NEWS @ NENE
Autumn 2015
Nene V alley Chapter
Chapter No. 9946
Director Paul Whiting p.whiting514@btinternet.com 07836 769624
Bob ‘The Bus’ (pass) Rhoades hdvrod@btinternet.com 07817 700958
Secretary & Membership Jan Harter’ janharter@btinternet.com 07913 071242
Treasurer John Nicholas johnnickretuired@gmail.com 07808 648575
Editor Chris Lapsley ‘Slow Hand’ nenevalleyeditor@ btinternet.com 07709 205571
Webmaster ‘Road King' Scot Haynes roadkingscot@o2.co.uk 07970 421716
Safety Officer
Activities Officer Vacant Position
Vacant Position
Head Road Captain Mike ‘Mikey’ Ivers mike@maivers7.freesere.co.uk 07950 947681
Merchandising Officers Mike & Jacqui Wakelin mike-groundhog@hotmail.co.uk 07989 975444
Ladies of Harley Officer Martine Garland martine@garland.me.uk 07866 363 784
Historian Vacant Position
Photographer Vacant Position
DIRECTORS DRIVEL I cannot believe that I am already writing my contribution for the September magazine. It is as if we have missed out on summer and jumped into autumn, but, that does not mean that is the end of enjoying ourselves on the bikes. There is still plenty to look forward to however first we will look back a little. We have had some memorable events in August. The Lapsley ‘one dayer’ to the Peak district which took in some fantastic roads and sights. This day emphasised what a beautiful country we have; yes if only we could guarantee some consistently good weather. Chris and Maria do spend a lot of time planning and executing these tours where they find roads not designed for HD’s go on and create very enjoyable and memorable rides. Badger did a ride to the bubble car museum, eventually as I understand it; another Rickie breakfast ride, etc. etc. Then we have hosted another superb rally at the Rugby club which again was a tremendous success thanks to Brumbo and the team who worked so hard to make it all happen. Great entertainment, brilliant bands (if somewhat loud, but that’s showing my age) and good to see visitors and friends from other chapters. There have also been lots of rallies and holidays that members have embarked upon. The pictures of Sharpie’s grin have appeared on facebook for most of the last month as he, wife and the Ringers have travelled around the USA. I am sure there will be a written report to accentuate what a good time they had. Then I know a good contingent attended up at Aviemore. Looking forward we have Neil’s Belgium war graves trip, Hadelot (Opal Shore), Chlli ride, Stonhenge and more still in the pipeline. Furthermore Irish Mike has had a useless organ removed (don’t be nasty) so the RATS is being restarted. So do not put your bikes away just yet. On the only negative thought I wish to raise (ever) I would point out to members that if you want to raise an issue with me do so, do not take up with my wife or leave cryptic messages with her, Sue did not take on the Directorship. Contrary to the opinion of some I did not take on this job
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frivolously or as a massive ego trip. I might be doing it differently to previous incumbents but I am doing it my way and trying to continue the friendly atmosphere that I feel has built up over the past few years within the membership. We are all on the same team! So trust me when I say my shoulders are broad if you want to talk to me then please do so. Finally we still need those who want to do so to come forward and join the committee, even if it is to be in a non specified role, there are things to be done. Screw it, enjoy……. Paul
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Editor’s View Point So has summer finished ?? bloody well felt like it once we hit England coming back from Thunder in the Glens. Rain – boy did it rain and with traffic queueing effectively from Lancaster to Stoke (where we got off) we ended up white lining between fast and middle lane most of the way on wet roads. We rode down with Pasty and Ange. Just near Stirling I noticed Pasty pull over onto the hard shoulder. We stopped further down. Watching his head lights I could see he was doing an engine management reset. Lights on and off 5 times and up he came. Unfortunately we had to repeat a few more times but each time it took longer to reset, so spent a bit of time on the M6 hard shoulder. Luckily this happened before the rain ! Fortunately Pasty’s bike behaved after that although I rode behind just in case he had a high speed loss of power. An 11 hour ride home. Only took 8 hours going up. But what a great August it’s been and I thought July was good. Following on from my personal summary in August’s mag, the month kept going with my High Peak Passes Ride, our Rally (what a great rally it was), Thunder in the Glens and just gone – the Chilli ride. All baud well for the month when me and Ex Madam Sec actually rode all the way down to club night. First chance in ages – and did you see that sunset
for a very interesting ride route – and the weather was brill – although I did manage to hit the only shower in sight when I rode down Friday lunchtime. I don’t think Mikey intended a joint ride out with certain MCs but at the back it was quite concerning that about 6 or more fully patched members were riding quite happily in the last group of our ride !! I have included a gallery of pics from the event, mainly the dressing up, I will add some more in next month’s issue (as I have to keep file size down for emailing whilst maintaining decent pic quality). Also my camera was playing up so apologies if your pic is not included although I did go round snapping everyone in fancy dress. It was wig time again as we did Sharon & Ozzy
Then came TitG. 04:30 the alarm went off but still took ages to shake Maria out of her pit for our 06:00 start on the Friday to do the 460 miles run to Aviemore. And what a day – bright sunshine (if a bit chill), managed to dodge the showers in northern England – but got caught between Glasgow & Stirling. But not bad for Scotland as the rest was dry. 20 Neenies at Aviemore and what a great time we had – we did : Food :- 10 of us took over the basement booths at the Skido High Peak Passes ride saw a gallant band of 14 hard ass iron restaurant and as a butts do my all about the riding ride, and even the sun shone result of good pre – especially for our outdoor lunch stop at the George & planning by Pasty Dragon – (where else !!) got a table for 10 at Pappa Johns (who I must say our Rally Organising Team did a great job. It was a don’t take bookings) well chilled weekend, good bands, food beer, thanks Mikey and were able to walk straight in past a queue of bikers who
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Editor’s View Point were waiting for tables. Let’s say they weren’t to chuffed ! Partying :- Had the old stalwarts Ballroom Gits playing plus some new acts including Ricky Parfitt junior’s RPJ Band on the Sunday night – very good !!
Booze : The girl that gave us the distillery tour was more interested in us as bikers than giving the tour although there were 12 others in the group. She seemed to be wetting herself when we were telling her about TitG.
We have a packed mag this month (Quarter) and big thanks to all those that have contributed : Petar, Jonny, Irish Mike, Alan, & Jedi Checking out the latest HOG mag I see Marilyn Knight has got her name up in lights with her LoH article and both she and Alan seem to have joined Bridgwater Chapter looking at the picture in page 29. Well done Marilyn. Riding :- Traditional Saturday route over the hills and far away – in the I didn’t do my chances of a cushy job in H.O.G. any good sunshine !!!! plus the our own Malt Whisky trail. whilst in Aviemore. First morning at breakfast we were shown to a table for two – nicely laid and untouched. Got our juice and coffee and just thinking about a fully fry up when along came Marj & partner. We had nicked their table – but not our fault. The staff were a bit stressed that morning with a place full of bikers totally ignoring the normal “dress code” for the restaurant !! haha. Anyway, Mad Dog has beaten us all to that role. That’s it for September – don’t forget I always need your stuff so please keep supporting your mag with articles and pics. I can’t be everywhere (although I do try !!) Cheers
Chris Lapsley, “Slow Hand” Editor Last date for contributions to the Q3 2015 Edition :
Friday 21st August 2015
email :- nenevalleyeditor@btinternet.com or phone me on 07709 205571 or 01455 450463
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Mikey’s Natter Well it’s that time of the month again and August has been pretty busy, which is surprising considering how mixed the weather has been. We have had a number of great rides and I have managed to get to all of them. We had Rickie’s breakfast ride which took in some beautiful country roads and the weather was kind. The next day a number of us went to the Bubble car museum and then the following weekend it was the Peak Passes ride which was a real iron butt ride but great fun and it was great to see an old road captain back out with us.
Autumn 2015 tailing the ride out at the Rally, for which we had a fantastic turn out and also thanks for the text messages about the route, it was great that we managed to get many of you on roads you have not been on before. I was at the front so missed all the excitement but heard we were joined by a dozen or more back patch riders on their way to their meet.
Welcome back Owl , sorry to have Got you out of bed!! Yawn Yawn Yawn
We also had a good turn out for the Ace. When we were at the Bubble car museum we also met this odd guy who was collecting the entrance fee. The number of rallies this month has reminded me to nag you (sorry) to let me know about your attendance or get a list together when you are at a different event. Also let me know how you get there bike, car, campervan, train or plane!!! We still have a lot to look forward to this month, by the time you get this we will have returned to the Chilli festival, we also have a good few of us off to France and Belgium on the war memorial tour (tunnel permitting!!) and also the Piston and Props ride and Stonehenge. So much to see and do and I plan to do all of these so hopefully will see many of you out and about. We also have RTTW coming around really quickly where Nene Valley will be marshalling and leading from Northampton services and I know I will see many of you there. Chris will be leading as normal a ride back to Weedon.
As the biking season is whizzing by it reminds me, we will start thinking about next year very shortly, we have already had a request to re run the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie ride giving us the chance to make our own pork pies and a request to go into London for a couple of things, Hard Rock We also had our very own Rally this month. A massive thank Café and pie and mash. Please let me or any of the RC’s know you to the rally committee for another successful rally, it was your ideas a great couple of days. I would also like to thank Chris and In the meantime ride safe and have fun Becky for We have also had a number of rallies this month, a good few headed up to the Welsh Mountains; also some went to SOFER and up to Thunder in the Glens.
Mikey HRC The Chapters at its best when it rides
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RCs & Rides
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Chris Fawcett ‘Jedi’ Email : chris@chris57.plus.com 07964 775677 Mike Sharp mt.sharp@btinternet.com 07748 913326
Becky Ivers ‘Becks’ becky@reivers7.freeserve.co.uk 07901 716385
Andrew ‘Pasty’ Pugsley aafr43@yahoo.co.uk 07971 903581
Neil ‘The Ambassador’ Harrison njharrison47@gmail.com 07810 870167
Rickie Anne Gee Email : molly.g224@btinternet.com
07969 809662
Head Road Captain Mike ‘Mikey’ Ivers
Bob ‘The Bus’ Rhoades hdvrod@btinternet.com 07817 700958
mike@maivers7.freesere.co.uk
07950 947681
Chris Lapsley ‘Slow Hand’ c.lapsley@ntlworld.com 07709 205571
Mick Gray ‘Badger’ badgermick@virginmedia.com 07946 299447
Chris Ringer
Mike Waklein – ‘Groundhog’ mikewakelin@fsmail.net 07989 975444
cringer@virginmedia.com
07897 729749
Saturday 26th September Pistons & Props Festival, Sywell Aerodrome, nr Wellingborough Departing Jack's Hill 10am, Mikey leading
Stonehenge Ride out Sunday 27th Sept 2015 Neil, the Ambassador Leading Leave Jacks Hill at 09.00hrs
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Ladies of Harley News Letter
Autumn 2015
What a month August turned out to be a whirlwind of rallies and parties! My first SofER was excellent fun, unfortunately I arrived too late to join the Ladies of Harley ‘My Little Pony’ ride out, but I know a few of our Ladies made it (and got soaked!).
never seen anyone so genuinely surprised (if I say Bab's was speechless then you'll understand the enormity of the situation)
The new Hicksted venue seemed great although I had nothing to compare it to, could have done with a few more food stands, speaking of food – a huge thanks to Colin and Sue for laying on a slap up full English breakfast on the Saturday! Next up our rally, and what an excellent rally it was. Saturday dawned hot and sultry with not a cloud in the sky (I think the first rally I've been to worrying about have I got sun cream rather than 'where's my waterproofs?'). Fabulous ride out to AJ's diner, not somewhere I was aware of, but will definitely be back. The evening saw the club in their fancy dress finery, including three Stevie Nicks'!
With regards to an Autumn activity, thanks to the few of you who expressed an interest in ceramic painting, but alas not enough to secure a booking for them to open in the evening. Maybe a few of us could go one afternoon. So how about the ever popular skittles? I'll circulate a sign up sheet at club night so look out and get your name down. Meanwhile, you will hopefully have seen the mail about the ride out to the Pistons & Props Festival 26 September. This is a fantastic event for classic cars, bikes and planes with a vintage shopping village thrown in what's not to like! Find out more about the event at www.sywellclassic.co.uk , more info about the ride is on our website.
Anyhow, until next month…ride safe and share the spark And finally, the month closed with a memorable surprise Martine x party for our very own Lady Babs to celebrate 60 fine years of age. The place was packed with family and friends, I have
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Stroke Survivor – The Long Road Back
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Together we managed to find an axle that would fit my bike (HD 883 Iron) and in April I was off to Cardiff to fetch the axle. It weighed an absolute ton as my wife will confirm. It took lots of brute force and swear words to get the axle out of the car boot and safely into the garage. The next challenge was to find wheels. I was told that 5 stud, 17” BMW ones would do the trick, like hell, they didn’t fit. So I spoke to a wheel stockist about 20 miles away and on Saturday afternoon I go over. F**k they shut at 12.00. So Monday I speak to them again and they say, bring me a pattern of your wheel stud holes. Over I go again but my template isn’t good enough, it needs to be within one millimetre. We hauled the axle back into Mel’s car this time (they must think we are power lifters) back to the wheel guys My story begins on Sunday 10th October 2010. A nice day for and after some exact measuring from the experts, joy of joys, a ride, unusual for October so I decided to take the bike out the wheels are ordered. Two to three weeks they said, joke, for what would turn out to be a last spin for a very long time nothing has yet gone to plan, why should the wheels be any as 3 days later (on what would have been club night), I different. I got a call to say that as the factory had a backlog suffered a massive and would also be breaking for annual shutdown, my wheels stroke. I hadn’t had would be 8 to 9 weeks. Well they finally arrived so back into the bike long and the car with the axle, even 3 shredded wheat didn’t help, we whilst I was out, the trekked back to the shop and yippee, they fit and looked milometer showed great. 1000 miles, kind of spooky considering the date (101010). Life changed BIG time but even whilst I was in hospital, I was determined to get back on my bike. It was what spurred me on to get back as much of my former self as physically possible. My wife joked that most people had photos of family/loved ones in hospital but me, well I had my Harley. In the words of Casey Stoner “If you never give up, anything is possible”. Six months passed with very little progress but then my wife took me to a club night and seeing The Chapter reaffirmed that this was where I wanted to be. I had to give it my best shot to get back to what I love doing, riding. Despite the delay, work had continued and whilst waiting I The next 3 years were really hard, both physically and had stripped the bike. Back wheel out, swinging arm off, mentally but slowly and surely, things started to improve. I back calliper disconnected, exhausts off, belt guard off, tank was back driving a car (automatic) but that gave me back drained and removed so that it wouldn’t rust. Then the some independence but not what I craved. rebuild starts, the swinging arm is replaced by a subframe for the axle to bolt onto, using the original bearing from the February 2014 and my left leg still wasn’t strong enough to swinging arm. After much grunting, more than the occasional take the weight of the bike so the decision was finally made swear word (only little ones, I think) and of course the to convert the bike into a trike. As luck would have it, one of obligatory big hammer, it’s in. Next connect up the shock my best friends is a bike builder by trade and so the next leg absorbers and what a surprise, they didn’t fit!! One of the of the journey began. bolt holes was about an eighth of an inch out of line. Out comes the angle grinder to cut it off, to be rewelded, one tap
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Stroke Survivor – The Long Road Back with a hammer and it’s off. Those bloody people in Cardiff that supplied the subframe had only welded onto rust!! My friend grinds off the other bolt hole and rewelds them both into the correct place, hooray, it fits perfectly. More grunting, swearing and aching backs later, the axle is on and it’s now starting to look like something rideable. I need brakes (of course) so pipe in braided hoses. The B***ards in Cardiff had omitted to tell me that I needed a handbrake but did later offer to sell me a kit for £500 plus VAT, I don’t think so. I asked around a few mechanic friends but as we couldn’t fit a cable to the disc brake calliper, it was onto the internet to find a handbrake that fits into the hydraulic line, for drifting (anyone seen Fast and Furious 3, Tokyo Drift) but one that would also lock the back wheels, cost £40. The sh**head in Cardiff can shove his £500 handbrake kit where the sun don’t shine.
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easy you would think, not so. The bike is not rideable, no fuel in the tank, no pump and oh the drive belt wasn’t connected. A trailer was needed, not just a single ramp one as we now have 3 wheels but one with a tailgate that lowers. Two big strong men (not me but the neighbour) and it is on the trailer, getting it off was a lot easier, sit on and roll off. The trike was now where it needed to be. The trailer is returned and the princely sum of £10 paid, what a bargain. The next 3 days saw things moving on, measuring, cutting and welding (and swearing) and we have a mud guard bracket and before you know it, there’s a pair.
Next we needed to find an MOT tester that can test trikes, a normal bike tester won’t do. We needed to know the regulations regarding the lights. The Iron had got the side light, brake and indicator in one housing but guess what, this was not enough, we needed front and back marker lights on the mudguards, also stoplights on the rear of the guards. Finding the lights wasn’t the problem, it was finding wire fine And now for the biggest headache of the project so far, the enough. I also needed connectors so that the mud guard can mud guards. I bought a pair from a friend. The problem has be removed, to get at the wheel, if needed. All I can say is been making the brackets. They needed to be strong enough that Leicester has changed a lot in the last 5 years, as I found to support and withstand wind turbulence whilst in motion out during my hours of searching. but not too big and ugly. Time to fire the beast up and see if it works. Tank on and Winter came and went (well who wants to work outside in connected, not forgetting petrol, a new set of Vance & Hines the cold and wet) and by early 2015, still no progress had short shocks, drive belt connected, axle welded into position, been made. I talked to a lot of friends and bikers, nobody what else, oh yes something to sit on. Battery had been on could come up with a solution, we manage to get some constant trickle charge – switch on, press the starter and it photos of ideas but still nothing is good enough (that’s the fires first time, straight into gear, quick blast up and down the problem with perfectionist bike builders). Also, up to this road (no not me just yet). The drive belt hadn’t moved so it point, all work had been carried out in the garage at home all lined up ok. and in order for things to progress, we needed to get the bike into my friends garage, where he has all the necessary gear, After all that, time to strip it all back down so it can go off to
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Stroke Survivor – The Long Road Back be sprayed. “Why not spray it first?” some people might ask, answer because if you need to drill or weld after it has been sprayed, it’s not going to do your new paintwork any good. It’s a ball ache but hey that’s just the way it is. Time to think about controls. The strength of my clutch hand is still not as improved as I had hoped so being a member of NABD, I applied for a grant to enable me to put a clutch adaption on the right hand handlebar, thus allowing both clutch and brake to be worked with the one hand. The application went off to the committee for their decision – 3 weeks later and they said yes but there is a condition, I need to write a story for the NABD magazine, with photos of before and after and with me on the trike. Scary to think that my mug shot will be in a national magazine. Everything is finally back from painting and powder coating, all that is left to do is put this jigsaw puzzle back together. Axle in, lined up. Wheels on, connect the brake pipes, wire up the lights. Time to sort out the MOT, it’s getting close to riding again but it’s been five years since I have been on a bike. I’m a bit apprehensive to say the least and on top of that I have got to get used to having the clutch and front brake on the right hand side of the handle bars. I need to do some miles and settle into it. SOB (Stubborn Old Bastard) – This little piece is about me. People may ask why didn’t you just take your bike to a trike builder pay him to do it and just ride it away (after paying the
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hefty bill). Well this way, in the future, when people look at the trike, I want to be able to say that it was my idea to convert it and I had a hand in the conversion. At this point, I would like to thank Nene Valley for giving me the support, when things were hard and going wrong. The award I received made me feel very emotional and I was honoured to receive it. I also want to say a big thank you to the bike builder, Paul Harrison, for his time, effort and dedication. To Jeff Fowkes for his help in getting the right wheels to fit the back axle and to my wife Melanie for her support through the difficult times. It has been a long hard slog but now it’s make or break time, the dream is either about to come true or come crashing down. I feel very unsure but I’m not going to let it beat me. I still feel nervous about my first ride but I’ll let you know how it all goes, next riding season.
Alan Price
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Summer 2015
RAT Runs – June 2015 3 June 2015
10 June 2015
A lovely sunny day for a RAT run down to the Three Locks only 2 bikes did the run down the A413 but The Director met us there on his "big" bike. Mike and Bron also turned up in the car because his bike was well and truly knackered. A nice little treat for these girls whose Mom is dying of cancer.
8 RATs turned up for this cross country route to Grafham Water with lunch in the local pub. We met up with Frank there whose country mansion is only a few miles away.
17 June 2015
24 June 2015
Not too much riding today but a great day out for the River RATs on board a narrow boat – many thank to Captain Frank Morgan for a 4 hour trip up and down the Grand Union canal.
Mystery tour today led by Sharpie ending up at Skins Cafe in Brackley 1 future RAT joined us for lunch. Weather was excellent, warm and dry at 23 degrees.
“Irish” Mike
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Old Skool Rally 2015 - Gallery
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Old Skool Rally 2015 - Gallery
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Air Ambulance Ride
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Blue sky and warm weather greeted us as we arrived at Jacks for the 1 hour ride over to Bagington Airport near Coventry, riders and pillions started to arrive and we were graced by our director and the lovely Sue. 22 bikes and 25 members arrived at the airport after an uneventful ride, though there was a large cycle event on the roads as we approached the last 3 miles of the ride that we were mindful of. After parking up we were greeted by the Air Ambulance coordinator, who led half the group "air side". She introduced the format of the visit and also told us that her family were indebted to the service, for saving her sisters life in 2009 after a traffic collision, when a job vacancy was advertised with the service she applied and got the job, the rest is history as they say. Fortunately the helicopter was at the airport, though they are called out approximately 3 times a day. The pilot gave a great insight into their work and when asked "what did you do before", he said "I drove boats in a former life"! The helicopter carries a crew of 4, pilot, paramedic (who is also the navigator) and 2 doctors, the area covered can extend up to the Peak District and they very much work as a team, the pilot assists at the scene too. Complex operations are now routinely carried out by the doctors on board and their operational times are currently 10am till 8pm, time before 10am is covered by what they refer to as "overlap" by another helicopter from another county. Why does the helicopter take off backwards at 45 degrees?.... those on the ride now know. The other group then had their briefing and talk and viewed the helicopter, whilst the first group took the opportunity to visit the Coventry Air Museum that was next door or just stayed in the museum cafe. Before we left we presented John, the pilot, with a cheque from the Nene Valley Chapter, he and the crew were very grateful for our donation. The ride back was in warm sunshine and finished at Weedon. I'm sure we all thought I hope I don't need the service, but if I do we are in safe hands. Jedi
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Six in Search of Sun, Sea and Beer. [not necessarily in that order] Personnel: Colin and Anne Bailey, Brian and Des Andrews and Jonny and Jackie Nafzger head off on two Roadkings and a Heritage Softail. Departing on Monday the 22nd of July, our first stop is St Omer via the channel tunnel. An uneventful but damp run to the ' Chico Rail' hotel, next to the railway station, quaint, cheap and cheerful. They housed us in the attic, up several steep stairs, a bit difficult for Jackie, who is still recovering from fractured ankle bones, a legacy from a tumble in St Tropez.
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Marina it remains largely unchanged and unspoiled. There was some curious graffiti stating in English 'Catalan is not Spain', presumably courtesy of Basque Separatists? Late June is a good time to visit, the place was waking up to the summer trade, but the crowds had yet to develop. The campsite had a bar and swimming pool, but the main attraction for me was snorkelling in the clear calm Mediterranean, with plenty of sea life around the rocks. The bay is surrounded by various restaurants, these we sampled each evening with lashings of San Miguel.
The temperature during the journey back through Spain and France became oppressive. We stopped in the volcanic region Day 2 is a warm dry run to Troyes. A picturesque place full of at ClermontFerrand, followed by a second stop at Chateau medieval timber framed houses, very close together in Thierry. I had the sat nav set to the shortest run, no narrow alleys, a bit like London before 1666? they had autoroutes, sent us through every little town on the way! It obviously never heard of Pudding Lane. Interesting place to would have been fun but for the 40c heat. Managed to lose explore though, with some curious metal sculptures set in the Brian and Des in the traffic, however we all arrived at river. Chateau Thierry at much the same time. A cold shower and several litres of cold beer went down a treat. 3rd stop Millau, budget hotel with a view of the bridge. The following morning is warm and bright, and getting hot. We The next day we head back to StOmer via the remains of the cross the viaduct in warm, bright sunshine, very impressive. Motor racing circuit of ReimsGueux, and secondly the Our destination is Llafranc, on the Costa Brava. Here we Blockhaus d' Eperlecques. At the racing circuit there are spend 5 bright and warm days, we had booked 3 studio plenty of now redundant buildings to explore, the circuit first apartments at 'Kims Camping' . My first visit to Llafranc was opened in 1926, last used for formula 1 in 1966 and finally in 1967, when Franco was still in charge. Apart from a small closed in 1972.
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Six in Search of Sun, Sea and Beer. [not necessarily in that order]
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to assemble, fuel and launch V2 rockets. However following several allied bombing raids its original purpose was abandoned and then developed as a liquid oxygen producing plant. Visible bomb damage is extensive including an impressive large deep pond created by a tallboy explosion. We finally arrive back at the Chico Rail hotel and spend the evening exploring the Town. The following day we manage to catch an early train before the disruptions that occurred later that afternoon and arrived home soon after 3 pm. Next run the Baltic! setting off on the 18th of July. We then encountered thunder and forked lightning and an impressive deluge which soon dissipated and we arrived at Jonny N. the Blockhaus in the dry. This is a bloody enormous concrete structure built by the Germans during WW2. Its purpose was
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Summer 2015
St Tropez 2015 Elisa always said she wanted to go to St Tropez. It was on her bucket list. So when I heard about Martin organising the trip to the Harley festival I suggested that we could go. Although she denies it now I did offer to ride down with the chapter and then pick up Elisa from Nice airport, but she wanted to ride down together. Knowing that Elisa would insist on a good hotel after a day’s riding we decided to free wheel down there and not stay with everyone else at Eurocamp sites to break up the journey. Our plan was to leave bank holiday Monday and stay with a friend in Surrey and then get a morning chunnel Tuesday and stop off for two nights on the way down and arrive Thursday evening. One problem was that the following week I was going on a golfing trip and had to be home by the Monday night. This meant that we would have to leave Sunday and stay over one night on the way back. That would be hard riding. The alternative was to leave Saturday morning, but then we would only have had 2 nights at the festival. The solution was to fly back and have the bike transported back to UK. The company which specialises in this is WMB (“We Move Bikes”) who have an arrangement with Harley and have a stand at the festival when you want to drop your bike off. They will deliver your bike to your nearest Harley dealer, but in my case agreed to drop it off at Northants V Twin because it was closer for them than Sycamore Harley. The cost is £437 plus VAT and insurance at £4 per £1,000 of insurance. I insured for a bike value of £8,000 and the total carriage cost was £557. Expensive, but it meant that we stayed at the festival and enjoyed Sunday night before getting an Easyjet flight from Nice. The first problem with a road trip like this was convincing Elisa that we could not take everything. I got my stuff into one pannier leaving Elisa the big cruiser bag and the other pannier. Amazingly, after most of Monday spent packing, chucking stuff out and repacking she got almost all her stuff into the cruiser bag and the pannier was filled with ipads etc, my chapter waistcoat and Elisa’s spare fleeces. At last we were all set to go at 3pm. We stopped off at the Ace Café on the way down and went round the north circular. The weather was dry, but change was on its way and overnight there was loads of rain. Next morning as we left WaltononThames for Dover there were dark skies. Although we had our waterproofs on we only had light rain initially and it seemed to improve. We only just made our check in time at the chunnel at 9.45am and departed 10.20. By the time we off loaded in Calais and with the hour’s difference it was midday. We stopped in the central square in Calais for coffee. The wind was really up. I
put my helmet on the ground and it started blowing away! The autoroute south of Calais across the flat plains gave no protection from the wind and we were buffeted by a west wind coming across us, which made overtaking lorries quite worrying. Our first stop was Arras for a late lunch and a warm up because Elisa was cold despite wearing 6 layers. This historic town has a beautiful square lined with cafes and restaurants. Then it was back on the road eating the kilometres up on the autoroute until we got to Reims in the Champagne region where we stopped for the night. We just rode into the city centre, found the tourist information and told them what we wanted for a hotel and they gave us some options from a brochure and they then phoned and made the booking for us. We stayed in the Holiday Inn in the city centre, which had garage parking for the bike. Reims has a huge cathedral, which was famous for where French kings were traditionally crowned, but we were too tired to enjoy the sights of Reims and after visiting a few bars we went back to the hotel for dinner. Next day we left at about 10.30am and hit the autoroute south. The wind was not as bad today and the sun was out and we definitely noticed the weather getting warmer. We would stop at least every hour for a quick coffee and to top up the tank. Cruising at 80mph drank the fuel surprisingly quickly. We stopped off at a town called Chauny for lunch, which is pretty unremarkable apart from it has an amazing tiered viaduct crossing a steep valley on its way in. After an hour or so there we exited south on the Route National until we picked up the autoroute just north of Dijon. By now it was getting very warm and we were taking layers off. Past Dijon we stopped next for the night at Beaune. By the time we rode into the town we were overheating, it was a beautiful afternoon. In the heart of the Burgundy wine producing region Beaune is an historic town with a big cathedral and a medieval walled section of the town. We stayed in a hotel just on the outside with secure parking and which overlooked the vineyards. We had a good wander round the old narrow city streets and had a few drinks in one of the beautiful squares. Our last riding day to the festival was going to be a long one. The online route planner put it at almost 5 and a half hours. More long motorways with plenty of coffee and fuel stops followed. There was no wind, just bright sunshine, which got warmer all the time. As we got south and especially after Lyons more and more groups of Harleys started appearing. We stopped off at Avignon for a late lunch, but by now it was 3pm and we just entered the ancient walled part of the city to look for the central square, but failed to find it and stopped off at café in a dodgy area, which had stopped
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Summer 2015
St Tropez 2015 serving lunch because it was so late. So just with a cold drink and a rest in the heat of the afternoon we headed off again. We stopped off about an hour later in some services near Aix en Provence and were just ordering up a couple of sandwiches when we got greeted by the very reverend Steve Harris. Steve with Chris, Lucia and Pasty had taken the Santander ferry down and had ridden across the Pyrenees and happened to stop. It was good fortune because we joined them for the last leg of the ride and they had satnav and the road into Port Grimaud across the coastal hills was very narrow and winding and we would not have trusted that it was the right way to go. The Marina campsite we were staying at is on the edge of Port Grimaud and the festival is actually on another beach side campsite in Port Grimaud just 10 minutes walk away. We arrived at 7pm and were shown to our 2 bedroomed mobile home, which Elisa called a sardine tin. It had everything you needed with a kitchen, shower toilet and its own decking and garden furniture. There were loads of chapter members there. It is a good place to stay. It is within easy reach of the festival site, but is relatively quiet. If you stayed on the festival site itself you would have loads of festival goers walking past your doorstep nonstop and the noise of hundreds of Harleys being ridden round.
Loads of Harleys on the front of the old port at St Tropez
old port and it was a good job too because the road in the old port was nose to tail Harleys trying to find a place to park up. We wandered round and then spent the afternoon having a long lunch at a really nice restaurant on the quayside. On the way back we called in at the festival site and had a look around. There was a big shopping village with loads of gear at good prices. I picked up a pair of riding sun glasses and gloves for 20€ each. That night we tagged onto a table of 20 from the chapter at a restaurant bar called Munroes next to the festival site. “The Darkness” were playing later on the beach, but we had a better time in the Harley bar on site where there were unknown supporting bands. It was a late night and we wobbled home sometime after 1am. On Saturday we planned to ride to Monaco and took the coast road. It was a good road to ride but very slow. The narrow winding roads in the hills towards Cannes were quite scary for Elisa in parts because she does not have a head for heights. By the time we arrived in Cannes we had decided that we were not going to flog all the way to Monaco, which was still a long way off. We cruised the strip in Cannes, where preparations were being made for the film festival the following week. We had another long lunch in a restaurant with shade and then a tour around the shops. This must have been very Elisa enjoying St Tropez frustrating for Elisa with all these designer shops but no room in the panniers for carrying anything back. We took the autoroute most of the way back, which was much quicker and then stopped off for a drink on the sea front at St Maxime near Port Grimaud.
We joined a big group again for dinner at Munroes before heading onto the festival site. The Stranglers were headlining and we got onto the beach ready for when they came on at 11pm. The trouble was we did not recognise any of the songs they played so went off to another bar for a drink. We could only name 4 Stranglers’ songs between us so we were not really fans, but we went back a bit later and caught 2 of the On Friday we went to the festival site and got our wrist songs we knew before they finished and, without much bands, but did not stop to look around because we wanted to coaxing came on for an encore and did “No more heroes”, so visit St Tropez, which is about 20 minutes ride away. We we had heard 3 out of the 4 songs we knew. Once again we parked up by the marina in St Tropez, which is just before the wobbled back home after 1am.
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Summer 2015
St Tropez 2015 We got up on Sunday fairly late and now had to find the “We Move Bikes” stand to deliver my bike. We packed up everything that was going to be transported back with the back, which was pretty much everything except a few hand luggage essentials and ipads etc. Once we rode into the festival site it was very different. Everyone was packing up. We found We Move Bikes in the adjacent car park where they had the exhibition bikes and the Jeep obstacle and test drive course. The guys down there were really friendly and took the bike off us. We could see other bikes including the exhibition bikes being loaded onto special stillages and being forklifted onto an artic. My bike was going to be well looked after, the only problem was that Elisa’s luggage (with all her favourite underwear) would not catch up with her for a couple of weeks.
On Monday we had to be up and waiting at the front entrance to the camp site to be collected by our taxi at between 6am and 6.30am for get to Nice airport. This had been booked online many weeks before and I was a little worried that they may not show, but sure enough the taxi turned up at 6.15 and we were at the airport in plenty of time. It was a lot easier travelling back by plane. Elisa said she could not take another 1000 miles on the bike and even I could not muster up the same enthusiasm for riding home. The bike got delivered to Sycamore Harley a couple of weeks later and on a nice sunny Sunday Elisa drove me over to pick it up. Surprisingly all the arrangements had gone well. I would do the festival again, although in hindsight I would probably ride down with the chapter and pick Elisa up from the airport at Nice and I think would opt to spend a little more time around St Tropez and have the bike transported back so long as my bank balance allows it. Maybe see you next year then.
Elisa looking sad to be going home.
Petar Starcevic
One of Port Grimaud’s beautiful bridges.
We walked across the road and over the bridge into Port Grimaud. It really is beautiful once you get within the walled compound of Prot Grimaud itself and very much like Venice with arched bridges, canals and riverside cafés and a central piazza with a market and church. We stopped there for a late lunch and wandered round afterwards. It was a quiet end to the holiday.
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Autumn 2015
Humour Corner
GOOD OLD QUANTAS All part of the job……… and thank you for flying Qantas!!
"No, I haven't found Jesus!" The preacher, shocked at the answer, dunks him again but for a little longer. He again pulls him out of the water and asks, "Have you found Jesus, brother?" The drunk answers, "No, I haven't found Jesus!"
A mother and her 5yearold son were flying Qantas from Sydney to Auckland.
By this time, the preacher is at his wits end and dunks the drunk again but this time holds him down for about 30 The son (who had been looking out the window) turned to his seconds, and when he begins kicking his arms and legs about, mother and asked, “If big dogs have baby dogs and big cats he pulls him up. have baby cats, why don't big planes have baby planes?" The preacher again asks the drunk, "For the love of God, have The mother, who couldn't think of an answer, told her son you found Jesus?" to ask the flight attendant. The drunk staggers upright, wipes his eyes, coughs up a bit of So the little guy walks up to the galley and asks the flight water, catches his breath, and says to the preacher, attendant,
"Are you sure this is where he fell in?”
“If big dogs have baby dogs, and big cats have baby cats, why don't big planes have baby planes?" The flight attendant responded, "Did your mother tell you to ask me that?" The boy said, "Yes, she did”. "Well then, please tell your mother that there are no baby planes because Qantas always pulls out on time, and ask her to explain that to you."
CAN YOU IMAGIME LIFE WITHOUT THE IRISH ! Confessional A married Irishman went into the confessional and said to his priest, 'I almost had an affair with another woman.' The priest said, 'What do you mean, almost?' The Irishman said, 'Well, we got undressed and rubbed together, but then I stopped.'
BAPTISING AN IRISHMAN
The priest said, 'Rubbing together is the same as putting it in. An Irishman is stumbling through the woods, totally drunk, You're not to see that woman again. For your penance, say when he comes upon a preacher baptizing people in the five Hail Mary's and put $50 in the poor box.' river. He proceeds into the water, subsequently bumping into the preacher. The Irishman left the confessional, said his prayers, and then walked over to the poor box. The preacher turns around and is almost overcome by the smell of alcohol, whereupon, he asks the drunk, "Are you He paused for a moment and then started to leave. ready to find Jesus?" The drunk shouts, The priest, who was watching, quickly ran over to him saying, "Yes, I am." 'I saw that. You didn't put any money in the poor box!' So the preacher grabs him and dunks him in the water. He pulls him back and asks, "Brother, have you found Jesus?" The drunk replies,
The Irishman replied, 'Yeah, but I rubbed the $50 on the box, and according to you, that's the same as putting it in!' Lemon Squeeze There once was a religious young woman who went to Confession. Upon entering the confessional, she said, 'Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.' The priest said, 'Confess your sins and be forgiven.'
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Autumn 2015
Humour Corner The young woman said, 'Last night my boyfriend made mad passionate love to me seven times.'
Brothel Trip
The priest thought long and hard and then said, 'Squeeze seven lemons into a glass and then drink the juice.'
An elderly man goes into a brothel and tells the madam he would like a young girl for the night. Surprised, she looks at the ancient man and asks how old he is.
The young woman asked, 'Will this cleanse me of my sins?'
'I'm 90 years old,' he says.
The priest said, 'No, but it will wipe that smile off of your face.'
'90?' replies the woman. 'Don't you realize you've had it?' 'Oh, sorry,' says the old man. 'How much do I owe you?'
Catholic Dog
Senility Muldoon lived alone in the Irish countryside with only a pet An elderly man went to his doctor and said, 'Doc, I think I'm dog for company. One day the dog died, and Muldoon went getting senile. Several times lately, I have forgotten to zip up.' to the parish priest and asked, 'Father, my dog is dead. Could 'That's not senility,' replied the doctor. 'Senility is when you ya' be saying' a mass for the poor creature?' forget to zip down.' Father Patrick replied, 'I'm afraid not; we cannot have Marriage Humour services for an animal in the church. But there are some Baptists down the lane, and there's no tellin' what they Wife: 'What are you doing?' believe. Maybe they'll do something for the creature.' Husband: Nothing. Muldoon said, 'I'll go right away Father. Do ya' think $5,000 is Wife: 'Nothing . . . ? You've been reading our marriage enough to donate to them for the service?' certificate for an hour.' Father Patrick exclaimed, 'Sweet Mary, Mother of Jesus! Why Husband: 'I was looking for the expiration date.' didn't ya tell me the dog was Catholic? Confession
Choice
An elderly man walks into a confessional. The following conversation ensues:
Wife : 'Do you want dinner?' Husband: 'Sure! What are my choices?'
Man: 'I am 92 years old, have a wonderful wife of 70 years, Wife: 'Yes or no.' many children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Yesterday, I picked up two college girls, hitchhiking. We went Stress Reliever to a motel, where I had sex with each of them three times.' Girl: 'When we get married, I want to share all your worries, troubles and lighten your burden.' Priest: 'Are you sorry for your sins?' Man: 'What sins?' Priest: 'What kind of a Catholic are you?' Man: 'I'm Jewish.' Priest: 'Why are you telling me all this?' Man: 'I'm 92 years old .. . . . I'm telling everybody!'
Boy: 'It's very kind of you, darling, but I don't have any worries or troubles.' Girl: 'Well that's because we aren't married yet.' ‘Blond’ Irish (new) Wife A newly married man asked his wife, 'Would you have married me if my father hadn't left me a fortune?' 'Honey,' the woman replied sweetly, 'I'd have married you, NO MATTER WHO LEFT YOU A FORTUNE!'
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August Committee MoM
Autumn 2015
Towcester Rugby Club 7.15 pm on 12th August 2015 Please note that some of the items have been omitted since they are events past. The complete and unedited minutes are available in the member’s area of the website.
Committee Members Present: Paul Whiting (Director) Dave Burridge (Assistant Director) Mike Ivers (Head Road Captain) Jan Harter (Secretary) Scot Haynes (Webmaster) Martine Garland (LoH Officer) Chris Lapsley (Editor) Mike & Jackie Wakelin (Merchandising) Apologies : John Nicholas Minutes of the last meeting were read and agreed.
but there have been a couple of people express an interest in taking up the role. Editor Update E mag will be sent out by email tomorrow and will be on the website. Some material held back for the next issue as this one will go out to HOG. LoH Update Martine will canvas opinion tonight on attending a ceramic painting event in MK sometime in late autumn.
Financial Update
Merchandising Update
Finances are still very healthy, and nothing much has changed. There are no real issues and no outstanding issues.
Mike has obtained a quote from a second supplier at good prices for the new logo tee shirts. Paul has sent the first supplier’s contact details to Mike. Mike will obtain samples for sizing purposes and to check quality. New skull patches available tonight.
Membership Update We have 171 members, 104 of whom are paying members including a new member, James Anderson and his wife Dee, from Harlington whose application form was received this morning. However May’s nonrenewals have not yet been chased up and there are 7 of those. Reminders will be sent before the month end along with a couple of June ones. (NB: Another member, David Mitchell, joined at the club night after this meeting.) Activity Officer Update
Webmaster Update Paul’s photo required. Scott has been unable to activate a Chat Box. The calendar is up to date to October. Rally 2015 Everything is now ready. 130 tickets have been sold to date and there is confidence that the target 200 will be reached or exceeded. The online method of payment will be closed by Wednesday but it is possible to pay on the gate.
Nothing to report. AOB Head Road Captain Update The club has quite a lot of kit, most of which is stored by Badger. Points are up to date on the website, some badges to give out An alternative, permanent storage solution needs to be found. tonight. The rally rideout will start off at 11.00am returning 2.30 Chris could email membership to see if anyone knows of, or has, a 3.00pm. Mikey wants to include a flyer about this in the rally packs. suitable garage or equivalent. It’s a 75 mile route with a shorter return, 100 miles in total. The new Robin Hood dealership is very good. Chris will arrange a Safety Officer Update rideout to visit. With Steve’s resignation we are now without a safety office
There being no other business the meeting ended at 20.10
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Date
Event
Location September 2015 Waddesdon Manor Towcester Rugby Club
Sun 6th Wed 9th
Chilli Ride Club Night
11th – 13th Sept
Great War Ride
Belgium
Thurs 24th
Ace Café
North London
Pistons & Props Ride
Sywell Aerodrome
th
Sat 26 th
Sun 27
Stonehenge
Sat 3rd
RTTW / The Return
NMA Staffordshire
Brightona
Brighton
Sun 11th th
Wed 14 Sun 18th Thurs 29th
Club Night Hoggin the Bridge Ace Café
Sun 8th Wed 11th
Remembrance & Baps Club Night
Wed 9th
Club Night
Wed 13th
Club Night
Wed 10th
Club Night
Wiltshire October 2015
Towcester Rugby Club Bristol North London November 2015 Bletchley Towcester Rugby Club December 2015 Towcester Rugby Club
Information The Ambassador Leading – Details to follow From 7.30pm The Ambassador leading Booked – Reserve list in operation Check Website for details LoH organized ride – Martine / Mikey – Details to follow Mr Ambassador leading – Details to follow Mikey / Slow Hand Leading – Details to follow Panda leading – Details to follow – weather dependent From 7.30pm Panda leading – Details to follow Check Website for details Mr Ambassador Leading – Details to follow From 7.30pm From 7.30pm
January 2016 Towcester Rugby Club February 2016 Towcester Rugby Club
From 7.30pm From 7.30pm
IRISH – WITHOUT HIS LEATHERS !!
Disclaimer: The Editor accepts no responsibility for the views and comments expressed in this publication. All views and comments contained are those of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of Nene Valley H.O.G®, Harley Davidson®, their agents, or authorised dealers. All H.O.G.® Logos and marks are used under licence in accordance with article X of the current H.O.G.® Annual Charter for H.O.G.® Chapters.