n u r r e e n o pi
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riders world relay
mileage start
charity baking www.thamesvalleyhog.org.uk
February 2019
Ed Quarters Welcome to Tales from the Riverbank.
As I sit with a beer on a Friday evening to get the magazine out for this month, I just realized what I have signed up for! Phew...But being part of a club with such wonderful members and surrounded by a great committee I am not worried at all. This is my first issue, that too on new software, so please bear with the first couple of issues. We have a great line up coming up after the success of the Spring Revival in form of mileage program in March, continued rides to great places from March onwards and eventually building up to our Valley Rally – have you bought tickets? Please do so now! More on the programs in the magazine. I think the magazine is already in a great shape, so no need to do any major changes instead to get grips with how to get it done smoothly. I do however think if we could carry a couple of articles on personal experiences as well as how we have customized individual bikes! Myself being a relatively new Harley owner (in comparison to most with years), I would love to know what fellow members have done to their bikes or would like to do! Any ideas? Lastly, please do keep sending articles, photos, and anything that is worth sharing with everyone as the me and the committe alone cannot keep the magazine to: going! o ns Happy reading and safe riding!
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Inside this issue Front cover
Thatcham Classic Car & Bike Show
Look out for our Facebook and instagram tweets
Page 2 Ed Quarters Page 4 - 9 Westie Writes Page 10 Ladies of Harley Dinner Page 11 Coffee & Cake Page 12 TV Times Page 13 The Committee Page 14
Easter Egg Run Page 15 EMEA HOG Events Page 16 Gliding on By Page 17 Guildford HD Birthday
Huge thanks to all who have sent copy in for this month's magazine:
Page 18 Hogstock 2019 Page 19 - 20 Women Riding World
Jo, Mike C, Nick W, John, Mac, Linda F, Andy, Nick E, Gill Your contributions are appreciated.
Page 21 Saturday Social Page 22-23
Pioneer Run Back cover
Hi Everyone, It was great to see many of you at the AGM in January. Reading Harley Davidson really pushed the boat out with raffle prizes for our charity and there was a real bounty on offer. Announcing the new committee is still always the highlight of this meeting and I hope you are all able to work with, and support the new line up. Jamie McLaughlin will be wholly focussed on the Valley Rally as he steps into a new full time role of Rally Manager. Gary Watts is joining Nick Ekandahl on the activities team and Hayley West is adding Social Media Officer to her Charities role this year. It is great to see Fred back in the role of Membership Secretary and to see the role of Safety Officer going to Mike Connolly. This months magazine will have been prepared, formatted and produced by the new Editor, Mohit Khanna. Please keep your stories, write-ups and interest items rolling in for Mohit. Andy Tunley will continue to support me as Assistant Director as well as taking on the Chapter Secretary role vacated by Sue Moyler (see last months “Westie Writes�). John Green steps up to join Andy as Assistant Director, teaming up with Andy and myself to support the wider committee. Last and certainly not least, Payal Khanna joins Linda Friend and Alex MacDonald on our photography team. Lesley Lederer continues as Treasurer, Robin Sasson remains our very able and helpful Webmaster and I will be continuing to serve as Director for another year.
A noticeable gap in our line up for this year is the lack of LOH Officer. If you think you can help or if you know someone who maybe interested please contact me. We have a vibrant LOH community of riders, pillions and non riders who would love to have someone represent them. We have the ability to co-opt the right candidate into the role. Regular visitors at the Dealership will already be missing the warm welcome and smiling face of Sally, who is taking some time off before the birth of her baby. If you get time, please drop in on her maternity leave replacement, Gareth. I am sure he will be just as cheerful and helpful as we have become used to at RHD. Mike Wilson joined me this year at the Annual Directors and Dealer Meeting in Nottingham. Here we were informed of upcoming changes in HOG, Harley and key HD partners and programmes. This year HOG.com will be migrated to H-D.com and HOG members will find all of the usual features and facilities in the “Owners� section of the H-D.com site.
HD/HOG have also appointed a new agent to manage the HOG customer centre. The new team were well represented at the meeting and gave assurance to Chapter Directors and Dealers that improvements were already being delivered and would continue throughout 2019. HD Insurance were present again and asked for all HOG members to give them a chance to compete for their business. They can often make great efforts to match or beat quotes on a like-for-like basis. Before renewing elsewhere please make the call. They matched for me this year ! Make sure they know that you are a HOG member ! Eagle Rider were represented at the meeting and they spoke about the challenges they have faced in their first year as sole rental partner for HD. Again, they are learning from experiences and looking to continue to improve as the program beds in. Harley Davidson spoke about 3 new models being worked on for 2020 including a new Adventure Tourer, a streetfighter and a new middleweight custom. Look out for more news through the year.
Our National Ladies Of Harley team spoke about a number of interesting changes and programs coming this year including the 2019 Sparkle and Twinkle Tours. I am sure that Chapter members, Jo Green or Elaine Shepherd will be happy to field any questions you may have about these. I know that they are taking booking for the tours now and that initial demand is very high. I mentioned the change of name from Chapter Challenge to Ride 365 last year and very briefly last month and hopefully most of the queries about that change have now been answered, but i am still getting a few questions. To help clarify, Ride 365 is just a new name for the Chapter Mileage Challenge. The HOG Mileage program continues to run alongside this and accumulates your mileage year on year providing that you keep your National HOG membership current. Milestone patches are still provided as a part of that scheme. Previously the Chapter Mileage Challenge started in March and ran until the end of October and so mileage added during the winter months were omitted from the count. Now ride 365 will offer a chance to collect all miles through the year. The way it works is that the first reading taken after 1st Jan will be logged as your start mileage for the year and the last mileage submitted before 31st Dec will be logged as your end mileage for the year. As a “backstop” (sorry to those of you who are bored with hearing this term in other contexts recently) is that the Chapter will continue to organise One Day Events in early March and late October . We are also considering organising a way to capture mileage straight after the Reading Toy Run an perhaps in early Jan for those who might want to maximise their winter miles. I’ll let you know if we decide to do this.
Onto some recent events and specifically the LOH Christmas Dinner held at the Stafferton Lodge Toby Carvery early in Jan. I heard that it was a fun evening if a little” rowdy” (Thames Valley Ladies ? Rowdy? Surely not !). The Saturday Social at the Shepherds House (Not Elaine and Rays place … hehe) was well attended and there were some great photos shared on social media. At the time of writing we are preparing for our Spring Revival at the Burnham Cricket Club and we are finalising plans to do our very own Easter Egg Run in support of Alexander Devine Hospice Service. All being well, there will have already been some announcements and information by the time you read this month’s magazine. Please join us in supporting this event. If it is successful it could become an annual event in our calendar. Keep a date free in your calendar - Saturday 30th March 2019. Before this, we will be running our Ride 365 Mileage Collection for 2019 on Saturday 2nd March. We will be at Reading HD between 10am and 2pm to take your Odometer readings. Our ladies will be organising a charity cake sale on the day so make sure you have this one at the top of your list for the day ! If you are looking for something to do on the 9th March, please join us at the Mayflower in Hazlemere near High Wycombe for our next Saturday Social. We will be looking to support our sister chapter Hogsback in celebrating the 10th birthday of Guildford Harley Davidson on Saturday 23rd March. Rideout details are in the calendar. The usual Hog Roast, live band and special raffle offer loads of reasons to join us for the day ! We will be participating in the Pioneer Run again this year. Mike Joiner will be leading us down to Brighton as his Road Captain Qualifier on Sunday 24th March. Once again, TVHOG will be supporting Oxford on the Jake Spicer Memorial Toy Run on 28th April. We would love to supply marshals to make this run
safe and successful so if you can help please let me know. I am delighted to announce that in conjunction with the organisers of the Dawn to Dusk Ride, Reading Harley Davidson will be the 2nd Checkpoint on this popular annual ride. If you fancy a challenge, head to Lowestoft on the 21st of June, get up in time for sunrise on the 22nd and start your journey of discovery. Stopping at 4 checkpoints along the route (including RHD) on your way to Lands End before dusk. You may want to stay overnight in the area before returning home on Sunday 23rd. Contact Roy at erewashview@yahoo.com for your registration form. The challenge ride is open to all Harley Riders whether they are HOG Members or not. In case you were not yet aware, Valley Rally tickets are now on general sale. We are now out of the “Chapter Preference Offering” and offering tickets to all HOG members in the UK and Europe. Please don’t get caught out, get your tickets now. The bands are now confirmed as are many of the rally standholders. A full program will be posted as soon as we have it. We would love to see as many Chapter members as possible at the event, come and join us as we welcome HOG members from all over the world into our backyard !. …. and finally I would like to wish a fond farewell and special thanks to Andy Tunley as Editor of our mag for the past 4 years. He has done a sterling job with the format and layout, managing the delivery of the magazine from start to finish each month. The warmest of welcomes to Mohit who has stepped up to take on this vital and frankly challenging role at the chapter. I am sure you will join me in wishing him every success and if this mag is anything to go by, we will be enjoying a new approach as Mohit gets to grips with the job. Ride safe and have fun folks ! Nick
Ladies of Harley Dinner
“Coffee & Cake� with the Thames Valley Ladies on Saturday 2nd March from 10.00am to 2.00pm at the Reading Harley Davidson Dealership. Bring any donations on the day and be ready to EAT cake (after registering your mileage)! All proceeds to go to the Alexander Devine Children's Hospice.
Wednesday, 20 February 18:30 Club Night (Closed Event Members Only) Saturday, 2 March Chapter Mileage Program Start Sunday, 3 March
Wednesday, 17 April 18:30 Club Night (Closed Event Members Only) Saturday, 20 April Concorde Museum Filton Sunday, 21 April Oxford Transport Museum
Road Crew Meeting@Catherine Wheel, Henley on Thames
Sunday, 27 April Bovingdon Tank Museum
Saturday, 9 March 12:00 Saturday Social Wednesday, 20 March
Sunday, 28 April Jake Spicer Toy Run (Oxford)
18:30 Club Night (Closed Event -
Friday, 28 - Sunday, 30 June 2019 Thames Valley Rally
Members Only)
Tickets are now available
Saturday, 23 March
Please check the website for the latest on all rides.
Ride to Guildford H D Sunday, 24 March Pioneer Run
CLUB NIGHTS February 20th March 20th April 17th May 15th June 19th
Saturday, 30 March Alexander Devine Easter Run Wednesday, 10 April 18:30 Poker Night
MAGAZINE CONTRIBUTION DEADLINES March 7th April 4th May 2nd June 6th July 4th
2019 Officers & Committee
PRIMARY OFFICERS
Nick West Director
Andy Tunley Lesley Lederer Secretary & Ass.Director Treasurer
COMMITTEE & SUPPORTING OFFICERS
Mohit Khanna Editor
Mike Connolly Safety Officer
https://www.facebook.com/ thamesvalleyhog.org.uk
John Green Assistant Director
Hayley West Social Media & Charities Officer
Fred Cotsford Membership
Robin Sasson Webmaster
Mike Wilson Dealer Principal
Jamie McLaughlin Rally Manager
Gary Watts Activities
Nick Ekendahl Activities
Linda Friend Photographer
Alex MacDonald Photographer
Payal Khanna Photographer
CLUB VENUE Burnham Cricket Club Memorial Ground, Taplow Common Road, Burnham, Slough, Berks, SL1 8LP Third Wednesday of every month 7:00pm
Email any committee member at (position held)@thamesvalleyhog.org.uk
Alexander Devine Easter Egg Run Date: Saturday 30th March 2019 Start from Reading Harley-Davidson, 660 Wokingham Road, Earley Reading RG6 7HN End at Alexander Devine Hospice near White Waltham. Donation of GBP 5 per bike to purchase higher value Easter Eggs for the fund raiser at AD
Thames Valley Harley Owners Group
2019 EMEA HOG EVENTS Date May 24/5/19-26/5/19 30/5/19-2/6/19 31/5/19-3/6/19 31/5/19-2/6/19 June 5/6/19-9/6/19 13/6/19-16/6/19 20/6/19-23/6/19 28/6/19-30/6/19 July 5/7/19-6/7/19 11/7/19-14/7/19 11/7/19-14/7/19 August 23/8/19-26/8/19 September 3/9/19-8/9/19 13/9/19-14/9/19
Event
Location
HD Summer time Party BENELUX HOG Rally Ireland Bikefest 3rd Zagreb HD Ralley
Sylt, Germany Garderen, Netherlands Killarney, Ireland Zagreb, Croatia
Open Road Fest 28th European HOG Rally Magic Bike Hamburg Harley Days
Lake Balaton, Hungary Cascais, Portugal Rudesheim am Rhein, Germany Hamburg, Germany
Prague Harley Days MorzineHarley Days Willingen Bike Week
Prague, Czech Republic Morzine, France Willingen, Germany
Thunder in the Glens
Aviemore, Scotland
Euriopean Bike Week HOG Rally Minks
Faaker See, Austria Minsk, Belarus
Gliding On By Hi All, This is the first magazine since the AGM and this year’s committee is now in place so I’m writing this as an Assistant Director rather than your Safety Officer. I’m looking forward to this year and the new challenges it will bring along with the new experiences. I’ll keep this short as I’ve left it to the last minute to submit it to Mohit (sorry) and must get better at doing it early (bit like my tax returns). In amongst the events on the calendar on Saturday March 2nd we are holding our annual bring you bike to the dealership to eat cake day (please see page 11) – also known as the start of this year’s TV Chapter Mileage Challenge. I’ll be taking mileages from you between 10am and 2pm on the day and these will be recorded along with those taken since the start of January for this year’s challenge which could win you a prize at our December club night. You need your bike with VIN and mileage along with a current HOG membership number. You can enrol more than one Harley and the mileage updates will also count for the new Ride 365 programme recently announced along with your personal lifetime mileage awards which you will still receive a patch and pin for. TV LOH are also holding one of their wonderful cake stalls with all donations going to our charity - so you can record your mileage, eat burgers (brief mention for Simon) and cake and get a decent cup of tea. Please remember that you can email any questions on the mileage
programme you can email me on mileage@thamesvalleyhog.org.uk Thanks for reading this, I look forward to seeing you all at the dealership. John Green Assistant Director
Birthday Bash Ride to Guildford Harley-Davidson – 10th Birthday Saturday 23rd March Lead Andy Tunley, Tail John Green. Meeting at Showcase Cinema Car park 09:30 for briefing and 10:00 departure. The ride will follow to the south of Wokingham and Bracknell along the Nine mile ride and then join the A322 towards Bagshot. We’ll pass through Bisley and Worplesdon before turning right for a quick blast down the A31 / A3 Guildford and Godalming Bypass to the B3000 exit. A short trip through the village of Compton and we will arrive at Guildford Harley-Davidson at Peasmarsh. Distance is approximately 30 miles and is expected to take approx. 75 minutes. This is part one of my qualifying ride, so why not pile on the pressure and add to the numbers? Once at Guildford, you will be able to enjoy trade stands, hog roast, live entertainment, charity raffle, cake sales and more. Get it in the diary. I’ll see you there. Andy
Hogstock 2019 As most of you already know on the 29th May
2019 members of our chapter are travelling to Hogstock in the Netherlands. On this occasion, I believe it is fair to mention that due to a very positive response we are “a large group” of 32 bikes with 58 participants doing a group channel crossing; and yes you have heard it right one support van! In order to make the most of our day on the other side of the channel, the Eurotunnel have kindly allocated us an early departure of 06:20 hrs!!! I have been informed that quite a few have booked The Travelodge in Ashford the night before and the hotel still has rooms available for those who want to book the night of 28th May, 2019. The main objective for the support vehicle is to allow you to travel light. For a small £10 contribution we are giving you the opportunity to check in a bag or small suitcase up to 22kg allowing you to take that little extra for a slightly longer trip than usual or simply ride light. Because of weight restrictions we are however going to need to limited to a maximum of 35 bags. Allocations are on a first come, first served basis so don’t be disappointed and reserve your bag ASAP by sending an email to activitiesnick@thamesvalleyhog.org.uk If you are reading this and haven’t managed to confirm a space but would be interested to join us send me an email. We will do our best to secure your place although we cannot guarantee. Hope to see you around soon. Nick E. Activities officer
THE WOMEN RIDERS WORLD RELAY The Women Riders World Relay is a mixed marque ride, with ladies of all ages and motorbikes taking part and literally passing the baton to others. It is the brainchild of UK rider Hayley Bell, who set out to ignite a global sisterhood of inspirational women and promote courage, adventure, unity and passion for biking from all corners of the world and do something that’s never been done before to this scale. The aim is to WOW the industry into realizing the global market for women in Motorsports and to inspire women world wide to get out there! The relay kicks off on Wednesday 27th February 2019 at John O 'Groats and winds through Scotland, over the Irish Sea to Northern Ireland and through Ireland before passing back across the Irish Sea to Wales. From there it passes through the Midlands and onto the leg that I am signed up for as a baton guardian - that's on Saturday 9th March leaving from Royal Leamington Spa - arriving down at the Ace Cafe in London around 2pm and then onto Gillingham.
The route then passes out of the UK and on through Europe and 90 Countries over the course of the next year. Events to support the ride are going on all across the UK, with major events at the Ace Cafe on Saturday 9th March featuring guest speakers (including Jenny Tinmouth the British Superbike Championship racer, Jodie Fieldhouse, Carolynn Sells and Elspeth Beard, the first women to ride solo around the world). There will also be industry representatives, stalls, raffles and fun. On the Gillingham route, ladies are being given the opportunity to attend Sittingbourne Speedway Circuit, where they will be given advice, some tuition and can apply to have go on the Speedway bikes - and yes, the baton will go around the Speedway track...
For further details, please see the website or FB page!
www.womenridersworldrelay.com Jo Green
Saturday Social O ur lovely chapter members got together on Saturday, February at the
Shepherds House pub in the gorgeous rolling green countryside of Berkshire. As always, great banter and company flowed freely.
Pioneer Run Sunday 24 March 2019 The First Pioneer Run® from Tadworth to Brighton was held in 1930. The Run has been repeated almost every year since and the 2019 the run will be the 80th. The Pioneer Run® always attracts the largest gathering of pre 1915 solos, sidecars and tricycles in the World, so well worth visit. 2019 will see a new route avoiding the A23 into Brighton and after passing through Reigate and Gatwick, joins the A281 through Cowfold, and Henfield, then on to the A283 to Shoreham, where it turns left on the Coast Road to Brighton (first bikes expected at Madeira Drive from 10.00 hrs onwards). That’s great news for TVHog because the second section of our Pioneer run follows exactly the same route from Cowfold to Madeira Drive. So you now have 2 choices if you’re interested in seeing the 100+ year old bikes… 1 Get up really early and see the pioneers start from Tadworth at 08.00 or 2 Join us for a more leisurely start from Maidenhead, with
a
a stop for refreshments at the Orchard Café in Cowfold and arriving in time to see the Mayor of the City of Brighton present awards at the Sunbeam MCC marquee at 14.00 hrs. Of course – if you are up early you can always come to the Orchard in Cowfold around 11.30 to join us for the run in to Brighton.
Here is a summary of the route and timings we plan to take the ride will be led by Mike Joiner (his qualifying Road captain ride): We start at Esso Garage on Braywick Road (SL6 1UZ) – jiffy stands up at 9.30 (meet at 9.00 for briefing). There are 2 opportunities to join the ride after that... A pick at Newlands Corner (GU4 8SE) around 10.15 - we'll simply do a rolling pickup to save time. Then a stop at the Orchard Cafe (RH13 8LY) on the A272 (just off the junction with the A24) at 11.15 - here we can have a short half hour refreshment break. Then we will continue to Madeira Drive, Brighton arriving between 12.30 and 1.00 pm. At Brighton. We will spend a couple of hours in Brighton to see the Pioneer bikes and trade stands. Hope to see you there Mike Connolly