This will be the first official event of the newly formed Federation club and they invite you to take part. Plans include an overnight stay in a local hotel, taking part in the ride of respect,  followed by a ride around
the area on the Sunday. Pre-registration for the ride is required as numbers are expected to be high.

Last year around 10,000 bikers descended on Wiltshire to ride through the town of Wootton Bassett in appreciation of the sacrifice made by British soldiers. They rode through the town, the scene of many moving homecomings for service personnel killed in Afghanistan.

Over the past 2 years Julia Stevenson and Anne Cole have set up and run The Ride of Respect bike ride through Royal Wootton Bassett. In that time they have raised over a quarter of a million pounds for military charities.

After a huge amount of requests from local residents and businesses they have decided to run the Ride of Respect this year on 18 March for the very last time to say ‘Thank you’ to the residents of this wonderful town for they have done over recent years for our ‘fallen  heroes’ and their families.

The ride will be leaving RAF Hullavington airfield riding through The High Street of RWB.

This year will be supported by The Royal British Legion and all monies raised will be split equally between 10 nominated military Charities as listed on their website www.rideofrespect.co.uk Registrations are now open.

Further details can also be found on the GoldWings North Midlands website

We had a great turnout of wingers from several clubs and organisations. Several girls and boys from the “Misfit’s” made camp in close proximity along with two very nice motor homes belonging to Goldwings North Wales members, plus a friend of Carl & Maureen who decided he wanted to pitch in with us rather than on the public camping field. All in all a wide selection of tents, caravans, and motor homes. It was also great to see Jeffrey and Renee at the event, especially so soon after his heart attack. Jeff would have been really miffed if had missed the event, along with the light parade Woodvale is his favorite weekend away.

Pimms seemed to have been adopted by several of the ladies as their charity for the year and many jugs of the colourful sweet alcoholic liquid managed to dissapear in rather quick time.  It was during the evenings social activity that Jimmy Ryan managed to fall flat on his back after leaning over in his chair, with his feet stuck up in the air, nobody came to his aid as there was too much laughter for anyone to get up.

The local Southport BMW dealer had brought along the new 1600GTL which is the latest 6 cylinder touring package from BMW, and what an amazing machine it is. Almost £8K cheaper than the current Goldwing with a host of whistles and bells. Suffice it to say we all had a sit on it and convinced the stand manager to hand over the keys and start it up. The six cylinder engine sounded very sweet and the fly by wire throttle response frighteningly quick. Very impressive indeed, even Bill Squires gave admiring glances at the machine. 

Two rather expensive accidents occured over the weekend, one of the model Lancaster Bombers actually crashed during the late evening bombing display amidst explosions and anti aircraft fire, its an amazing spectacle and a finale to the days flying display. It was an unfortunate but no doubt very expensive accident. Ian Duxbury, who witnessed the crash reported the aircraft was flying low and making a perfect bombing run on its target, however after it had delivered its payload and made its turn away from the target the pilot lost control and the aircraft plunged into the ground. Ian gave it 10/10 for authenticity although I should imagine the pilot was crying over his remote control unit at the time.   The second rather expensive accident was also a major surprise to everyone. Ian Kay, who had recently lost his GL1500 in an accident had cleverly repurchased his machine and between him and Ted had rebuilt it into a magnificent trike. Talk about the Phoenix rising from the ashes. It was on display for all to see, and a good job they had made of too. It was not until Sunday morning that everyone heard of Ian’s crash, thankfully it was at low speed and both Ian & Karen walked away unscathed. It appeared several members had a ride off site to a local pub to see where Karen & Ian’s daughter was performing with her band, and it was during the ride that the accident took place. I’m sure we will hear more at the next meeting, but the good news is that neither of them were injured.  

In fact the stunt rider also had a misshap on Saturday when his engine exploded in mid performance and Sundays display had to be cancelled. Never did understand what attracted spectators to an engine running at full chat.

Everyone seemed to have a great weekend, especially our first time visitors from North Wales, I’m sure we will see them again next year. Pictures from the weekend are now available in the RAF Woodvale gallery with special thanks to Graham & Sue Pinder, Ted Rogerson, Dave & Tonia Bayliss and Liverpool Echo.

There appeared to be more motorcycle clubs attending this year with not only the classic clubs but two cruiser clubs and the local Harley Davidson club. Each organisation spending a lot of thought and time on their display, whereas all we do is park up the bikes and stick up a couple of banners. In spite of this we managed to muster 32 wings on display which is not a bad turn out at all. Maybe its time however for us to pick up the challenge and do something special for next year. 

There have been comments that a larger marquee for us all to socialise in during the evening and our own toilets would go down very well for next year. What do you think

This is an event which we normally attend, and usually provides a wide selection of vehicles and entertainment to enjoy. This year, however, entry is by registration, and we have been very fortunate to have been given the chance to attend as a club for a very nominal fee. To register and obtain a pass, I need your registration number details.

Although some of you did supply your registration numbers to me at the last meeting, I really need to know numbers (and bike reg’s) by the end of next week. So if you haven’t already, can you please let me know either by posting here or at the club barbeque whether you want to come along for a sunny day out by the seaside!

And, don’t forget that we’re always looking out for new things to get involved with, so if you’ve an idea for a run out or event, let us know!

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

For those camping over the weekend- make your own way there. Entry to site from 10:00 am Friday.

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 19th & 20th 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. 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  download your entry form from here 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 dont have a pass you will have to pay the entry fee and leave your bike outside. No fun at all.

I had mentioned the event to the members of Goldwings North West (of which I am a member) back in Nov 09 and several members said they would do it, and it was decided we would do it has a group and also I would be the leader (that was not my choice!!!!!) This meant there would be four bikes, three with pillions, one solo and one trike with pillion.

Fri 18 Jun; Mike (son in law and my pillion) and I, set off from my house at 1630hrs to meet up with Jimmy at Birch services for our onward journey to Squires café. All goes well and Jimmy is there waiting for us when we arrive, quick exchange of pleasantries and then off. Finally we arrive and join up with the rest of the group parked up at Squires. All the usual goes on, a bit of banter, shaking hands, hugs etc. Soon we are all ready to register and attend the “O” group led by Paddy. Once we are all done at Squires Jimmy, Dave & Toni (trike), Mike and I set off to the hotel just down the road to book in for the night. Upon arrival, I need to upgrade our room to a triple because I said Jimmy could stay with Mike and I, the guy behind the counter does this at the extra cost of £4, I was gutted. Key issued and off to sort our lives out and then later go for some food. I won’t bore you all with the details of the hotel, but it was somewhat a bit of a joke and it reminded us all of Fawlty Towers! While we were chilling watching the football, Jimmy said “I haven’t done that before”, “done what?” I replied. “Queue jumped”, I paused for a minute and thought what does he mean, there had been no one waiting at the reception desk when we came in etc, “what do you mean Jimmy?” was my reply, “when we were on the M62 and riding through all the standing traffic”. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, I checked with Jimmy and asked if he had never ever done filtering before and he said no. “So you just sit there and wait?” “Yes” said Jimmy, how bizarre I thought. Fed and watered, disgusted at England’s performance and we are off to bed so we can get a good nights sleep and ready for the big day tomorrow.

Sat 19 Jun; 0400hrs and my alarm goes off, up I get and go and attend to my personal grooming. Then, I put the kettle on (even though it doesn’t fit), Mike goes and gets sorted; Jimmy gets up and does the same. I make a brew for everyone, we pack our belongings get kitted up and vacate the room. Meet Dave and Toni in reception, hand the key back and out to our trusted steeds, pack the panniers etc and then set off back to Squires. We arrived there at 0510hrs, rode round the back and wait to meet the others coming from Castleford. My mate, Ray Walton, spots us and comes over to say hello and asks how I am doing etc and wishes me luck on my first 1000 mile ride. Once we are all together we take some pictures and it is now I realise, that I have left the charged up batteries in the charger at home and have to use the partly charged ones in the camera case, doh.

We decide to move round towards the start line to get ready for our anticipated 0600hrs start, we got round the corner and the next thing one of the Marshal’s asks for my log sheet writes down my bikes mileage, 0532hrs and then signs it. It is at this point I realise that we now have to leave….. Not an issue, just ahead of scheduled start time. All of the group are duly officially signed off and then we go for it, waving and tooting our horns as we leave. Well I think to myself this is it only 999.9 miles to go.

Soon we are on the M62 and heading to Birch, the only issue I had was the SatNag was telling me to do U turns and go the other way. It’s a good job I know the area and where I should be heading. The only thought I had, was the thing was trying to take us anti clockwise, why I don’t know, when I checked the check points they were all in the correct order for a clockwise run. I made it restart and it then decided that we were now going the correct way. Maybe it knew of the chaos we were to ride in to at Birch some 45 minutes later. Bikes everywhere, on every fuel pump, waiting on the service road, bikers queuing out the kiosk door, grid lock and panic, LOL.

Finally we got sorted and were on our way again some 45 minutes later. Ted one of the group had informed me the night before that he had to eat one proper meal a day (medical condition) and that if we stopped at Ecclefechan, “Fechaning stop where” I said, Ecclefechan said Ted, it is a transport café just off the A74M up past Gretna, it will be straight in, 20 minutes, full English, brew etc. Sounded a fair one, so we agreed that would be it. First we stopped for a fuel top up, just after Carlisle on the A74 and then on for breakfast. We all trooped in, placed our orders and 1 hour later all set off again. I was not happy at this point because we were now 1 hour and 35 minutes behind time. Anyway onwards and upwards to our next stop at Dumbarton. Roll in, start to fill up etc, move off the pumps, go and pay complete log books, people have a stretch, get coffees, smoke etc. Time goes by and then we get ready for the off, Ted looks down at my bike and spot’s a pool of oil, not a big one, but nevertheless, oil. Noooooo I say, it could have been there when I parked up (I was hoping that was the case) but didn’t know. I said I will check when we get to Fort Billy when we fuel there, I will make sure that there is nothing under the bike when I park up.

We set off with Steve and Lynne taking the lead. Stunning scenery and ride for the next 91 miles. I have never been on the A82 before so was well impressed. The only issue I had was that one rider seemed to be going in to and through the corners with some hesitation, wasn’t sure why but it was starting to hold us back. I had made a mental calculation along the route that we were at least some 2 hours behind schedule. I was going to have to have a word with everyone when we got to Fort Billy to raise their awareness of the fact we only had a window of 3 hours 17 minutes to start with and we were now down to just 1 hour 17 minutes. To make things worse I was getting frustrated with not getting round the corners with some gusto, so in the end I overtook said rider, this then meant that they either kept up or dropped off, I hoped he would opt for the former and he did quicken his pace.

Once everyone had done what they needed to do at the garage in Fort William, and I had made sure where I had parked that there was no oil on the floor, I then took the opportunity to brief everyone on the situation we now found ourselves in, i.e. behind time. I explained that I really wanted to complete the challenge and be certified (maybe that should have happened a long time ago some will say) and if this was to happen we needed to ensure that we managed the stops more effectively, all agreed that they all wanted the same as me. I looked down under my bike, no oil, I got down on the floor and looked under the engine, nothing, bone dry, I was pleased; it had been a case of parking in the wrong place previously.

Ted took the lead to Inverness and set off with a good pace, maybe we could catch up a little time? I took up my place at the rear. We reached and passed Inverness and I then took the lead up to Wick, I checked the time and we were 2 hours and 15 minutes behind time, still losing time, what had we to do, to at least stay on the pace? We stopped at a garage on the A9 at Evelix, this was a good stop, a splash and dash and then off again for the final 64 miles to Wick. I know a lot of riders have complained about the wind we all encountered, and yes it was strong, but even with a very large bike, I’m not talking about engine size but sheer surface area, I personally didn’t find it to bad, had a couple of scares where I was almost blown into the other side of the road. Finally we made Wick, we all fuelled up, it was then I met a fellow winger who had inadvertently filled up with Diesel and was about to siphon it all out. At this point we all had begun to feel the cold and started to put on extra clothes, I put on my fleece and Shemagh and then made my way to the main store to use the toilets. Back to bike, quick snack and drink and I was ready for the off.

We left Wick and again I led the group down the A9. I had an urge, you know the one, when you get out of town and on to the faster roads, it had to be done, I went for a blast for about 5 minutes, it felt good. I then remembered that there was just Mike and I, there were more of us, I backed off and trundled along, finally the group caught me up, I went for it again and this time, Ted with Chris (his pillion) and Steve with Lynne came with me. We had a good blast together but then we had to slow down we could no longer raise the others on the CB. Eventually the group was one again and we continued on our merry way.

Next port of call Aviemore. We decided that we would have a break after we filled up (while I was waiting to get on the pump, I was asked if a penguin could sit on the back of me and have his picture taken, I agreed) and look at what we needed to do next. At this point more layers were put on by everyone and a quick snack etc. I looked at where we where, what time were available to us etc, we had only got 1 hour of a window left. I got the group together and said we now only had 1 hour to play with, to help speed our progress up on our way back down we could miss out two more fuel stops, which would save time, but the consequence of doing that would mean more time in the saddle, not too big an issue on a Wing. It was agreed; we mounted up and were soon underway again.

Edinburgh came; we stopped, fuelled and got back on the road. Next stop, Berwick 57 miles for our last compulsory stop. We got on the throttles and made good time; I radioed ahead and said we need to keep this a splash and dash stop, if we were to make it back in time. Yes’s, came back through my headset. Into the garage we went, fuel in, logs done, back on the bikes and away, now if we had done that from the start we would have had more time available to us, never mind, it’s easy with hindsight. Back out on to the A1 and we then start to give it big licks, 165 miles to go, according to the SatNag we should arrive back at 0502hrs that will be close.

As we are riding back I keep checking the SatNag to see what our ETA is, it varies between 0500-0505hrs, we are still on provided no hiccups. I check the miles left, just 20, now I am starting to feel the pressure of the days ride, my neck is starting ache, I think that is down to the fact I have only had my lid off three times all day, even with the extra layers on, my legs are now starting to feel cold. Jimmy pipes up on the radio, “how far left, my fuel warning light is on?”, “20 miles” I tell him,” ”You are good for about 40 miles, don’t worry”. Next the turn off appears we take it and then we are rolling back into Squires to cheers and applause, I look at the time, 0502hrs, we had done it.

Excellent team effort, we left as a team and we came back a team. I would like to thank all those that sponsored us and supported us, thanks to everyone that organised it and to all those that took part, a job well done.

Would I do it again? You bet I would, but there would be a few things I would do differently.

Don’t think you have to be David Bailey, or even Shakespeare – just a few lines or photos (or, better still, both!) to let the rest of us share in the good times and to let the world in general see what a good time we have in GWNW.

So, get those photos and stories in to Bob and enjoy seeing your name in lights (well, on the Website anyway)

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.

Those who are camping at the festival will have already received their entry and vehicle pass and will make their own way to Llandudno. For those members who fancy a ride over during the three day event, you will find the camping fraternity on the main transport festival display field, come and pay us  a visit, its a great day out and you wont be disappointed.   

The Llandudno Transport Festival is held on the sea-front showground in one of the most picturesque bays of the UK. Llandudno is Wales’ largest resort and famed for its Victorian style and Edwardian elegance. The Transport Festival is the largest in Wales and one of the U.K.’s best-loved events. It is held in conjuction with the Victorian Extravaganza. Costume, vintage fairground and a host of attractions combine in a unique annual celebration of transport and entertainment heritage within the town. The two events are linked by a free shuttle-bus service. This is a super weekend that many membes have attended for several years. There is free camping on the main event site for exhibitors only, caravans, motorhomes and tents are all welcome. An application from must be completed and a pass received from the organisers prior to the event. The application form can be downloaded from here.

Friday nights "best light bike" competition

The organisation of the Light Parade for 2009 has proved to be the most complicated to date. I wont bore you with the detail but it was certainly an uphill climb for those involved.  Thankfully everything is now in place from the accomodation, entertainment, police and the light parade on the Saturday night itself.