handed out and I run into the guy who had his first visit to Wycombe MAG for ages is there with his wife for the whole Rally. I saw him last Tuesday and we talked for a while before I move on to more punters handing out more fliers.

 Drinks in hand we go to the stage where the Jason Hendrix Experience in having their moment. I am deaf within minutes and should have put my earplugs in from the Helibike tent. Another donation had made my wallet even lighter, but we have a free pen as well. 

Entertaining as it was with the lead singer doing long forgotten antics we retreated to the Christian Bikers tent for a nice cup of tea. I leave my plastic glasses with them to get the refund as a donation.  It was getting really cold and we went back to the bike so Gita could put on her bike gear and get warm. I have the camera with me to record the event and I hand out more fliers as we go. We arrive back at the stage for the next band via the beer tent handing out more fliers to those I had missed earlier. The next band is so slick in comparison to the first and we recognise a few of the artists from the “Jam nights” at the Black Horse in Greenford.  That is the other end of Oldfield lane from the Museum. We are entertained by some good music and vocals from the Broken Wheel. During that time Anne, of Wycombe MAG, is handing out balloons all around the audience. They are the ones they make sausage dogs from but they are the adult ones.

 It is approaching 10:30 and we need to be heading home. The dark has come along as has the cold. Going home on the bike was the warmest I had been all evening. It did not take long. At home I had to take the saddlebags off to get the bike in the garage. Brandy tea finished off the evening. I had to be up early to be at the Museum in the morning. There would be a Motorcycle Art exhibition and a professional photographer present and the museum needed all the people available around for the extra visitors expected.

Where has last week gone!

www.london-motorcycle-museum.org 

Where has last week gone!

I look back over the last ten days and since the Southern Classic bike show life seems to have gathered pace. Tuesday after the show was the LE club meeting with one Chris returning my trailer and me passing the show stuff back to the other Chris for storage for the nest event which I think will be Ali Pali in September. I had to use the car to tow the trailer back home. I haven’t got a tow ball on any of the bikes. More DIY at home and building a cat table in the garden so that the cat can leap on and off it instead of charging at the wood fence, trying to crash through it before realising it is not possible and then crawling up the remainder of it claw over claw. It saves me from wondering what all the noise is about. 

We get to the first Sunday of the month and out with the Wey Valley bike club that meets at Ripley. More fliers handed out. I thought I had saturated the club by now, but there are still people who don’t know about the Museum. I was a bit short on time this morning so missed out on the back by one run but went with Graham and some guys visiting from Somerset to the Ride Safe promotion at the Fire Station at Hazelmere. Nice to ride in close formation with a group and still obeying the two second rule.

Handing out more fliers there to some of the locals but also the Honda owners club and the Christian Bikers Association both pledged to come and pay the Museum a visit on club runs. Monday, back on duty at the Museum on the Valiant and we had a visitor from New Zealand. He had come in on Saturday while his wife was shopping and had come in again while his wife was still shopping. He did meet his wife in the interim. He would like to come again to us but he will have to return to New Zealand soon and may never visit to the Museum again!  Tuesday was the continuing saga of decorating with a trip out to the Stag at Flackwell Heath in the evening.

A nice trip out on the Buell and meeting up with more friends from Wycombe MAG. A few more fliers handed out and lots of cards for me to pass on to the Museum about the Chinnor Bike Dayz at the beginning of July also reminding me of the Lion Rally taking place at Reading. I want some tickets for this but the ticket holder had been loaded up all day with bits for the forthcoming Lion Rally and had none with her. Never mind, I would get some on Saturday at the Rally. I like to think I know what is happening at the Museum but not today, I had a lovely surprise when they said they were having their club night at the Museum on Tuesday 18^th June with a barbie! I hope the weather will be good I plan to be there to help out with the festivities.

Lowesley Park Transport Faire

www.london-motorcycle-museum.org 

Bank Holiday Monday

26^th May 2013

After the Kempton Park Bike Show on the Saturday, Sunday was a more restful day with a quick trip to the Museum to give and have an update of the progress of things. From my part it was how well the show went with both the Valiant on the LE Club stand and the Tiger Cub on the LMM stand getting “Highly Commended” rosettes and obtaining the list of parts for the Greenford Police LE MK3. This one will be put back together in the Museum work shop that is in the Hall of Triumph after the Venom Clubman is completed. Rowley is working on that one and it is coming along well. I have already obtained a few parts for the rebuild and I am about to order a few more. Bill is organising the paint and respray using the Tekaloid paint recommended by the LE club. As far as the building works in the yard everything at that end has to be cleared before the end of June so there is still much to do. This is the reason for no events being arranged this year as the yard where we hold the events could disappear almost at a moment’s notice. At present we still have the space so it would be good for bike clubs to do runs out to us sooner than later. Even so there are still over 40 car parking spaces at the front of the museum but not all suitable for bikes.

Now moving on to Bank Holiday Monday. I had been invited to go along to the Lowesley Park Transport Faire by that local 2CV Owners Club and bring my car along to show it off I also wanted to get some fliers handed out there. In the end I had more family in tow and for everyone’s’ comfort we went in the Toyota instead. Lowesley Park is the other side of Guildford and on the way we passed queues of traffic heading for the Surrey County Show. I was expecting a bigger show than was there. The organisers said that as the shows were on the say day they had lost out quite a bit but it was still worth doing. I met up with the 2CV Club and said my hellos’ and then on with the business of handing out fliers. Sadly there were few bikes at the show and as with a number of events like this the local Scooter clubs out-do everyone with the numbers present and the enthusiasm they do it with. They usual crowd of show people were there and most were ardent motorcyclists in their youth so handing out fliers to them and encouraging them to go to the museum was not difficult. There are still a few of the “Don’t like motorcycles” brigade around and thankfully they are at the show and not driving around on this Bank Holiday. I did meet more interesting people with their cars one was a guy who was selling a Marston that is a Beatle based kit car that looks a bit like a 1950’s Bugati with the pointed rear end. He was going back to his first love of motorcycles. 

The other is a young man who is interested in Eastern European cars, I think he is around 12 years old and has his own car. He won it at a Classic Car show in the raffle and he is the proud owner of a Trabant. We had discussions about the merits of the 600c two stoke engine in the Trabant compared with those of the three cylinder 800cc two stoke engine in the Wartburg. This lad knows about Eastern European cars. The next show for him is at West Clandon next month. When I had finished the rounds of the clubs and owners I went back to the 2CV Club people to say my goodbyes and even there more interest was shown in the museum with a few latent motorcyclists wanting more information about the museum. I am not the only one who rides a bike and has a 2CV.