Their website gives all the details of the events and shows which they have planned for this year and is well worth a look.

As they have previously been let down by other bike clubs in the past, let’s get as many of us there as possible on Sunday, and show them just how it’s done!

Short notice run out for this Sunday

If the weather holds out Frank Goodman plans a ride out to the Carole Nash Classic Motorcycle Show at Stafford County Show Ground. Gates open on Sunday at 9:00 am until 5:00pm. With hundreds of trade and autojumble stalls selling all items motorcycle related from complete motorcycles, spares, accessories and literature/memorabilia you are almost certain to find whatever you need. Come see the plethora of motorcycles on display. With nearly 1000 of the best loved motorcycles on display in the clubs and private entries you are bound to see something truly inspirational.

Ring Frankie G first on Saturday evening on Mobile 07949 811 319 to make sure the run out is going ahead. Meeting point will be Poplar 2000 Services junction 20 M6 leaving at 9:30 am prompt.

Long term friends Pete & Julie and Graham & Lorraine found common interest in the Goldwing scene when Pete purchased his wing several months ago, and Graham, not wanting to be outdone asked the lovely Lorrain what she thought about Pete’s new bike, before announcing he was on his way to view one. All said and done they have picked up two very nice GL1200′s for relatively little money. Welcome to the club.

Today’s meeting was conducted by our Treasurer Sue Pinder who, in the absence of our Chairman Ian Duxbury, was press-ganged into the roll, and although very nervous and with little experience of addressing people on such a scale, put on a good show and presented all that was needed to the 35+ members in attendance.  Well done Sue, future Chair material in the making.

To be honest I really wasn’t expecting much of a turn out, seeing as the event was posted at short notice and possibly the best day was the day before with the Vulcan Bomber making a very rare appearance. I believe Frank and Judy along with Pete & Jean spent their day in Southport on the Saturday. Nevertheless Stuart, Bill and Ian and Lynette appeared shortly after our Coffee.

Seeing as nobody had a clue as to the Southport Air Show Car parking set up and any road closures it was left to me to lead the run into unknown territory, we planned to avoid paying any admission fees and missing any long queues into car parking areas, almost immediately ridicule came over the CB as to my chosen route from Norman Jepson and over towards Penwortham. Its amazing how many natural born leaders there are at the back of the queue. Surprisingly the run into Southport was uneventful with little traffic about and no problem finding our way to the pier head and down to our planned parking area. The entire wibbly wobbly way had been closed off ( that took some explaining over the CB I can tell you) so we made our way through the town. By 10:15 am we had 4  Goldwing’s parked up outside the Cafe and we had become entrenched with more coffee and a bacon butty.

The Pier head had also started to fill up nicely with  bikes so we made our way up the steps to have a look at what was on offer. The two ladies decided that a trip into town was the order of the day. I received my £2.50 spending money for the day and went away happy, dreaming of all the wonderful things I could  buy.  There was a couple of nice classic Triumph on display and several newish BMW machines, it was good to talk to their owners and listen to tails of bikes of old. During our time at the pier head unbeknown to us several members of Goldwings North Wales had arrived along with Cheshire and Merseyside members, the cafe was overcome with Goldwing riders trying to get parked and disgorge their pillion passengers. It was a great sight to see almost 20+ wings turn out on the day. Introductions, welcomes, and kisses where made and we all settled down for the air show to begin, almost immediately the sound was split by the arrival of a fast moving jet of some description, sorry to say buy internal combustion engines are my fortee and I can tell the sound of a Merlin from 1000 paces. The airshow was really good but for some reason most of the bikers didn’t venture further than the few paces to the edge of the boating lake. The view from there was sufficient to see all the aircraft and action of the day. My favorite by a long chalk was the Fairey Swordfish torpedo bomber.

Mr Duxbury summed it all up nicely with his comment

“Bikes, mates, sunshine, airshow, it doesn’t get much better than this, all it needs now is a couple of topless wenches giving away possibly the best lager in the world”

After that devastatingly effective comment we decided that we had had far too much sun and fun for the time being and that dinner was called for, rather than making use of the very busy facilities nearby we walked over the main road into town and enjoyed lunch in a rather quiet fish and chip restaurant which was very good indeed. Bill reported later that he had fallen for the sales pitch of the nearby cafe owner where we had all parked up, who confidently quoted that his fish was far better than the nearby chip shop up the steps. Unfortunately it wasn’t, and Bill ended up with a large fish that was uncooked in the middle. I cant print anything he said after that. 

The Red Arrows were fantastic and kept everyone spellbound for a good 15 minutes, if you wanted to steal a bike, then would have been a good time as everyone’s view was in the sky. Why any government would even consider disbanding this team would have to be nuts, they provide something quintessentially British and entertain millions of people nationally, they were very good.

By this time in the day the sun was shining high in the sky and and the parking area for bikes had been completely filled to overflowing, so much so that many more had resorted to parking down by the pier with our Goldwings. One biker was heard to comment that it was VIP parking only for posh bikes. No idea where he got that from.

The rest of the day continued in the usual manner with lots of banter and chat taking place, the decision to leave early was probably a wise one as when the show finished there would be untold thousands of people trying to make their way home with long queues of cars exiting the airshow parking areas.  A cracking day out for those who attended, and I’m sure a few red faces and noses the following morning.

Pictures from the days activities can be found in the 2011 gallery under Southport Airshow as well as a write up on Stuart’s Goldwing Blog. Nigel Mackintosh also had his camera with him and even more pictures can be found on the Goldwings North Wales website.

The ever popular RAF Woodvale Rally will take place on 6-7th August 2011. The rally provides a weekend of massive entertainment for the whole family. Its based around a model aircraft display weekend but with the addition of everything from classic cars, bikes, aircraft, military vehicles, entertainment, flying displays and of course the camping weekend. Our friends in the PT Cruiser club will no doubt put up a good light show with their amazing LED light displays in their unique PT Cruisers and we may even see the cyclists who must spend ages wiring up their push bikes and clothing with LED lighting also. This year is an opportunity for our Goldwings to give everyone a run for their money so start working on your lights now.

Goldwings North West has a club area set aside each year alongside many other specialist motorcycle owners clubs. Many of our members choosing to camp over the weekend, enjoying the usually good weather and having a good time late into the evening, making it one of the best events of the year. You must book well in advance for a camping and exhibiting permit. You wont be disappointed.  Please note there is a £5.00 camping fee this year which is a charitable donation.

Applications for this event will be made by the club secretary. Anyone wishing to attend must contact John Clark prior to 1st July 2011

No kidding, The Thundersprint is one of the biggest events of its kind in Europe. If you are reading this and have no idea what The Thundersprint is about let me direct you to their wonderful website which explains everything you would possibly want to know. After visiting the site, clear the dates in your diary and sit back and wait for May 8th.The Federation’s main sponsor Knutsford Honda will once again be playing a big part in the event with the Honda stand in  prime position. We are usually invited to park our Goldwings on their stand and have the most enviable parking spot of the entire event. In my opinion the day isn’t long enough and could quite easily be a full weekend affair. If the hairs on the back of your neck don’t respond to the sights, smells and sounds of the day then your not into motorcycles.

Scorton vintage and country fayre is now well established as a favorite entry in our calendar. This years event takes place at the usual site on 18th & 19th June. The rally comprises various collections of steam engines, vintage engines, classic engines and modern engines. Also featuring aero engines, Military, motorcycles, tractors and commercials. Lawn mower racing, Fairground rides plus many many more. Auto Jumble, food hall, model and crafts tent, Amusements plus many more stalls. 2011 sees the return of the Purple Helmets Display Team.

This is a camping weekend for those wishing to display their Goldwings to the general public, so if you have a tent, caravan or motor home and want to take part you must download your entry form and make sure it is returned in time to the event organisers. They are quite strict on entry to the event on the day, if you don’t have a pass you will have to pay the entry fee and leave your bike outside. No fun at all.

For those who camp over the weekend we normally gather together on the camping field and form our own little village, so to speak, with a central area dominated by gazebos and bar b cue’s. Its a great weekend with lots of activity in he central arena and plenty of things to see and do.

Manufactured in the 60′s by a then well know motorcycle company, in response to the surge in popularity of the Italian invasion of Lambretta’s  and Vespa’s.  It failed in its task and production was discontinued after a short 4 years.

 motor home, towing not one but two GoldWings, was Jim and Chandra who we hadn’t seen on the GoldWing scene for quite a while. They arrived with a rather splendid motor home and trailer set up for their GL1800 and GL1500 GoldWings. It was also good to see John & Olive Taylor who had arrived without their GoldWing, due to John’s injured arm, but seeing as they had a pass they were allowed onto the exhibitor’s site without an actual exhibit. Good for you John. So by early evening 4 motor homes, 3 caravans and 1 trailer tent had all arrived and set up on the exhibitors camping field.   

Good to see Jim & Chandra again.

The evening was spent watching the event unfold and a tide of exhibitors arrive and set up their individual stalls and displays. The event field slowly took shape as cherry pickers, cranes and tractors erected fencing and moved the larger exhibits into place. Meanwhile lots of wine, beer and spirits were being drunk in a noisy corner of the field that will be forever England. Or maybe not, Jackie held audience for those wanting to see the England Algeria world cup game but within 30 minutes of kick off more fun was being had in the gazebo village and the pitiful 0-0 final result was hardly noticed.   

Saturday morning started early with our happy band of wingers slowly coming to life and getting their GoldWings onto our allotted display area. This year we had pride of place opposite the main event ring and outside the beer tent, not bad considering the main motorcycle display area was well away from the central display arena. Pete Rogers arrived early to spend the day with us and was already on display and sampling the magnificent bacon butties as the rest of the group parked up. We managed to get the GoldWings North West banners erected and the 12 bikes and trikes organised without too much difficulty.   

The amazing John Colley

The morning was spent relaxing around the camp site, visiting the trade stalls and seeing the many classic vehicles and displays around the show, that was until 11:00am when we had our turn to ride the GoldWings around the central display area, whilst our very own Stuart Ormerod provided a tirade of suitable commentary to the delight of the show master, who had no idea about GoldWings, and the entertainment of the crowds. Chandra, who had only ridden Jim’s GoldWing once before, had a real baptism of fire as she rode around the ring several times in front of hundreds of spectators and the personal commentary from Stuart. She did remarkably well. The main arena was in use throughout the day with the highlight of the show being Steve Colley, a motorcycle skilled riding show, the things he does with a Gas Gas trials bike have to be seen to be believed. He ends up riding around the arena and climbing over his van on his bike with no front wheel or forks, how does he do that?   

Saturday evening started with a bar-b-cue with everyone enjoying the last of the day’s sunshine and having a great time in the gazebo village. We also promised to do a short light display in the arena after dark. Which at this time of the year is quite late? We were met with the site of a stunning Tractor Pulling machine which was driven by two Rolls Royce Griffon engines, absolutely amazing stuff. As it got darker the flames coming from the 24 exhaust pipes light up the entire arena. Our puny LED lights just didn’t seem to hack it. The ride back to the camping field was met with more interest as our fellow campers came out to see the spectacle.   

It was a late night when Ian & Lynette Duxbury left the party for the short ride home and the rest of us went to bed.   

Sunday was a very similar affair, but today the public came in their thousands. Attendance was at record levels as the weather did its stuff and the car parks got steadily busier, it really was a very busy show. The club display attracted quite a few interested motorcyclists with questions about the GoldWing and the club in general. The big success of the day was meeting a couple who had introduced themselves two years previous at Fleetwood Tram Sunday, they had both now purchased motorcycles, one of them a Pan European and the other a rather splendid GL1500 and were intending to join the club at the earliest opportunity. Success!   

Ted Rogerson, tired but victorious.

Sunday was also for visiting members, Graham Brookfield, Roger Fogg and Cheryl both arrived during the day to say hello and see the show. The premier moment of the day however was confirmation that our GoldWings North West RBLR1000 miles team had safely completed their ordeal and had all returned, tired but jubilant. Ted Rodgerson, representing the team, turned up at Scorton to raucous applause from the guys. We immediately informed the organisers what they had achieved and promptly had Ted in the arena for a couple of celebratory laps and applause from the crowd followed by an explanation of the RBLR Poppy appeal. It was a proud moment, congratulations to all the team.   

The show started to wind down around 4:00pm as those who had to be at work the following morning packed up and made their way home. Quite a few had already decided to stay for the Sunday evening. The remaining party enjoying a Jacobs join bar-b-cue from the remnants of several fridges and remarkably a huge feast appeared from almost nothing. It was a very pleasant end to the best Scorton show so far.  

See the rest of the pictures in the Scorton 2010 gallery

Here is a google map link for directions to RAF Woodvale plus the route to our camping area by the runway. It may be useful for those members on their first visit.

Make your own way to RAF Woodvale. Remember you must have an entry pass for your exhibit. No pass no entry.

The ever popular RAF Woodvale Rally will take place on 7-8th August 2010. The rally provides a weekend of entertainment for the whole family and we know that our visitors have special interests and come to see the models, aeroplanes, cars and other mainstream exhibits but many of you come for just a great weekends entertainment. To make it a memorable weekend we bring to-gether the best that we can to make the weekend something that you will enjoy.

Goldwings North West has a club area set aside each year alongside many other specialist motorcycle owners clubs. Many of our members choosing to camp over the weekend, enjoying the usually good weather and having a good time late into the evening, making it one of the best events of the year. You must book well in advance for a camping and exhibiting permit. You wont be disappointed. Entry Form Download available here. Please note there is a £5.00 camping fee this year which is a charitable donation.

The steam fair is held annually at Rickerby Park in Carlisle a lovely riverside setting, which for those of you who don’t know Carlisle it is within walking distance of the city centre and offers easy access to and from the M6. It is held in aid of the Great North Air Ambulance, the Eden Valley Hospice and also the Eden House Children’s Hospice which we think you will agree are all worthy causes. We have a working arena for exhibits rather than a structured parade. There will be another ring for demonstrations and displays such as Flyin’Ryan the motorcycle stunt show. We also have entertainment on each night consisting of bands/disco. All exhibits are welcome including steam, cars, motorcycles, tractors, collections, models , military etc. There will be plenty of trade stands and auto jumble as well.

This will be our first visit to “Border City Steam Fair“.  There is free camping for tents, caravans and motorhomes at the event site for those exhibiting their Goldwing, but once again you need to complete an application form prior to the event. You can download the entry form here.

Meeting at Poplar 2000 truck stop at 8:45 am for a 9:00 am run into Northwich

This years Thundersprint event  in Northwich will take place on 9th May.  The bike show will be held on the Saturday 8th May in the town centre and The Thundersprint will be on the Sunday 9th May. We visited the Thundersprint last year and were seriously impressed with the event and the weekend in general. If you have any interest in motorcycles what so ever you must see what goes on in Northwich.  Knutsford Honda, the main event sponsor for 2010 have invited Federation clubs to attend the event and display their Goldwings in the main sponsors area. Honda UK will have their roof unit and a full range of current Honda bikes on view. Saun Davis, manager at Knutsford Honda said “the more Goldwings the better” . This is a great opportunity to park up right next to the action and be in the centre of the event throughout the day.