VMCC meeting 7th May

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Vintage Motorcycle Club meeting

Cricketers Arms at Pirbright

Tuesday 7^th May

We have had a very nice few days and now it is coming to the end of the week the promise for better weather is receding fast. I have now sorted out my LE battery with a deal from M&P as it had been some time since I bought the battery before commissioning it. A rather cold and dismal winter got in the way. Last weekend I managed to get out to the Wey Valley Bike club meeting on the first Sunday of the month but didn’t do a run out but did hand out more fliers for the pound off Monday. I dropped into the museum to collect more fliers on the way home. I had planned to go out on Bank Holiday Monday to Lowesley for their motor festival but discovered I had the wrong May Bank Holiday so I didn’t go. There was a Hasting Bike festival going on but I decided that struggling with Bank Holiday traffic around the M25 was something I didn’t want to do either. Tuesday was the last of the good weather and the first Tuesday of the month and VMCC meeting night. I lured Gita out with me on the promise of a meal out and headed out around the M25 and down the M3 to Woking and on the Pirbright. It was a very pleasant ride out and the new bearings in the rear wheel, the Buell the bike was running well. Pirbright is not that far away about 27 miles and we were there as the sun was going down. Out with camera and burdened with fliers I did the rounds of people crowded between bikes and cars in the car park. 

There were some very nice bikes there and some oldies like an MZ 250. The MZ owners are going on a Continental trip and I interrupted their planning meeting. There were a goodly number of Velocette singles and someone had come out on a BSA Bantam trials bike. I ran into the guy who had loaned his MSS to the museum and wanted to know that it was OK. I had said that his request to turn the engine over periodically had been done. Time to get something to eat. Soft drinks ordered and now we find there is no food on this evening. We dine on crisps and peanuts. It is around 9pm and starting to get dark, some of the bikes with poor lights are starting to leave. I go around and hand out more fliers reminding people of the pound off Monday. Some of the guys already have fliers from previous bike club meetings but still have not gone to the museum. One guy asks me what the attendance is like for Monday, I reply that it is as good as the weekend and that the tea or coffee is still free. By 9:30 I think I have got nearly everyone so we gear up and head for home and a late bike to eat. It is cool and pleasant ride home and we arrive around 10pm. Even though Gita didn’t get the promised meal out in all it had been a very nice way to spend a Tuesday evening.

Stafford Bike Show Part 3

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 Part 3

Packed and ready to go by 09:30, filled with fuel and empty trailer in tow we head back to the show ground. First stop is an antiques shop on the way. Gita buys a stool and I fit that in behind the front seats. It is early enough to be in the traders parking area and much closer to the entrance than yesterday. It is cool but warmer than yesterday and dry so we do the rounds of some stalls. Gita is on the spy for clothes and an open face helmet and I for tools and to see if I can get a link to the Dynavolt battery supplier. Our first call is a stand that is selling helmets almost half price. There are two that fit but we still go in search for a deal on a florescent pink one. I see a trader that is selling Dynavolt batteries and he obligingly gives me the name of another dealer who has links with the supplier. I go away feeling I have achieved something. I buy some self adhesive reflectors for the car as one has lost its colour and at another stall a couple of heavier straps to replace the broken one. We go up to the LE club stand and leave our purchases there. I have done all the club stands so now I am just handing out fliers to people passing by and talking about my LE and other LE’s and Valiant’s and Viceroy’s. Gita goes on a shop and is back at the stand for lunch around 12:30. I have almost talked my voice into submission and lunch is a welcome break. 

This time we eat at the “Kitchen” it is less luxurious than the cafeteria but for me the all day breakfast was very enjoyable. The tea was the best we had at the show. We decide that Gita should get one of those helmets that fit her so I go back to the stand, get my bike jacket and go for another walk around the stands. Gita manages to buy the one she likes best and only just in time. There is another lady looking to buy one too. Carrying on around the stalls we are passing the “Wall of Death” arena and with the £5 that Gita has got off the helmet we invest in 15 minutes of daring. It is very entertaining with the finale of 3 riders doing chase me around the wall, riding so close to the top that the bikes are only inches from you. 

At the end they now tell you they are not insured for themselves and require us to toss coins into the arena to show our appreciation. It occurred to me that perhaps we were not insured either. Back to the LE stand and I talk more and hand out fliers. I have pinched a few back from the “Unwanted” club stand. I talk a long time to a guy about Valiant’s and he is going to join the club. Around 4pm Gita and I go for another tea at the “Kitchen”, I have 6 fliers left and hand them out to some keen Yorkshire men that like the pound off Monday. Back at the stand we start to dismantle the props in readiness to escape. 

I talk to Keith about a Viceroy engined Valiant special. It was an interesting conversation of how and what to do. It is close to 5pm and I say my farewells as there is little for me to do and thank everyone for helping me support the museum. The 2 bikes in front of mine on the stand have now gone so I can now move mine. We are loaded up and we join the queue to go down the exit ramp. On the dot of 5 we move. I have a helmet box on the tank and am not able to stop to start the bike so I freewheel down the ramp, find a suitable place to stop. The LE fires up third kick, Gita climbs aboard and we follow the procession to the exit gate and the car. I smile at the guy who has been there all weekend and seen us come and go. He smiles back. With the LE loaded on the trailer we follow Tom-toms’ directions to the M6 and come back non-toll. The journey is about 150 miles and done in about 3 hours. Not bad for a little car towing.

Stafford Bike show Part 2

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Part Two.

Saturday morning was even colder with heavy showers interspersed with fleeting sunshine. I had promised Gita a shopping moment and on the way to the show ground we found an antiques shop, a knitting shop and a craft shop. Entry was easy today but we were parked a long way from the traders entrance. Once in it was just too cold to walk around the traders stalls so we went up to the LE stand and met some old friends from when I first joined the LE club more than 40 years ago. I took a wad of fliers with me to leave them with the club stands and also take a few photos of the bikes at the show. 

We had lunch in the cafeteria but later we were told of a better place to eat. I managed nearly all the club stands with the “Unwanted” bike club taking a generous number of fliers as they had events they were going to in the near future and were willing to distribute them for me. I ran out of fliers a few times and had to return to the LE stand for more. On my rounds I saw a very interesting scooter. It was the aluminium bodied Maicomobile with trailer. 

I particularly liked an Ivory Calthorpe from an individual exhibitor. The show just sets the mind going and it requires some restraint not to feel you are in a candy store and buy something extravagant! During my rounds I ran into an old friend who lives locally and to my embarrassment couldn’t remember his name for ages. Finally I did and introduced Gita to him. I didn’t spend much time on the LE stand but there were enough people there anyway. 

Gita and I had had enough by 5:30 and we made our way back to the Travelodge via the centre of Stafford to see what was there. The day had been punctuated by sharp showers, some of hail forcing visitors into the halls for shelter. It was really crowded inside. 

We drove back in sunshine and it was the warmest part of the day. In the evening we were out to the Stag’s Leap for our evening meal. It was a good 20 minutes walk away from the centre of Rugeley. We hadn’t booked and there was nothing for us perhaps until 9pm. I said that was OK and I settled in for a few pints of Pedigree and Gita a red wine while we waited. Before I had got half way through my first pint a table was ready, we could sit and there was no rush to order. We ate and then went back to the Travelodge, did a little packing and planned what to do for Sunday.

Stafford Classic Bike Show

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Stafford Classic Motorcycle Show

27^th and 28^th April 2013.

Part one.

As usual a big event takes some planning even if you are only going to exhibit. Living in London I had two options, one to ride the bike there or trailer it.  I have to use my kit car as the other car has no towing facilities. I have a single bike trailer that I have not used for years so I needed to test everything out including a trial towing run. I was at the museum for my Monday stint and picked up the required mega-wad of fliers. The LE was running OK although it overheated and boiled after a few miles, a problem to be discussed when I meet up with the people from the LE owners club. Tuesday I checked the trailer over and put some fresh grease in the wheel bearings. Both were dry and felt just a little rough. Wednesday I had all the bits together, loaded the LE with Gita’s help and went for a test run. 

  
My strapping down was fine and the bike did not move. I went out in the evening to the West London Harley meeting at the Angel on the Uxbridge road Hayes End. This is when I discovered I had a problem with the Buell as I heard some clunking sounds from the rear end. This sounded ominously of bearing trouble. I would have to check that when I returned from Stafford. It rained during the evening and that didn’t put a damper on a good evening out with the lads. I gave a short talk about the museum and what we could do for the club and what the club could do for us. I have been invited back to tell people about the routes I have done on ROG’s runs. I was due to go out on a ROG’s run the next day but because of the noises I decided not to chance and spent the Thursday packing all the bits I thought I would need for car and bike and trailer. Friday we had a lazy morning, loaded the LE on the trailer and finally left for Stafford about mid-day. The run was slow with a head wind and a traffic jam at the end on the M6. Just before Oxford I saw the LE move a little on the trailer so I stopped at the services to check and found anew strap had broken, not a problem as it was the one that when over the bike and was only a safety measure. I carried a spare which was much heavier constructions and fitted that. We arrived at Stafford have got caught on the toll for an extra £4.50. I was miffed about that because there is no price to be warned of only trailers extra at the bottom of the sign that is easily missed.  Needless to say I didn’t go home that way. When we got to Stafford show ground they would not let Gita in because there was no second security strap for her and I had to pay another £26 for one. I am not impressed with Mortons’ profiteering but other than that the organisation, security and control were very good. Once in, I found the LE stand on foot leaving Gita stranded in the car for ages.

 The stand was on the balcony so I had to use the ramp at the other end of the building. On the way to the ramp I received some abuse from a car driver who thought I could reverse a trailer. I tried, made a “horlicks” of it and he finally reversed out of the way after I completely blocked the road. With the LE off the trailer I was hoping to ride it up the ramp but it refused to start so I had to push it. I managed to get it to the stand, then checked the plugs which looked a little dark and then it fired up. There were some select expressions used. But another guy I met on the way in said he had had the same problem. Must be something to do with Stafford. 

The stand was pretty much set up so we left them to it and went off to Rugeley to find our Travelodge and get something to eat. We found the Travelodge unloaded the car, hid the trailer behind a hedge and went to sample the delights of the high street to see what they had. I was slightly disappointed in that only 2 pubs had any real ale and only one did food. Eventually after strolling around avoiding the cold showers we found a pub that had some real ale. It was the Albion but no food was available. Not too much of a problem but we were starting to get a bit peckish when someone on a table near arrived with a bag of chips. The people on the table said it was OK but I thought I had better ask to be sure and we could go and get some food and eat it in the bar and that is what we did. We were even told which chip shop to use 5 doors down, but we had to clear up our own mess before leaving. It was the Albion fish and chip and pizza shop. They do kebabs as well. Back in the pub we shared a large cod and chips and along with a pint of Hobgoblin. It was the best fish and chips I had had for ages and something that I had never done before. Back to the Travelodge to sleep and get ready for tomorrow.