They have a long history of organising such events and feel that a new venture for them to try is a GoldWing Light Parade.

One of the Chester Lions members was present at Llandudno on 1st October 2011 when GoldWings North Wales hosted the Llandudno Light Parade. He was that impressed with the spectacle that he has spread the gospel to the rest of his group and as a result they have approached Dave Crowley and I,  to see if they could organise a ‘Chester Lions Light Parade’.

Dave is not only a member of GoldWings North Wales but is also a member of GWOCGB, being active within the local region.

I must emphasise at this point that the Chester Lions are doing all the organising and have requested our joint assistance only to publicise the event within the GoldWing Community.

A Trike from 2007 BLP

They have sought advice from us on several aspects of the parade which we have tried to respond to as best as we could.

Here are the  details that have been agreed and can publicised.

The event is to be held on Saturday 21st April 2012, starting off with a static daytime display of GoldWings within the historic city centre itself. The Goldwings are to be displayed in up to 3 locations within the pedestrianised zone of the city centre.

The main display will be centred around Bridge Street just by Chester Cross. See the map here for location.

This street has many vehicle bays which will be the display area for the Wings. If this area fills up completely a second display area will be in Eastgate Street, the main shopping street just around the corner from Bridge Street.

If the day is blessed with a very strong turnout of GoldWings (and the Chester Lions really do hope so) a third area for displaying more Wings is just outside the Town Hall.

Bridge Street, Chester Daytime display

The Chester Lions members will be on hand to shake buckets and with assistance from the Wing owners take every opportunity to collect money from the public viewing the display.

Local radio is expected to have outside broadcast facilities present at the static display, as well as press photographers.

The static display concludes at 4pm and the area should be cleared of Wings. Those who have arranged accommodation can return and sort out meals etc, or for those on day visits there are plenty of fine eateries within the City Centre.

The main evening event is the Goldwing  light parade which commences with a muster from 7pm onwards in Castle Square, a large car-park just outside the City Centre which is easy to find. For the map to get there look here

The parade will start at 8.15pm from Castle Square and will have police motorcycle escorts for the whole route.

Old Dee Bridge

The parade route will take in one of the outskirts of Chester, Handbridge, and will then cross over the Old Dee Bridge and travel around Chester City Centre on a short circuit before looping round the outside and back into the centre where is it hoped that the main public display will take place, with the Chester Lions members doing a bucket collection.

Again local radio stations will take a big part in the evening with prize competitions. The Lord Mayor is hoping that someone will allow her to ride on the back of a trike in the parade and that someone will donate a seat to other dignatories and prizewinners.

At the completion of the Parade those owners who wish to take part is the Best Lit Bike competition will remain parked up in the City Centre while judging takes place followed by prize -giving at the same location or nearby.

Due to the small area involved for this competition, those rider not taking part may be asked to park their bikes away from the area in other side streets and walk back for this event.

Castle Square Mustering Point

The whole day has the support of the Police, and the  Council.

It is also apparent that Chester Lions are extremely well organised in making arrangements for such events  including road closures and marshalling various aspect of the event.

As the Lions have asked for our assistance to arrange attendance of Goldwingers Dave Crowley and I have been making enquiries locally for accommodation deals.

To this end we have managed to secure camping on the outskirts of Chester and a hotel near Mold, 8 miles outside Chester but on favourable terms.

The camping ground is the Chester Southerly Camping Park, which is situated just off the A483 and A55 road junction. the rates for those who quote ‘Goldwings Event’ are:- Caravans and Motorhomes with electric 2 adults £17.00 Tents with 2  adults  £12.75,  Tents 1  adult   £10.20.  This is a 15% discount over normal rates. They can be contacted at:

Chester Southerly Touring Park Balderton Lane, Marlston Cum Lache CH4 9LB Tel: 01244 671308  – Visit their website here and view a map of their location here

For those who wish to make use of the hotel deal we have obtained  – The Beaufort Park Hotel at New Brighton, Near Mold have offered excellent discounted rates of £60 per couple per room per night for Dinner, Bed and Breakfast, or £35 per solo per room for the same deal. This deal applies to the Friday and Saturday nights BUT this offer is open to those who book before 28th February as the hotel must release the block-booked rooms after that date. Again, the deal is open to those who quote ‘GoldWings’ when booking.

Dave L amused by something small

Five bikes from Goldwings North Wales went on the Germany trip this year.

The destination was the Harz Mountains region.

I had read accounts from Germany bikers, and indeed many British bikers, who commented on the quality of the roads and scenery in the area, together with some historic towns full of old-time character to visit.

The area was the boundary between the old East Germany and West Germany with the border zig-zagging through the region.

I gave the details of the proposed holiday to members of Goldwings North Wales and four other couples gave their indication of interest enough to book the holiday

Ed was easily amused as well

We chose to travel across from Hull to Holland then cross country to Germany and eventually to Bad Lauterberg where we were booked into a biker hotel for 2 weeks. Bad Lauterberg is on the South West edge of the Harz Mountain region.

We met up on day 1 at the Chester Services meeting spot, 3 GL1800, 1 GL 1500 and a BMW K1200LT (but we wont say too much about that except to take the mickey out of Ed).

The couples were Nigel and Joanna, Ian and Val, Dave and Elaine, Ed and Ann, and finally Jan and me.

We had a nice gentle trip across to Squires Cafe for lunch then carry on to the ferry port at Hull, where we were soon loaded onto the ferry and the Wings tied down.

Big garage at the hotel

We had all booked 4 berth inside cabins, but it was not to be 4 berths cabins for all of us. Our cabin was a bit noisy, we were in the centre of the ship and from the noise and vibration we were probably over the engine room, but at least the room was a 4 berth.

Ian and Val were allocated a 2 berth with bunks, and one of them was not level. Unfortunately all attempts to resolve the issue with staff on the ship were fobbed off with the comment that all complaints were to be referred to the head office. They would not even be allocated an alternative room as the ship was full.

The following morning we had an excellent breakfast on board the Ferry and then set off across Holland in nice weather on the longest leg of the journey, Rotterdam to Bad Lauterberg.

Icon of Fashion - Dave L

The journey to Bad Lauterberg was straight forward though a bit boring as it was mostly Autobahn.

Countryside was good in parts and featureless in parts (especially in Holland). The flatter parts were only given highlights when Audi cars or Porsches went past at warp factor 3, or what I thought was the fastest car of the day went past – a Jaguar – at about 160 mph or so it seemed.

After a rather long day with many stops for the loo, coffee, burgers and fuel, we arrived in Bad Lauterberg at our hotel at about 6.30pm.

We had booked a meal at the hotel for the first evening and we settled in for our holiday.

Brocken Listening Post

We managed over the next two weeks to visit and ride nearly every road in the Harz mountain range. The roads are very good and, in the main, very quiet, except at weekends, with plenty of German bikers enjoying the roads which gave a good mix of twisties and roads to make progress.

Many villages and small towns in the Harz area were like ghost towns, though it was obvious that there were many people living around the area. We rarely saw anyone in the street, unlike in the UK where it is rare to pass through a village without seeing signs of activity.

It was noticed that more than the usual number of houses were unoccupied throughout the area.

Brocken train trip

We were told by our hosts at the hotel that many houses were abandoned by families who escaped to West Germany and as yet nobody has come forward to reclaim the abandoned houses. It was also a fact that the population of Germany as a whole is shrinking steadily so these abandoned houses are likely to remain so for sometime to come.

We also visited Uslar where we called in at the biggest Goldwing dealers we have ever seen – Goldwings Haus Fuchs. It was eye candy for the Wing owners!

This dealership had more Goldwings for sale in one place than you can imagine but not one was brand new as far as I could see (though I stand to be corrected on that).

Clock-watching Goslar Style

There were numerous Gl1500 and Gl1800 models for sale with many having been treated to a ‘paint’ job particular to this dealership.

To top it all, at the time of our visit to Fuchs there was a rally of German GoldWing Trikers to the premises and there was literally no places left to park.

If anyone is passing close to Uslar (within 100 miles) it is worth diverting to the dealership to see the Wings in stock. There is also a large trike showroom at the dealership which is spectacular.

The only point I would mention is that the Wings and trikes were expensive when compared to prices at home, so don’t expect any bargain bikes there.

Wernegerode City Hall

The highest mountain in the Harz range is the Brocken which is 3,743 ft high, which is comparable with Snowdon at 3,560 ft.The summit can be reached by a steam train or on foot.

Being Wingers we took the train option, which was quite expensive, and not as good as I had hoped, as the views on the 2 hour each way journey up and down were spoilt by the very extensive forestry which surrounds the railway line up to the last few hundred metres.

It also didn’t help that half the German population (or so it seemed) had decided to visit the Brocken on the same day and the train was rather busy!!.

Nice bendy roads

The summit of the Brocken was very busy but did enable us to see across the large flat plain which starts to the east of the Brocken.

The Brocken has a very large radio antenna and old East German listening post from the Cold War days, with the border running in the valley between the Brocken and Torfhaus, which was also blessed with a large radio antenna and a listening post for the West.

Aside from radio masts, the Brocken was also home to billions of wasps and other flying insects so we all decided to return on the next train down after having grabbed a spot of lunch.

No guessing who this would be!!!

Bad move! It appears that after that train there is a gap of a couple of hours before the next train goes down to Wernigerode where we had parked the Wings. The queues of people waiting for the train was incredible and reminded me of some of those film I have seen of trains in India.

After discreet use of elbows and size 11 boots, I was able to get seats for the journey down from the Brocken, but this might have been a bit of a mixed blessing as the temperature in the carriage was very high. Once in a seat we were unable to get out of it until after a large number of people had got off at several of the stations on the way.

Out of the carriage window the view again was absorbing, but only if you are into tree-watching!.

Nigel the Dude in Dudestadt

Ian and Val took a day out to visit Colditz Castle, scene of the TV series made following the exploits of P.O.Ws at the war-time prison camp.

For some reason it is only the British who have an interest in the place as the locals are not really aware of the history of the place other than its use as a war-prison.

Ian can now relate to the box set of DVDs he had of the Colditz story.

We visited the City of Kassel which Ed had been recommended to visit. He was ride leader for the day and we had a great time visiting one very large water feature, the Herkules Monument, which sits on a ridge overlooking Kassel.

Prepare for landing!!!

The monument is a visitor attraction as it is a fine building to look at, but it is really a large water tank which supplies water for the fountains and waterfalls.

We were not lucky enough to see the water running but it was a really nice place to visit.

This was also the day I ordered a hot-dog in German and received sausage stew instead – much to the amusement of everyone when I walked out with it.

We discovered that the Harz Mountain area, and I suppose many other areas in Germany as well, really do close down on a Sunday.

Scenic view on tour given by host Greg

It was rather weird, after the Sunday trading laws in the UK, to visit a country where shops are all closed and Sunday trading does not take place. Full Stop.

We were particularly lucky to find a small transport type cafe open for our late lunch as most were closed. Even during the evening not all restaurants or cafes were open.

We managed to keep Nigel happy by finding a set of tight bends for him to scrape his pedals in both directions.

He enjoyed it so much he returned a couple of days later to play on them again.

A few of us took a guided trip around the region courtesy of our landlord, who was a very fast rider, even though I requested him to leave his fast bike behind and use his slower machine.

The water was a bit ...cool!

He managed to take us along some rather fine country roads and to some nice view points and along roads we would not have visited without his guidance.

Ian and Val did not stay for the full holiday as Val needed to get back for her business.

It must have been fate that put them in the same cabin on the ferry back -and the bunk had not been fixed.

Just goes to show that nobody listens to complaints anyway.

While the ladies were busy sorting a few things out at the hotel, Dave L and I took the opportunity on the last free morning to visit the museum of the Border crossing just outside Dudestadt.

Hot-dog stew

This was quite a sobering experience, and bought home to me how lucky we were not having had to suffer the likes of the Iron Curtain.

It was quite obvious on our rides around the area where the border points had been situated and it was often quite visible to track the border due to a large wide swathe of overgrown grass in many parts of the area, where local farmers had not reclaimed the extra land.

I found the area to be very interesting and varied. It was worth the time to visit and have a good look around, though next time I might look for a bigger hotel, with a few more facilities, if we plan to stay for as long again.

All in all a nice holiday with good scenery, reasonable weather and great friends.

As usual Nigel has put all the photos in an album for you all to see here

Dave T

2011 Llandudno Light Parade Patch

Many of you have asked about patches for the 2011 Llandudno Light parade, especially as those available on the day were very quickly snapped up.

If you want to order a patch you can do so directly with Alan from Storm Embroidery. He will take orders for the LLP patches and send them by post for £4.00 per patch plus P&P of 50p (1-4 patches). He does use paypal for transfer of funds.

You can contact him direct on 01226 231054 or Mob 07753246459.

Dave T

Outside the main hotel - The Evans Hotel, Llandudno

Well Folks, it’s over for this year. All the hard work and effort has really paid off with a very successful Light Parade in Llandudno.

I cannot claim any of the kudos for the organisation of this event because I didn’t really get involved in it.

I was away for effectively 3 weeks immediately up to the day before the parade – so I delegated all the hard work to Chris, Nigel and the team of organisers that assisted them.

I can honestly say that their work has paid off, with many new Wingers and existing Wingers praising the organisation and running of the whole day.

Goldwings North Wales are indebted to those Wingers and non-Wingers, family members and friends who attended and helped out with all the tasks that they were asked to do.

Wings Lined up on the prom.

It goes without saying that they did a magnificent job as they were well briefed as to what was required to be done in the various positions.

There are quite a few aspects of the day which I observed and still marvel at: Nigel without a camera, Ed with a camera and flash and not under a visitor’s bike assisting with repairs or advice, the quantity of GoldWings that turned up and lined up on the Prom, people in shirt sleeves at 8pm on 1st October in Llandudno, the crowds of people lining the streets in Llandudno for the parade, the crowds of onlookers waiting on the Prom at the end of the parade to see the static light display.

Excellent memories from the whole day!

The Parade has started!

All of these are my immediate recollections of the day.

There are many other good memories as well like the lady who came specifically on a coach trip to Llandudno from the Midlands so she could see the GoldWings and, as it turned out, to ride on the back of a trike during the parade.

Another notable feature of the day was the number of more mature people who came to look at, and in many cases to sit on, the GoldWings.

The fascination with trikes was tremendous, particularly when many realised that they were quite stable when on the move and did not need to be held up and balanced like a solo when going slow or stationary.

The Wings on Parade

I think the trike dealers will be fielding quite a few enquiries in the near future as the interest from the public was very strong indeed.

Without any doubt the event was well blessed due to the unseasonally warm and calm weather on the day which swelled the number attending and onlooking significantly.

I don’t recall ever being comfortable in shirt sleeves after dark in October before except when abroad on holiday.

Bad weather could have completely spoiled the event by reducing the number of Wings attending and by keeping the crowds of public away from the area. Fewer people attending the event would have seriously reduced the total raised for the RNLI.

Even a bride on her wedding day had to have her picture on a Goldwing

It was good to see Barry Walton from Appleyards in attendance with some display Wings for the public to look at.

He had brought down the wings but no chrome due to a restriction on trading on the prom.

He kept his super cheerful head on all day, and between him and Tina, kept the kettle constantly on for his Yorkshire tea with Yorkshire water brews that they made throughout the day. An excellent ambassador for all aspects of Winging and he will be very welcome at all our future events that he wishes to attend.

Many thanks must go to all the Wingers who attended and were very helpful and talkative to the members of the public on the Prom throughout the whole day.

The Chair of the Council being 'chauffeured' around

The interest in the Wings was tremendous from the public and I think it was one of the busiest static daytime displays I have ever seen.

This was followed by the lining up and the running of the parade itself. It was pleasing to see the number of people who had come to see the Wings parading the streets.

The route was ideal for the number of Wings present and, despite there being no road closure order, the parade was pretty well together for most of the whole route with only the odd car or two able to get out into the parade itself.

At this point I was wondering who in their right mind would drive a car out of a side road into a small gap between Wings trying to look like a mobile disco light shows all by themselves and with enough flashing and strobing lights to make some people think a major disaster had taken place somewhere.

A happy bunch of Wingers being rowdy in the street.

Many drivers just abandoned their cars at junctions and were busy filming the parade on their mobile phones. I saw several junctions completely blocked by the crowds standing in the roads taking pictures.

The only time it looked even busier was after the parade when the Wings were lined up for the Static Light display.

At one point it was a serious worry that we would not be able to get the Wings off the prom for the deadline time when it needed to be cleared, all due to the very large crowds in attendance.

The Chair of the Conwy County Council – Councillor Brenda Taylor, and The Mayor and Mayoress of Llandudno joined in the Parade and were taken around on three trikes. They were very pleased with the whole event.

I have no idea who this is putting up posters

I also think they were surprised by how many people came to the town to see the Wings and the Parade.

I hope that they are inspired to support any future parades that we can arrange as the venue lends itself well to such events.

At the end of the day initial counts showed that over £2700 had been raised for the RNLI by the Parade. This will be presented to the RNLI at a future date when all the sums are finalised.

Dave T

Note: you can find many photos and videos of the event on its official website: http://www.goldwings.org.uk/

Llandudno from the Orme

I am pleased to announce that Chris Phillips, Rides Co-ordinator for GoldWings North Wales, has worked diligently to secure the next great venue for a GoldWing Light Parade – Llandudno on the North Wales Coast.

By a carefully and fully considered approach, he has managed to secure the welcome and backing not only from Conwy Council but also from Mostyn Estates, the landowners of the majority of Llandudno, including the North Shore Promenade. The event is intended as a fund-raising event for the RNLI, who have an active Lifeboat Station in the town.

The date was chosen as 1st October 2011 for this display.

Prom and Cenotaph

It is at the end of the season as far as the majority of GoldWing events are concerned. It also is three weeks after the Scarborough Light Parade, hosted by Yorkshire Wings of GWOCGB, and it was a suitable date for the Conwy Council to be happy to back it.

Llandudno has many positive features for holding a Light Parade.

The town is away from main routes across North Wales so as not to cause any traffic issues, but close enough to arterial routes in North Wales to make travel to the resort easy.

The town is compact enough for a light parade to be able to keep together without serious hold-ups associated with other venues, and without the necessity for a road closure.

Goldwings on Llandudno Promenade

The suggested route for the parade through the town centre does not require a large number of marshals to ensure the route is easy to follow.

The event will run from the Friday evening with Saturday seeing a static display of GoldWings on the promenade from 11am to 4.30 pm.

The Evening will start with a muster of GoldWings on the Promenade at about 6.30 followed by the Parade leaving the Promenade at 7pm.

At 7.45 pm the Goldwings will re assemble on the Promenade for a static light display which finishes at 8.45pm.

If the Wing can't get up the Orme there is another way..

Accommodation has been secured at a GoldWing friendly hotel in the town, with nearby secure overnight parking. There is a two night package which has been secured with the hotel for Dinner Bed and Breakfast, with evening entertainment, at a favourable rate.

Negotiations are ongoing to try and secure a camping area for those hardy souls who really do want to camp in October.

For the most up-to-date information please see the Llandudno Light Parade Website

Chris, who is the Event Chairman for the light parade, will be available to deal with enquiries in the near future when all the fine details have been finalised.

My thanks go to Chris for arranging this and being the Event Chairman, and to Nigel for all the work done to ensure the web-site is sorted out quickly.

Dave T

A warm welcome to the Wingers and Balloonists

The GoldWings North West weekend event at Kirkby Lonsdale was run over the Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend this year and coincided with the North West Hot Air Balloon Club 30th Anniversary weekend also at the Rugby Club.

Jan and I decided to visit the event on the Saturday and stay overnight in a local B&B if we could find one with vacancies. About 6 weeks before the weekend, I made good use of the internet and had phoned every hotel and guest-house I could find in Kirkby Lonsdale, but it seemed that the Balloonists had beaten us to the accommodation.

It began to look like we were going to have to stay much further out of Kirkby Lonsdale or just do a day visit.

Chefs working hard

Jan and I had been to previous events held by GNWest at this location and we had enjoyed them very much so we decided to have another go at booking accommodation and luckily for us, it seems that some balloonists had cancelled in one of the guest houses, so Jan and I snapped up the chance and we were booked in for the Saturday night.

The day dawned a bit damp-ish, but more of a worry was the wind which was quite blustery. It was unlikely that any of the balloons would be able to fly due to the conditions. We packed our overnight bag and set off for Kirkby Lonsdale taking a scenic route instead of sitting on the motorway for the bulk of the journey.

Dave winning the booby prize

The rain decided to liven things up a little but a quick stop to don the waterproofs did not stop us enjoying the ride as there was no time schedule to keep, and we were not in the company of other riders so we meandered along at our own pace, staying off the motorway as much as possible, though the Sat-Nav did repeatedly try to direct us onto it. Eventually we succumbed at Lancaster after getting caught in a very slow queue of traffic, and diverted onto the M6 but for only a couple of miles before we were directed off to a new-to-me cross-country route to get to Kirkby Lonsdale.

On arrival at the field we were met with Jim and Tracy, both of whom insisted in putting a hot cup of coffee into our hand as soon as we got off the Wing. What a super welcome.

Balloons fired up

I also spotted Trevor and Jean Durber with their motor-home parked up as we approached. They had trailered up the trike and it was just being readied for use.

After meeting up and saying Hello to all our friends in GNWest and chatting with Jean and Trevor we decided to make for our guest-house, to unload, change and then walk back to the field for the afternoon. Jean and Trevor were going to go for a ride on their trike to see the local scenery.

On arrival at the guest-house I was surprised to find another GoldWing parked at the rear of the property. It was Mike Morris, who had booked in the previous day to the guest-house. He was out and about somewhere in Kirkby Lonsdale.

Mike Morris and Dave T enjoying the BBQ

We set back off for the field and met up with the other wingers on the field.

At this point the weather gods smiled on Kirkby Lonsdale and the weather bucked up nicely.

The Barbeque was started off and I have to congratulate the chefs, Ian Duxbery and Frank Goodman, together with their female assistants. The food was well cooked and very tasty. They managed to cater just right as there was some left over but not a lot. It was good to see that there was little wasted after the food was eaten by everyone. The whole afternoon and evening was a great success.

We even won two prizes in the raffles – a good one and the booby prize ( Thanks Frank Goodman, you were right – it is useless!)

The Balloons had some competition

At this point, the weather gods said ‘enough is enough’ and started their silly tricks with the weather again. It became increasingly windy and later bucketed down. Jan and I found a warm welcome in the motor-home of Jean and Trevor. As the evening wore on we went back out to chat to the GNWesteners who were sitting in the gazebo which was keeping off the worst of the rain and wind. We were even given a lift back to the guest-house to save getting soaked.

After a good night’s sleep and a very hearty breakfast, we rode back up to the field on the Sunday morning to attend the GNWest monthly meeting which they had transferred to the Rugby Club building. It was interesting to see the different outings they arranged and the different style of meeting.

Just a pretty shot

Following the meeting it was more chatting and coffee with The Durbers, before heading back home. We were unable to stay for the Sunday night due to other commitments.

We rode home across country again, this time through the centre of Liverpool, which was ‘interesting’ and an excellent test for the Wing’s suspension.

It was our loss that we were not able to stay for the Sunday night light show by the Wings and the Balloons which managed to get enough calm to be able to put on the highlight for many, the balloons inflated and burning after dark.

Jan and I hope that GNWest will hold the event again next year as we will make every effort to visit again.

Most photos are courtesy of Jean and Trevor Durber.

Rack-mount with my SS rack

Jan and I are making a couple of trips abroad on the Wing this year, and as these are for 2 weeks duration, we have been looking for a bit more luggage space.

Having done some research, I found an American Company who make a rack mount which fits on the back of the Wing.

This rack mount does not need the full fittings for a towbar which many other rack mounts do.

I do not want to fit a towbar on my Wing so the basic rack mount appeared to be very attractive to me, but it appeared a bit flimsy for the rack with some luggage.

My option was to find someone locally who could fashion one up for me with a bit more strength to it.

Wing with centre panel out

I was lucky in that I already had a stainless steel rack which had been made for a previous Wing but that Wing went with the towbar assembly fitted to it.

I discussed the issue with several Wingers but the only one who seemed interested was Dave Partridge of AwingAway. He decided to have a go at making a rack mount for me, using my Stainless Steel rack as the basis for his mounting system.

Having left the idea with him for a couple of weeks, Dave contacted me to say he had completed the rack mount and using my rack, he needed to fit it to my wing.

I rode the Wing down to Dave’s workshop near Telford and watched and took photos while he fitted the rack mount to my Wing.

Rack fitted to the Wing

It fitted first time as he had used his own wing to get the measurements.

All I need to do now is wire in the LED indicators that I had previously fitted to the rack when it was on my previous wing. When carrying luggage, the number plate and indicators can become hidden, so the LED indicators are there for safety. I also have a number plate to fit on the back of the rack.

The rack is not meant to carry heavy items,  but it is stable enough to carry extra luggage for our holiday in a roll bag strapped down securely to the rack. It can carry a quite bulky item which is too big to fit into the top box, providing it does not weight too much.

Rack in place (Central panel still to fitted)

If you are interested in a rack mount without the expense of having a towbar fitted, give Dave Partridge a ring as he now has the patterns to duplicate the item and I’m sure you can negotiate with him.

His contact details are telephone: 07795 095043   Email: dave©awingaway•co•uk  (dave©awingaway•co•uk)  

Dave T

Quite discreet when the rack is not needed

Likely Suspects

I think I must need a screw tightening or something as I had been out for a ride to Bolton Abbey last Saturday in quite heavy rain showers.

I knew it was going to rain before I set off and I had made sure I was wearing my nylon over-pants, which was a very wise decision.

I was the sole Wing at The Beaufort car park at 9.30am and I thought that not many members would want to come for the ride in the weather that was forecast, but I had said to Chris that I would lead a ride to Bolton Abbey as he couldn’t, and there might be more waiting at the second meeting point, Chester Services.

Relaxing with a drink in the pub at Bolton Abbey

I then received a shout from Dave the Boat who was filling up his Wing at the nearby fuel station. So at least 2 bikes were going.

Twenty minutes later, Dave and I arrived at Chester services and we were joined there by Gary and Ian the Vice.

Without further delay we set off for Bolton Abbey. The intention was to try and stay off motorways where possible, or use them for as little as possible.

This proved to be a lot harder than I expected, and unfortunately, the route I selected had rather a lot of 30 mph and 40 mph limits upon it so progress was very slow.

Parking for a picnic

Eventually, just North of Wigan I decided that we would arrive at Bolton Abbey far too late to meet up with Chalkey, who was due to meet us there.

I then diverted to the M6 Motorway North-bound to make better progress.

On arriving at Preston , we then headed across country following the A59 to Skipton and eventually Bolton Abbey.

On turning into the road leading to the Abbey, we were greeting with Chalkey on his bike ready to leave, thinking we were not coming.

Parking outside an empty Appleyards

I headed for the car-park to see if there was any free motorcycle parking and was told that the cost would be £15.00 for the Wings.

Plan B was then put into effect and we retired to the local hostelry for a drink (and free bike parking) while we considered the options.

We decided that the parking fee was a bit extortionate for the Abbey as we would still have to pay to enter and see the ruins of the Abbey itself.

Luckily, Chalkey had suggested that we ride past it and see the ruins from the road, which was done.

Following a light picnic lunch, we cut across country to that famous emporium of things GoldWing situated in Keighley, only to find Barry and his entire stock of GoldWings were missing and were being displayed for sale at The BMF show in Peterborough.

After a look around at the stock in the sales room we then carried on towards home, via Haworth, Hebden Bridge and Todmorden, to Rochdale. This was a very wet bit of the trip with plenty of showers.

I then took the decision that it was safer to stay on the motorway with the wet weather and the time already taken to get this far.

I then took the M60, M62, M6 and M56 motorways arriving home at 5.35 pm.

A cracking day out!

Thanks to Dave The Boat for the photos.

Dave T

Meeting ready for the ride

How do I follow Chris and Amy’s excellent account of The Ride of Respect at Royal Wootton Bassett?

Setting off on Sunday morning at 3.50am from Frodsham with my son Paul and meeting a friend of mine at Tarporley on the A51. Passing through Nantwich to join with the M6 on the A500 making our way south on the M6 to Stafford Services, where we met up with another friend for the ride to Hullavington Airfield. The journey down was quite uneventful with traffic very light on an early Sunday morning.

Going south on the M6 and M5, we exited the M5 at junction 6 then took the A44 to Evesham and Broadway. By this time conditions became a little scary with thick heavy early morning fog that made progress a little slower. Then over Fish Hill to Stow-on-the-Wold, followed by the A429 to Cirencester. We made a breakfast stop here at Cirencester Services at The Little Chef. Then it was the last remaining twelve miles to Hullavington Airfield arriving at just before 8am despite the foggy conditions.

It was amazing to see how many bikes had already arrived at Hullavington. As Chris explained, the organisation by marshals was first class, I think a great deal was learnt from the ride of 2010. On the airfield a great deal of thought had gone into the need of riders, some of them had covered a lot of mileage to attend the ride.

There was music playing and clear instructions given by the organisers as to the start times of each group of bikes. This never happened last year. There was food outlets for riders refreshments. So all in all the organization was spot on. We were in the second group to leave Hullavington for the Ride of Respect through Royal Wootton Bassett at 9.30am. Wiltshire Police did an outstanding job of managing the ride, and through their control of the roads and traffic, made the ride trouble free for all road users concerned.

As Chris explained in his account of the ride, the people who lined the route were cheering and waving their flags, and gave a fantastic feeling of pride to be part of an event such as this. On arriving into the town of Royal Wootton Bassett the lines of town folk making us welcome to their town was inspiring.

All too soon the ride was over on reaching junction 16 of the M4. My group of friends decided to ride on into Swindon and take the opportunity to have a look around George Whites motorcycle establishment in Swindon.

Navigating Swindon we encountered The Magic Roundabout. I had heard of it before, but this was my first time to negotiated the renowned Magic Roundabout. I looked at the screen of my Zumo Sat Nav. I think the sat-nav was in a state of shock just like me. It just did not make any sense of the roundabout.

For the benefit of those who don’t know of Swindon’s Magic Roundabout – it is one very large roundabout with many junctions, at each junction there is a mini roundabout making it very difficult for strangers who have no idea, as to which junction to come off on. It was a complete nightmare!

After the visit to George Whites, we then made our way to Salisbury, then onto Dorchester where we had an overnight stay at The Aquila Heights Guesthouse.

Next day, Monday, we made our way home via Yeovil to the M5, then across the Severn Bridge to Tinturn Abbey, Monmouth, Hereford, Craven Arms, Shrewsbury then Frodsham. Unlike Chris, We were very lucky weather wise, dry all the way down and back.

……….Brian Crossett

Some rowdy customers in attendance

On Saturday12th March Goldwings North Wales members were invited to The Bridge Inn, at Pontblyddyn, where Lyn Crowley together with the members of the band she plays with, were going to provide an evening of music for customers of the pub.

The pub is reasonably easy to find being on the main road between Mold and Wrexham, right on the junction with the road to Penyffordd and Corwen.

It was good to see quite a few of our members present on our arrival; Steve C-P, Alun and Sheila, Carl and Maureen, Dave S and Wendy, Derek and Babs, Pete Hodge, and Jan and I.

The musicians were just setting up on our arrival and I saw that Dave C was busy helping out.

Stevie C-P waiting for food while Dave T enjoys his

The pub provides meals which were quite good value for money with the offer of 2 mains for a tenner. Jan and I were quite pleased to find the menu gave a very good choice of meals and if anyone plans to visit the premises I don’t think they will be disappointed with the choice at all.

We were served quite quickly with our food, which was very tasty and a good portion too. Jan took the opportunity to have one of her favourite meals, liver and bacon, which I cannot eat, and I had a superb meal of braised steak which hit the right spot.

I think all of the members attending ate and I didn’t hear a single complaint. Further more, the drinks prices were very reasonable.

The Band playing

Once the music started we were able to listen to Lyn and the rest of the group who entertained us well for the next couple of hours. The music was interesting and Lyn is a good singer, as well as a very good double base player. She was able to show off her latest birthday present from Dave, a new electric double base.

The music that they play is ‘Blue Grass Music’ and the closest I can find to a description for it is Anglo Celtic Country Music. It was different to the usual Country and Western Music that I know. It certainly had more rhythm. The audience in the pub certainly enjoyed the evening and that was definitely true of our members.

Yours truely in a happy state

All in all the evening was a good social meeting .

I will be revisiting the pub in the near future as I have heard that other bike clubs have been made very welcome by the landlord, and it may be a possible future venue for our club if needed.

Dave T