n i t r a st
g out
loh on
i am iron butt part deux
tour helping santa December 2017
Ed Quarters As I write these words the snow is falling and the Reading Toy Run has just been cancelled. Many of you may be nursing midly sore heads after a evening of great celebration at the Chapter Christmas do. As far as I know, this has been the first time we have had to use the Text Alert system since our Technomage, Robin set it up for the Chapter. Seeing as we have had it in place since August, it shows that we have been quite lucky so far. If you are not set up to receive these text alerts from the Chapter make sure you see Robin or any of the team to make sure you are kept informed. As you may gather, we are not going to be spamming you but just letting you know if Chapter events and Rideouts are cancelled. With the new year approaching fast, I am on the lookout for people who would be interested in helping out with the magazine. Chapter Reporters are needed so we cover all the Chapter's happenings. You won't be required to write essays, but capture the essence of the event. Please let me know if may be able to help out. If you want to find out more about how we put the magazine together and perhaps get involved, just ask me. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported the magazine with articles and photos over the last year. You have made this a pleasure and the Did you know? magazine possible. You guys and gals The Dept of Transport offer a “Sign rock! up to get free reminders by text Merry Crimbo and a very Happy message or email when your MOT is New Year! to: ons rg.uk i due� s mi s g.o uk sub lleyho mag. Ride safe and r u g a o https://www.gov.uk/mot-reminder v o y s h have fun! nd ame w.tv Se h ww @t Sue D o t r ad at Andy edi lo u Or
New Members. We would like to offer a warm welcome to our new members. Please make yourselves at home.
Chris Cory
Dave Evetts
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Inside this issue Front cover
The Valley Rally Reveal
Page 2
Ed Quarters
Page 4 - 7
Westie Writes
Page 7
The Winter Ball
Page 8 - 9
LOH on Tour
Page 10
Bed time story
Page 11 - 14
Starting Out
Page 15
Alexander Divine
Page 16
TV Times
Page 17
The Valley Rally
Page 18
Euro Rally
Page 19
Road Crew 2018
Page 20 - 23
I am Iron Butt II
Page 24 - 25
Windsor Toy Run
Page 26
Saturday Social
Page 27
Valley Rally Launch
Page 28 - 29
You Are Invited
Page 30
Somewhere Warmer
Page 31
Dealers Of The World
Back cover
Meet the Committee
December / January Birthdays December Joyce Parry 22nd John Green 27th Michelle Skinner 28th Derek Searle 29th Rod Langham 31st
January Frank Murtle 2nd Sue Dodds 5th Ed Wyatt 5th Bernie Meason 6th Samantha Hand 7thh Ian Taylor 10th Paul Bromley 10th Simon Baker 10th Fred Cotsford 11th
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Richard Sadowski 11th Canus Augustus 12th Alex MacDonald 13th Lynn Spathas 13th Shirley Churchill 14th Colin Wilkins 15th Ian Taylor 15th
Happy Birthday to you all. The birthdays shown are between Club Nights. If I've missed you or got something wrong, drop the Editor a quick note.
Huge thanks to all who have sent copy in for this month's magazine: Chris S, Sue D, Nick, Gill, Ian T, Cilla, Alan, Mark, Linda, & Mike J :-)
Hi all, First and foremost, I would like to wish all of our readers a very merry Christmas and a prosperous and happy New Year. At this time of year, many of us take some time to reflect on the year gone by. I hope that you all feel that the club has offered you a variety of events, social and riding to leave a positive impression in your minds. Our committee and Roadcrew are all volunteers and have all done a stand-up job of delivering their very best for members. The committee give up their free time for the benefit of our group and our Roadcrew do the same, with the addition of the extra miles on their bikes. With over fifty ride outs, dozens of social events and just under ten sponsored weekend events, we are truly thriving as a group. I salute our team for their endless giving and our members for their tireless support. Also, this year, many of our members said goodbye to friends and family who will be sorely missed at this festive time. Such loss can be hard to handle at this time when we are all supposed to be together and I would like to share my sympathy with members who have suffered loss this year. Please take a moment to remember all of the good times and raise a cheery glass in their memory. I make no apologies for jogging your memory about the sad times as I would like to share with you some of the happy moments within the Club, from the past year. Highlights for me this year were the new Chill-out location in Newquay, a really lovely hotel near the beach and with its own bowling alley to boot. The Bletchley Park visit in July, the Crocodile Zoo in Oxfordshire, The Convergence Rally at Cirencester, The Blazin’ Blitz rally at the new Hayling Island venue and finally a moving visit to Ride to The Wall.
Our Poker Run and Saturday Social programmes have been extremely well supported this year, to such an extent that we are having to look for larger venues to accommodate the swelling numbers. All a testament to the great work put in by our activities team. Of course, we cannot really round up the year without recognising the momentous announcement about the return of the Valley Rally. Your committee and a small team of additional volunteers have spent months working to deliver a plan which is both attractive and financially sound. In January, our committee will start to promote our very own rally to neighbouring chapters. In initial conversations with our closest neighbours, there is a high level of interest and we are confident that tickets will be moving VERY fast. We obviously would like to have as many of our members at the rally as possible and so please check your calendars and get your tickets as soon as you can. The Rally committee is prepared to hold tickets for you for twenty-eight days based on a submission of your completed rally application form. At the end of the twenty-eight days you will need to pay for your reserved tickets. Any unpaid tickets will go back into the ticket pot. Tickets are available online right now and we are working with Reading HD to make them available at the Dealership. At the beginning of the month, your committee and Roadcrew met at the Catherine Wheel in Henley to set out our plans for social events and ride outs for 2018. The results are already available to view on the chapter calendar already. Some events have more detail than others, but this early view should help you to decide which ones you will be at next year.
There are still opportunities to add to our schedule and so if there is something you would like to see the club doing, please speak up. It is YOUR club and your volunteer team want to help you all get the best of your membership. Your thoughts, suggestions and ideas can be sent into any committee member.
At the time of writing, many will have been preparing for the Christmas Party and the 32nd Annual Reading Toy Run. Whilst I am personally unable to attend the party this year, I will be at Foster Wheeler to co-ordinate our marshalling at the Showcase Roundabout again this year. We’ll report on the events in the next mag. By the time you receive this magazine, all of the committee nominations will have been submitted and we will be well on the way to forming your team for the coming year, the November Clubnight saw the most nomination forms that I have seen since my time at the club with almost twenty nominations for committee positions (plus many more for Roadcrew places). Whilst it is great to see this level of support, it could be a little tricky handling the situations where we cannot place someone. We will try our best to involve anyone who wants to help and with the upcoming Rally project, I am sure there will be lots of opportunity for willing
volunteers (and maybe some for the “less willing” too … LOL) Coming up …. Thursday 28th December - Breakfast Morning - Dismiss those Christmas Blues … We will meet at the Toby Carvery (Stafferton Lodge near SportsAble) from 9am. February 10th 2018 - Winter Ball - Hogsback, Invicta and Thames Valley are getting together to put on a spectacular winter ball at the Reigate Manor Hotel in Sussex. We will have a live band and Rob Paston providing music. A two-course dinner and all for just £35. See Malc for tickets. In closing I would like to thank you all for your support in my first year as Chapter Director. It has been challenging yet rewarding, busy but enjoyable, but most of all, it has been an absolute pleasure. THANK YOU ALL! Stay safe people … and have fun!
Nick
LOH on Tour - Weymouth 2017 The weekend was a fantastic success, the food, the weather, the sea views, the company and our honorary member Val from Nottingham.
LOH Bed Challenge It's Official - The Thames Valley Ladies of Harley Challenge has been broken. Yes, just how many ladies can you fit in/on one bed? The previous record of seventeen was set at Sand Bay in 2016.
This was smashed in Weymouth this year were the ladies set a new record of twentytwo.
Starting Out 2017 has most definitely been my year. Not only did I bag myself a Trophy Husband (Mark once told me he’d like to be a kept man who could stay at home and look pretty on his bikes) ……. I also got my full bike licence!! So, how did I get here? I think my story starts in the summer of 2015. I’d not long met a new man, a bit different from the others I’d met. One I was rather keen to impress. His name was Mark and amongst other things that made him a bit different from others, he rode a big red plastic motorcycle. That was the only way I could describe it as I knew absolutely nothing about bikes and had never given them a second thought. Now, those of you who know Mark will understand when I say that he is a little bit biking mad (I’m sure the recent Iron Hog and Iron Butt challenges can add weight to that argument). Before long, his enthusiasm had worked its magic on me and I found myself at a local biking school waiting for my free half hour introduction. Having never been on a motorbike before, I didn’t know what to expect. Unfortunately, given I am somewhat vertically challenged, the only thing they had where my feet could reach the floor was a scooter. It wasn’t the most romantic of notions - Mark and I riding into the sunset, him on his big red plastic bike and me on my twist’n’go. To say I was deflated was an understatement. Not long after this, Mark hit a mid-life crisis and bought himself his first ever Harley Davidson (a Heritage Softail Classic we fondly named Jemima) and he rather generously splashed out on all the kit I needed to ride pillion. A bit of a gamble, what if I didn't like being on a motorbike? Fortunately for Mark, his gamble paid off and I soon became an enthusiastic pillion, so much so that I decided to go for my CBT and decide if actually riding a bike was for me. After a little bit of research, I managed to find a local school that would have a 125cc bike that would fit me... a Honda MSX. This bike made quite an impression on me, being so small, light and easy to manage and I eventually went on to own one.
After completing my CBT I made the mistake of not keeping up the momentum with riding and became more and more nervous at the thought of going out on the road. From time to time Mark would convince me to go out for a little ride on familiar roads and even though there were pockets of enjoyment I always breathed a huge sigh of relief when I pulled up outside home again. Then one day, something changed. I remember it well the unveiling of the new Street Rod at the Reading dealership. Many of us were gathered to see it in the flesh for the first time, rubbing shoulders with Darth Vader and his Stormtroopers who had made a special appearance, given the date was May 4th after all. However, it was an entirely different bike that made my eyes light up that evening. A very sparkly grey-blue Sportster 1200T with purple and turquoise accents, lots of chrome and added extras. I remember sitting on it and thinking “this is the kind of bike I'd like to have some day". Over the next couple of weeks, this bike occupied my thoughts and I often found myself sneakily looking at the pictures on the dealership website. I even gave it a name – Bluebell – which is a surefire way of knowing that I’d found my match. Not long after the Street Rod unveil, we all gathered again at the Reading dealership to celebrate their birthday and it was on that day, all sensible thoughts went out of the window and I bought the bike! It felt rather surreal, what on earth had I done? I didn’t have lessons booked or a test planned, I couldn’t even take it for a test ride – I’d just bought a bike because I thought it was pretty. Oh dear. Having a fast approaching wedding to organise gave me a good reason to ignore my sensible thoughts again. I had a rather expensive ornament taking up garage space and needed to do something about it – “I’ll learn after the wedding” I told myself – good excuse Cilla! So, our lovely wedding day came and went and after this, amongst many outings and rallies, we went to Thunder in the Glens. Travelling there and back was the longest journey I’d ever been pillion for and I struggled. The straight and tedious motorways, the hum of the engine, not being able to occupy myself with a book or conversation or driving…. I struggled to stay awake. It was then that I made myself a promise that the next time we travelled to
Thunder in the Glens I was going to be riding my own bike. When we returned home I started riding my MSX to and from work and the week after, I started my DAS training. Having done a bit of research, I chose to train with Excelerate based in Mytchett for two reasons. They had a lowered Suzuki Gladius that I was just about tall enough for and they also had regular training slots at the weekend to practice Module 1 at the Farnborough test centre which I found really beneficial. On my first day of training, my instructor suggested I go for a ride on the MSX so he could assess my current skill level. After briefing him that I was a nervous rider and him making all the right noises to try and dispel my fears (unsuccessfully!) we set out for a ride around the area. On our return, I was told “You ride that thing like a rocket!” and it was confirmed I was ready to move on to the bigger bike – way to go!! Now, for some people, riding a bike comes naturally. I encountered some of these people learning to ride at Excelerate. Having never ridden before, they breezed through their CBT, then went straight on to the DAS course the next day with their tests at the end of the week, which they aced without seemingly breaking a sweat. I was not one of those people. With me, I think it was going to be a case of ‘slow and steady wins the race’ and I ended up having lessons fortnightly with practice on the MSX in between. I struggled to get my head around riding a bigger bike – the size of it, the additional weight, not being able to comfortably flat foot it and the increase in power. I’ll admit that I fell off the bike rather ungracefully on more than one occasion but I learned from it. Well, most of the time. Remember to counterbalance, never panic grab the front brake to stop, if you have little legs deep cambers are not your friend to name but a few. Eventually, the time came to take the Module 1 test and on the second attempt I passed it. Rather annoyingly, I clipped a cone on the hazard avoidance part of my first test which resulted in a fail and me bellowing a swearword at the top of my lungs for which I had to apologise to the examiner. Module 2 also took two attemptsl – I still can’t quite look back on it and laugh but I’m hoping to be able to one day.
For my first attempt, I carried out the whole test without a single minor and then dropped the bike whilst getting off at the end of the test. What an idiot. Don’t ask me how it happened, I couldn’t begin to explain it and it all happened so quickly. Luckily, I managed to get a cancellation for two weeks later and so I dusted myself down and determined to stay on the bike this time, I passed! I cried when the examiner told me! The Saturday after passing, I decided it was time to take my sportster out for a spin. Having got used to the size and weight of the Gladius, the Harley didn’t seem quite so daunting any more. After familiarizing myself with the controls, I set out towards the Reading dealership to buy a Harley Davidson gnome which I thought was a well-deserved prize for my efforts. On the way home, we decided to go via the A329M and I don’t think I’ll ever forget the experience of opening the throttle for the first time and effortlessly hitting 70. The smile on my face grew and I knew that I was right to have ignored those sensible thoughts in the dealership many months ago. So, what does the future hold? Hopefully, many miles for Bluebell and I. I was determined to get my full licence in 2017 and with that in mind, I had already registered for next year’s rallies with my own bike before passing. Also, to dip my toe in the water of a riding challenge, I have signed up for the Dusk to Dawn ride from Lowestoft to Lands End. So, whilst I may not be an Iron Hog or have an Iron Butt, I know I have an iron determination to get out there and enjoy riding. Cilla
Supporting the Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Service You will all be well aware that Thames Valley HOG supports the amazing work done by the Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Service. You may also be aware that the new Hospice in Maidenhead will soon open its doors to take children and their families from East Berks, but you may not be aware that the Charity has been working in the community in East Berks for quite some time, providing support at home. This support takes many forms and the Charity needs all kinds of help to make this happen..... as well as our money! My ears pricked up a while ago when I heard about another group which supports the Charity. Here was an opportunity to do something practical to help out. As some of you will know, when I am not riding my Triglide I make patchwork quilts and I belong to a local group. It was through this group that I heard about ‘Project Linus’ which is a national project to give quilts to sick children from 0 to 18 years old, their siblings and / or Mum and Dad. Through Project Linus quilts go to Hospital wards, Hospices and Charities up and down the country and I am glad to say that quilts are going to the Alexander Devine Community Support and the new Hospice. Not being one to miss a chance to chop up fabric and sew it back together again I have now added a few of my own! Here is the first batch of them which hopefully will cheer up a family going through tough times: Gill Major
Thursday, 21 December Club Night (closed event)
CLUB NIGHTS January 18th February 15th March 15th April 19th May 17th
MAGAZINE CONTRIBUTION DEADLINES January 5th February 1st March 1st April 5th May 3rd
Thursday, 28 December Xmas blues, Breakfast meet
Contributions to the magazine. There are many ways you can help the magazine.
Saturday, 10 January Committee Night
You can email your articles and photos to: editor@thamesvalleyhog.org.uk
Saturday, 13 January Saturday Social
You can upload your articles and photos direct to the magazine by visiting: www.tvhogmag.uk from your computer or mobile device.
Thursday, 18 January Club Night (closed event) The Valley Rally Beaconsfield Town FC 29th June - 1st July 2018 Please check the website for the latest on all rides.
You can upload your photos directly to the magazine from the Chapter's Team App. Members Only - Articles to the Magazine Editor.
Euro Festival Rally
If there is anyone that is thinking of attending the Harley Davidson Euro Festival rally at Grimaud, Golfe De St Tropez between 7th and 10th June 2018, and would like to ride down to the south of France as part a Thames Valley contingent please get in touch with Chris Smith. This is an ideal opportunity take part in a long international trip to the sun soaked Mediterranean coast to hang out with like minded people and attend one of the biggest and best European Rallies in recent years. Tickets are selling very fast and on-site accommodation needs to be secured ASAP but if you're up for it give Chris a call on 07588 736963 or email smith8020@aol.com
Roadcrew 2018 Planning Meeting Early start, Sunday, 3rd December 2017 at the Catherine Wheel Henley. Hearty Brekkers then straight at it…. Time to sort rides for TV 2018 calendar. Good turnout of Road Crew. Nick had post-it notes literally on all walls as a great collection of rides and ideas put forward by all for the next year’s programme. With two coffee breaks & four hours later a form of order and conclusions were made. Post-it notes had definite places, Malcolm had all logged & Sue all noted plus good team work from all. So let’s look forward to some good rides 2018 Thanks to all… Mike J……
"I am Iron Butt" - Crazy Ass II (Part Two) Zen and the Art of Long Distance Riding With hazards blazing, we had stopped at the end of a slip road. Dave managed to limp to a layby a few yards up, but for sure I could hear horrendous noises from the back of the bike. At first, we suspected the primary or clutch. But, further investigation eventually revealed the problem. Stripped final drive belt. No teeth except for a small patch. Alan said he had felt something come off the back of the bike and hit him (staggered ride). Guess it must have been some of the missing teeth. And so, the woes really began. Dave had purchased the bike in the very early part of 2017 and was on the cusp of the changeover between Harley Assist and HOG Assist. At first, we couldn't get through. Then we could get through, but they had no record of the bike (less than a year old). Pushed from department to department. I phoned Nick our director. Alan phoned Garry the dealer principle of Newmarket. The offers of help amazing. At one-point multi-way conversations trying to get it sorted. Of course, this was going to put a real dent in Dave's ride. Could he complete the IH? Salvation was to arrive in the form of Malcom and Margret Bradly and assistant director Robin Seymour (all from Hogsback). Robin would ride out with a spare bike for Dave (an Ultra it turned out) and Malcolm and Margret would arrive by car with a trailer for the now dead Dyna. A photoshop of Robin riding a Thunderbirds model sparked the jokes. Malcolm and Margret would become Thunderbirds 3. Robin was Thunderbird 1. Dell Evans, director of Hogsback, Thunderbirds 5 – directing and co-ordinating the disparate groups throughout. Much needed relief for us all. We had to get to the broken Dyna to Taunton - so a towing operation was launched. And the team would meet us there. To say this was the most nervejangling thing any of us have done in a long time would be an understatement. My friend and colleague in tow behind my glide and with further friend and colleague in the form of Alan keeping the traffic off our convoy. High-viz vests deployed, hazards flashing for all they were worth, we kept this part of our journey as short as possible. Slow, steady and vigilant throughout. As the hours slipped by so the notion of riding to Southampton HD and then onto Loomies to meet the ride-out was snuffed-out; the mental image of a glass jar placed over a lit candle formed in my mind. Slowly, but surely any hope
extinguished just like a dying flame. We were all gutted. But, equally determined to stay together and get the ride completed somehow. Another note to self: make sure you have the number of the ride-out leader in your phone. Fortunately, Nick West coordinated for us, so the ride-out team were aware of our woes. Eventually, we all met-up with the Thunderbirds team. The bike was rescued onto the trailer and Dave given a quick runthrough the Ultra he would be riding for the remainder of the journey. We had to head back across country on a Sunday afternoon dodging heavy traffic. Nothing for it but to head straight to Guildford HD. Get the ride done. Oddly, the remainder of the ride was largely hassle free. The dual-carriage ways were free-flowing, and we could make good time, punctuated by short bursts of filtering through the bottlenecks. Soon enough we were upon the M3. And then that final stretch to Guildford. Here Dave became “the midwife”, urging us to Push! Push! Push! toward our final destination. Arriving in the pitch black I was amazed to find we were there about 30 mins earlier than I expected. It was only then I realised that the clock on the bike hadn't moved and taken into account the change of time Sunday morning. Result! And thus, we had finished. We missed a great line-up; later pictures posted on Facebook revealed Thames Valley had a cracking ride out and wonderful reception all planned. All 3 of us sad we couldn’t make it. But, we did come back to a small group who were waiting or arrived just after we did. Phone calls to a few people to confirm our arrival and then take the obligatory clapperboard and closing photos. Cilla arrived with specially baked biscuits celebrating the achievement. All the more to go around! With smiles and fond farewells, we each dispersed in different directions back home. Alan facing the longest journey of all. Back home and rested we started the painstaking process of gathering and collating the paperwork to have our ride verified. From first receipt to last on day 1 we logged: Alan: 22 hrs 33 mins travelling 1089 miles Dave: 22 hrs 30 mins traveling 1097 miles Mark: 22 hrs 20 mins travelling 1109 miles
Under IB rules our odo readings will not be used for the final mileage. It’s recognised, as you can see from the numbers, that there can be huge variances from bike to bike. A team of volunteers at IB will pour over the documentation and calculate the official ride mileage using our receipts and logs as way points on a “shortest route possible” calculation. We hope to know our success within the next month or so. For the IH, our reading was 1,321.6 miles completed in 47 hours 19 mins. Dealers visited (5): Guilford, Maidstone, Edinburgh, Swansea, Plymouth and returned to Guildford. Much to our collective amusement we have found that Alan trying to take pictures of his receipts against his Fatboy odo, at night, without the aid of glasses have produced a wonderful array of modern art. We’re phoning the Tate tomorrow to see if we can launch a new collection! To sum up our adventure? Emotional. So much to be thankful for. The chapter support, messages of goodwill, jokes and donations. The elation of having met both challenges. The sense of dismay when it went wrong. The joy of the help we received to get Dave mobile and allow the group to complete as one. The learning experiences. The fact the breakdown was on day two, not one. That it was the Dyna that died as the smallest bike and easiest to trailer. The silver lining of the replacement Ultra providing much needed respite for Dave’s delicate derriere (the Le Pera seat had numbed his nether regions for at least two days!). And so much more. Here we should probably pause and answer that most oft-asked question: Why? Why would anyone want to do this? As mountains are to a mountaineer, so long distance rides are a challenge for bikers to be risen to. For each of us, riding our bikes is a passion we have to indulge. For Dave and me, the bonus of being the first 2 riders to complete 2 IH rides in one calendar year. For Alan, the first of the Fenlanders chapter to have attempted and completed an IH ride. For all of us, a
first attempt of an IB ride. A chance to push our skills as riders and improve our riding. To not be phased by seeing our bikes get dirty. To enjoy a sense of comradery and friendship that can only be gained through shared experiences and clocking the miles. To raise the profile of our respective chapters. To invite family, friends and colleagues to share our journey and experiences. A chance to meet new people and see places in a different light (or by night). The list goes on. Just like the ride and roads we follow. Of course, this is an ideal opportunity to raise the profile and funds for worthwhile causes. We’re not mad, honestly, we’re not. We’re just 3 guys who enjoy riding. And, by no means last: Why not? So, for my last words I'd like to extend a thank you to each one that supported us, cheered us on and helped us out no matter how small or large the effort. And the charities we rode for? Over £1,400 raised with donations still coming in as we rode around the UK. To every contributor all 3 of us extend our a most heart-felt thank you for your support. But, most of all, a special thank you go out to Dave and Alan. I could not have asked for better guys to share the road our journey and adventure with. I salute you both. The riders Name Alan Moss Dave Hollis Mark Peck
Nickname The Leaf Blower The Midwife The Badger
Bike Fatboy Dyna/Ultra Street Glide Special
Chapter Fenlanders Hogsback Thames Valley
Windsor Toy Run A cold crisp Sunday morning in Ascot, where to go ? On a ride through Windsor Great Park of course, and on to Windsor town centre, to arrive at Broom Farm to deliver hundreds of toys and gifts to the forces children who live there.
Saturday Social The November Saturday Social was held at the Golden Retriever Public House, Nine Mile Ride near Bracknell, it was a wet day so no bikes, but the usual suspects turned up for a lovely lunch followed by an afternoon at Reading Dealership.
The Valley Rally Launch November's Clubnight had a certain air of mystery about it until those Men (and Ladies) in Black revealed the launch of the The Valley Rally. On the run up to Clubnight Facebook had seen a few teasers (some of which were disappearing faster than they could be posted). Make sure you get the dates in your diaries and grab your tickets.
harley-davidson is celebrating 115 years of producing the best motorcycles in the world and we invite you to be part of the celebration! The streets of Prague will rumble from July 5th to the 8th as Harley-Davidson celebrates 115 years of building legendary motorcycles for the most dedicated customers in the world! This celebration will bring together like-minded motorcyclists from all over the world, and since H.O.G. will also celebrate 35 years of making history as the largest motorcycle enthusiast group in the world, we want to celebrate you and the important role you play in Harley-Davidson ́s history! Chapters are invited to participate as we celebrate you and the important role you play in the motorcycle community. Registration is easy and chapters that participate will receive several benefits at the 115th celebration in Prague. Each chapter being represented by at least 10 participants will receive the following: • A commemorative 115th chapter flag displayed in the H.O.G. Village that you can take home after the event • 2 spots in the bikers parade to represent your chapter and a flag for the parade • Display of your chapter as a community partner on the 115th Anniversary website The 115th Anniversary celebration will be four adrenaline filled days with fun activities, music, food and drink, and especially you and your motorcycles! Here is a sampling of what you can expect:
What’s On: • Harley-Davidson Club Praha 90th Anniversary • H-D Museum – an extensive collection of antique bikes and artifacts from H-D • Custom Bike Show – you can participate or just come for the show • Parade – Don’t forget to get a draw ticket with the Rally pack to have a chance to join in! • H-D Demo Truck • Bikers Games • Music and entertainment • JEEP Touring ZONE • Muay Thai Gala Party • Stunt Shows • Guided Tours of Prague and Surroundings • And much more: In addition, we are offering special support for you to make sure your chapter gets the best accommodation and makes the most of your stay in Prague! Have your chapter representative contact us for all your accommodation needs: • Camping • Hotels • Group Accommodation Finally, we want you to get involved! We know you have a lot of amazing bikes both historical and modern. If you have a bike that would be appropriate to show in either our Custom Bike Show or an antique bike for our H-D Museum, or you are a vendor and would like to participate in the 115th Anniversary celebration, contact us.
Looking forward to see you there!
Somewhere Warmer Whilst we may be heading for colder times and the arrival of winter, some of us have managed to grab a bit of winter sun. Ian and Teresa Taylor recently enjoyed some sun around Cape Town and Camps Bay. Naturally they used the local rental Harleys to get around.
Dealerships Of The World Alan Miles made a minor detour whilst on the way to Eurofest to visit the Auvergne Dealership in Clermont Ferrand, mid France.
2017 Officers & Committee
PRIMARY OFFICERS
Nick West Director
Lee White Colin Wilkins Assistant Director Treasurer
COMMITTEE & SUPPORTING OFFICERS CLUB VENUE Grenadier Guards Club Maidenhead Rd, Windsor, Berks, SL4 5EY
Louise White Ladies of Harley
Robin Sasson Webmaster
Malcolm Poulter Activities
Sue Moyler Secretary
Andy Tunley Editor
Ann Tunley Jones Merchandise
Don Wibberley Activities
Sue Knight Historian
Chris Smith Membership
Linda Friend Photographer
Mike Wilson Dealer Principal
Third Thursday of every month 7:30pm
Chris Earley Photographer
Adrian Lightfoot Dealer Rep
Email any committee member at (position held)@thamesvalleyhog.org.uk https://www.facebook.com/ thamesvalleyhog.org.uk