North Norfolk Motorcycle Club

Easter Run 2010

2010-03-08T20:12:00.001Z

New Venue

2010-01-19T21:42:00.003Z

Change is always difficult, even more so when time is not on your side. In the later end of 2009 our trusty home closed leaving us somewhat “out in the cold” so to speak.
The good news is that we have a new home and a very welcome one too, The Goat Inn @ Skeyton. After a couple of meeting held in the pub a vote at the recent AGM confirmed our new venue to be the favoured option without exception. All we need now is to get as many of our members past and present to come down and see for yourselves what a fantastic venue it is and all they are able to offer the North Norfolk Motorcycle club. Address is: The Goat Inn, Long Road, Skeyton, Norfolk, NR10 5DH Tel: 01692 538600
Have a peek now by visiting their website and find out how to get there @ http://www.skeytongoatinn.co.uk

Drew's "BIG" project

2009-10-28T21:24:00.019Z

Back in the days when colour had yet to be invented and dinosaurs needed a way to impress girls and get to school (c1977), Mr Honda decided, for one reason or another, to produce a moped which looked like a proper bike and didn't stink like a Flymo (not you Garry, I'm sure you smell great). Out of the Big H factory popped the mighty CB50J. A 49cc OHC 4-speed bristling with almost some horsepower, a disc brake and a chrome megga. The British version also arrived with a neat little single seat conversion, (possibly due to our 'no passengers for 16year-olds' rule) and it looked pretty good. It was also tiny- you'd trip over it thinking it was still 20ft awayLuckily my Big Bruv bought one of these off a friend who, given his future maintenance record, failed to destroy it. As almost everything a younger sibling receives is hand-me-down, I was well chuffed when, having finally made it to the pimply age of 16, Big Bruv sold me the 'Ped for £10 more than he paid for it.Off came the standard air filter and on with the S+B with chrome end cap which unleashed an immeasurable amount of horsepower but sounded ace. The front disc was cable operated and was not bad if you tested it immediately having adjusted it (again), but soon became ok-ish when the car in front jumped on the brakes. Change the oil every 1000 miles and the odd new plug and it absolutely never broke down. It always started first kick, even in any of the worst motorcycle- unfriendly weather. And after I crashed it. Twice. The headlamp and battery were poor- applying the brakes unfortunately meant half the electricity destined for the bulb at the front came out of the one at the back, rendering the rider virtually blind approaching a tightening bend in the dark. To teach it a lesson, I crashed it into a field. I happily spent the next two-and-a-half years chugging around North Norfolk, to and from work and to sixth-form where I successfully failed to impress any girls on the ever reliable 50J. Then I finished building my GSX250, and so endeth the life of The 'Ped. Until...... I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it (Gibbo's rule- never sell a bike) so it sat in boxes in my shed for 16years. I got bored. I looked in the boxes. I was no longer bored. I want a cafe racer, I thought. Hmmmm. Hacksaw and welder out, let's get started. First things first, I made some (very high) rear-set footrest hangers, using the remains of a bike my mate used to reshape a Rover 25. Thanks Keallo. Made a cable operating mechanism for the rear brake as wherever I moved the linkage meant going over bumps would apply or release the brake. Don't fancy that much. Removed the rubber swingarm bearings (thanks Mr Honda) by intricately burning them out with a blowtorch and sent the whole lot off to the outlaw Andy Wales for grit-blasting. Once it was back, on with the black Smoothrite. NEVER follow the instructions, it went on like black water and promptly ran off like black water. Once that was sorted, time to plonk all the bits back together. It was nice having a project so small I could build it on my bench.

Had the forks re-chromed by A M Philpot, a friendly helpful bunch of folks, new headrace bearings, rear shocks and new rear rim (Dave Silver is a good source of new old Honda stock). Hagon sent me some beautiful shiny new spokes and I sent the rear hub and brake plate off to Gibbo and Son Eng. Co. where junior Gibbo worked his blast- tank magic. New wheel bearings (luckily NOT rubber, thanks Mr Honda) in and time for some knitting. Never laced a wheel before, so I used the still assembled front as a pattern- piece of cake. This is easy, dunno what all the fuss is about. Front hub off to Gibbo, lovely clean front hub back from Gibbo, assemble. Eh, what's going on? Why can't I make this one work. Five attempts later, the front is a wheel at last. Purely because the rear hub was wide enough meant I could unwittingly start in the wrong place and still complete it. Top tip- start with the spokes on the inside of the flanges or get someone else to do it... Wheels on, ace- bars on, one big white-faced tacho and time to scoot it around outside and laugh at its complete lack of size. Neat

Engine time. 49cc is never going to excite anyone so the original reliable engine retired to a shelf. E-Bay lightened my wallet but sent me a 'good, rebuilt' XR80 engine (identical crankcases so will fit in 50J frame). Apparently, a 'good, rebuilt' engine needs a new cam chain, cam sprocket, piston, rings, exhaust valve, cam chain guide. Glad I looked inside.... Incidentally the 50J engine was rated at a max of 2-2.5bhp, the XR80 a more healthy 7.5-9bhp. At the very least, power will be tripled so 40mph could become 69mph..... Oh bloody 'ell, better sort the brakes- it'll need a good front one more than Gibbo needs cake. Rear drum was fine, so down to Burto's for a hydraulic caliper and master cylinder. After much rummaging, said bits were found. I need to mount the shiny little caliper somehow- the original was in front of the fork leg, but as that looks not all that tidy and will slow down the steering (????) I'll put it where it should be. Oh dear, nowt to bolt it to. Except one original mount and a vastly over strong mudguard mounting point. They'll do. Off to Gibbo's (again- the coffee is pretty good here) with a lump of aluminium and a cardboard template. 5 hours later and having reduced a lovely great piece of metal to lots of chippings and a bracket, I bid farewell to Mr G's Swarf Emporium and do another 1 1/2 hrs on my lathe making more of what look like Metal Mickey's pubes.

The finished bracket looks ok, fits well and is very solid. It ought to, it took long enough. That's about as far as Project Ped has travelled so far, lots of other niff-naff and nonsense to complete but hopefully it'll be coming out to play in spring 2010. If you want an genuine original Honda 49cc racer, there's currently a 90mph 1963 CR110 (4-valve DOHC 8.5bhp @ 14000rpm) for sale on t'internet for a measly £37605. Sorry if you've fallen into a coma through boredom, but Adi made me type all this- he's standing behind me with a large stick as I type. Keep it rubber-side-down.

Gibbo and yet another fun packed summer!!

2009-10-11T15:40:00.010Z

Long ago when my eyes still worked and two cylinders were considered a "multi", a few of us decided to resurrect the NNMCC and arranged to meet at the Scottow Three Horseshoes for a brave new start. We turned up in encouraging numbers to discover a dark, very closed pub. Unperturbed we shot down the Jolly Farmers and thus began the reborn Bike Club. Much oil has fallen on the garage floor since then but last week we found ourselves outside the very same pub in an all too similar situation. This time we shot down the Skeyton Goat, for the simple reason it was the first thing that came into my mind, and the representative sample that managed to find its way there were made welcome and so a quick vote around the table fixed the venue for the foreseeable future. A big Thanks to the folk at the Shoes for all the support they've given and we wish them well and I for one am sorry that all the hard work didn't bear fruit for them. Thanks also to the Goat for making us welcome, I'm sure we can go on strong in this new home.
I've had a busy bike year but have probably neglected my Club duties a bit due to the amount of work involved in rebuilding and prepping bikes. I love pottering and fettling in the bike shed and I spend much more time fiddling with bikes than riding them but even for me the pressure at times made me question if I was actually enjoying it! (I was really!! my "estranged" wife wasn't) I was invited to join someone else’s run to Monza and Le Mans in May and thought it would be nice to tag along for a change without any responsibility. A new Blade, GSXR600, B King, R1 SP and my Daytona made an interesting group flying in formation across France to get over the Alps (or the Dolomites, I'm never sure where one finishes and the other starts). However we never got over as all the passes were still snowed up and after a bit of makeshift sledging on a pallet we went through a 16km long tunnel to burst out into warmth and southern Europe. There is nothing I can add about Italian driving/riding that you've not either read or experienced!!! Monza WSB was terrific, we were right on the bend of that horrific crash, it was the worst I've seen live and it’s a miracle there were not more serious injuries. GOD IT WAS HOT. Paul was doing a great impression of a Crab Stick by the end of the day. The route up to Lemons took us through an entirely new part of France for me, and a stop at Monaco for a blat round the already set up F1 track. The principality Police were very polite when they advised us that two laps were enough and we really should be going now! Up through the middle we had to see the "Sky Bridge" and decided to approach not on motorway but by riding up the "Gorge Du Tarn". This turned into one of the best rides of my life. Awesome scenery, considerable danger and more bends and bumps than on an extremely bendy bumpy thing with added twists and lumps.Gary (another "club" member) pissed off into the distance, Steve wrestled and squirted the B King like a goodun and I contemplated the cost of replacing smashed carbon Dymags between demented grins. A long wet day finished the interesting central part of France until we arrived at the amazing Route 66 Bikers hotel. Qualifying for a piece all of its own let's just say you have to go there. An old coaching/hunting lodge this range of buildings now has a bar unlike any I'd seen, loads of indoor parking and wacky old school accommodation with fine food prepared by women brought in from the village. At this point, and to celebrate completing a difficult day, I broke my own no drinking rule and therefore can't vouch for the full English breakfast other than to say it looked fine when I handed it to Steve.
Moto GP at Le Mans was a bit different to Monza, GOD IT WAS COLD!! How can one week and a few hundred miles be so different? Also the racing was not brilliant with the silly bike changing thing going on to confuse everyone (well alright maybe I was the most confused) and Mr Rossi finishing in a very uncharacteristic place. Edwards duffing Toseland up at the end did little to lift spirits either. Back at the excellent camp site Steve and I decided to make a dash for home that night and we took about10 hours to get back, at one point queuing with hundreds of bikes for over an hour to get fuel, the only dry bit was on the ferry! I took the precaution of wearing every tee shirt I had with me and just about avoided hyperthermia but it was not a pleasant end to the trip. The others who didn't have to get back for work made a swift safe return the next day, job done! You'd think I deserved a rest after that but no. The very next weekend was the Classic Burn Up at Cadwell Park where I was to ride the recently completely rebuilt Triumph 250 and 500. Neither had turned a wheel in anger for 15 years.The 250 had taken far too long over winter and was only just ready (or in fact not) but the 500 with its fancy new ignition had been pushed up and down the road to no avail and did not join us at Cadwell. It later transpired that the rather confusing marks lead to the rotor being 180 deg out, much later, and after much more pushing and head scratching.The 250 was far from sorted also as the clutch key sheared and then once fixed I discovered third gear was rather like an MP's scruples when filling in their expenses form, i.e. entirely missing.Noise testing was interesting, the outer end of the added baffle was increasingly squashed and then finally the inner end suitably mullered to match allowing us to scrape through. How many people can there be close enough to Cadwell for noise to be a serious problem? And anyway that's not noise its music! My very old ,in both senses, friend Stuart was having much more luck with his incredible tribute to 1960's Honda racers hitting something like 18,000rpm and having a trouble free day. Even getting photographed for an article in Classic Bike magazine. The quality of work on his 250cc four cylinder RC162 has to be seen to be believed and make my little darling Triumphs look like the "shed racers" they are.This run was really a test day for our proposed trip to La Belle France to ride in a Classic event about 50 or so miles south of Calais and although I had a bit of work to do we felt we would be OK to go. Although still not running, the 500 came along to Croix St Ternoise just to look pretty. With my 250's rebuilt gearbox, fettled clutch and every spare nook and cranny of the van filled with optimism, we set off to impress the world.With no noise testing the 250 ran so much better baffle free and in fact went better and better as the weekend progressed. Meanwhile Stuart and his Honda were being almost worshipped. Even dyed in the wool Brit fan that I am I have to confess it sounded awesome circulating the wonderfully tight little track. From some view points you could almost hear it make a complete lap, its high pitch howl most distinctive. How often do you get to hear four separate open meggas at 18,000?The whole meeting was so friendly and well organised we will definitely go back. We even had some supporters come all the way over to join us who very kindly turned up in the mornings with fresh cakes strapped to their bikes. Bikes may splutter when low on fuel but I completely fail to function when deprived of cake.

David Capes – One Man’s Perspective

2009-05-04T17:53:00.009Z

David died shortly after midnight on Sunday 19th April 2009, after his Black Honda VT Shadow was in collision with a Silver Renault Megan on the A47 at Hockering.

Many members of the Panthers will have their own personal memories of David, some knew him better than others and Graham Tansley has kindly offered to put pen to paper and give us his perspective of a man who was much more than just another motorcyclist.

I first met Dave around the summer of 1996 through our association with the North Norfolk Motorcycle Club (The Panthers) at the Three Horseshoes Public House @ Scottow. He rode a Honda CX500 and arrived each meeting with Dave Bowyer who had built his own motorcycle special.
In the late 1990’s my wife Chris and I arranged two early summer motorcycle camping weekends at the Duke of Edinburgh PH in Bacton, both Dave’s with members of their families came to those weekends, where we barbequed food and had Saturday ride along the coast.
By now aware of Dave’s blacksmithing business, I attended my first “Forge-in” weekend with Dave and his Daughter Verity, all on our bikes and near Stowmarket. Near this time in 1998 I had ridden the coastline of mainland Britain on a 4000 mile charity ride. Having missed one or two areas of Scotland’s north-west coast due to low cloud and torrential rain, Dave asked that if was returning to ride those stretches, would I like some company? So our Scottish tour took shape in May and June 2000.
The tour of Scotland took to the John O’Groats where Dave spent a day visit to the Orkney Isles. Then we rode the north coast and down the west stopping at Applecross, one of the places I’d missed in 1998. There are great memories at Applecross, approached via the famous Bealach-Na-Ba (Pass of Cattle) at 2053’ in the clouds!
While there Dave arose early one morning to stalk red deer with a local gamekeeper we met at the inn. Also being there with when the local musicians play traditional SCOTTISH MUSIC AT THE Inn, I have photos and memories of Dave entertaining them for over 15 minutes on his Jew’s harp. He received a great round of applause and appreciation and instant friendships were established. We ended up staying around five days after a horsefly bit prevented me using my left hand until the swelling subsided so we beach combed and walked the local hills, ate and drank at the inn and even found foil wrapped ‘wacky-backy’ in a hole in a stone wall!! Dave wishfully suggested that the only fun we were likely to have with the opposite sex was if we dragged one of the local sheep off the hillside one night! Such was Dave’s sense of humour.
After this Dave organised a trip to the Isle of White on late summer 2003. we slept overnight near Guildford with Terry & Sally Clark, a blacksmith associate of Dave’s, Terry then joined Dave, Verity and myself for the three nights on the Isle of White on our variety of bikes. More coast and cliff walking, eating, drinking and another memorable few days in excellent company.
More recently Dave joined our family at Whitwell Hall Country Centre where Chris and I have run several biker friendly rallies over the past few years, around the campfire Dave entertained us again with the Jews harp. One time he couldn’t come due to a clash with a NABD rally, supporting the National Association for the Biker’s with Disabilities was close to Dave’s heart as was his care and commitment to his other biking friends. It was a shame that when Dave left the Panthers we saw each other less, though we would meet up for the Blakenay mid-summer evening ride, and other party and biking occasions, at the Eel’s Foot, Ormesby, the Railway Tavern, Dereham or when he called in at our home.
Dave was immensely proud of their son Marcus, who has become a talented artist in his own right. Marcus and Gwyn live in New Zealand with their nineteen month old daughter Fern. Meanwhile, Verity and Rob and their three year old daughter Robyn live next to Sue at Frans Green, Dereham.
Once one knew David Capes it became clear that you were fortunate enough to be friends with one of life’s real characters. There was no pretentiousness. Being aware of his may other interests including shooting, beating, gun dog breeding and training, as well as all his blacksmithing work, “forge-in” weekends and the excellent parties at Frans Green where his wife Sue prepared some excellent food and welcome together with numerous friends, it was evident his close family relationships and strong friendships meant that here was one of the special people one feels proud to call a friend.

While two of our daughters shed tears, Chris and I were left deeply moved by Dave’s early death, despite this and the comments from the heart above, I am left with the abiding thought that Dave Capes took hold of life and lived it fully and well. Dave was not a conventional man, he was a true friend who said what he thought which was the way it should be. He displayed sensitivity and emotion, with an educated eye to nature, scenery and the forces within our universe. For all those who knew him well, there will many fond memories of Dave, because to these people the world will surely be a poorer place without him.
Sleep peacefully my friend and know we cared.

Graham Tansley

The Funeral will take place on Monday 11th May 2009 @ 12.30pm at St Faiths Crematorium. Representative biker friends are welcome.

Easter Charity Motorcycle Run

2009-03-23T20:23:00.000Z

Robin Howard

2008-09-03T11:18:00.008Z

With the sudden and untimely death of Robin I have been asked to write a few words.

Robin was a keen motorcyclist who was in awe of what fellow club members had achieved be it manufactured or rebuilt, or the rides they had undertaken both near and far. During his latter years as you know he had been unable to ride his pride and joy, his Honda VTR Fire Storm, but he always dreamed of one day being able to swing his leg over the saddle and being free again, A dream that was sadly never to become a reality.
Robin started riding at an early age and would tell many stories of his riding backwards & forwards to Norwich whilst undertaking an apprenticeship at Morgan’s Brewery as a sign writer.
During National Service in the RAF he was lucky to be enlisted into the Police Escort Flight which enabled him to ride motorcycles whilst escorting high ranking officials and several dignitaries all over the country or escorting large equipment e.g. Queen Mary’s, or Queen Elizabeth’s from one camp to another.
After National Service and with the help of his father he started repairing automobiles that had been involved in accidental damage but nothing pleased him more than tinkering around and making things.
He made Fairings, large and small, Panniers, Dummy Exhausts initially all out of steel and then produced in glass fibre. He enjoyed a challenge. He would purchase a motorbike and would sit looking at it for ages, chewing a cigarette, deciding what he could do to make it unique.
Robin was one of a breed, someone who was both my father and my friend, someone with whom I had enjoyed many hours riding and joking with and will be sorely missed by both myself, my family but also I believe other people he had met during his life.

Michael Howard

_____________________________

Funeral details:

North Walsham Church

Friday 12th September 2008 @ 2.00pm

Motorcycle escort to start from Robin's house meeting @ 1.15pm

Please confirm your attendance via email to Adrian

_____________________________________

Our friend and fellow biker Robin Howard died on Sunday morning at 0300hrs. He passed away at his home with Michael at his side.
Like many of you, I see Robin as a constant presence in the club and a biker in the traditional mould - someone who I have always looked up to and relied on for his sound advice and unfailing humour. I will miss him - he was my friend.

I'm sure you will all join me in passing on our sincere good will to Robins family in this testing time.

Graham Woolfenden

_______________________________

Christian Checks out the all new Harley Shop!

2008-07-24T20:17:00.006Z

Christian and few friends where invited to take sneak preview of the very prestigious new Harley Davidson showroom, everyone was made very welcome and give a warm and generous reception. The photos tell the story of his response to the venue, service and of course the bikes. Interested to know anymore then I’m sure Christian will be more than happy to share his experiences with you, better still have ride out and decide for yourself. After all Christian may be little bias as we are all aware of his love for the big American Motorcycles.

REPLICA YAMAHA YZ623

2008-03-30T20:27:00.004Z

David and I became friends recently through business, he is a very talented carpenter and its his attention to detail in his craft that most impressed me, however it soon came to light that he too shared a love of two wheels and I was invited me to view a project he had been working on. The end result is very impressive and I asked David to put pen to paper so he could share his story with you all. This he kindly agreed to and below is his story which I hope you will enjoy.
Back in 1995 I felt like having a go at building another competition bike having a few years earlier put together a pre-65 trials Tiger Cub using a Bantam frame and an engine from 1959/60 Cub. The bike was ok but the jockey was s..t, and having fallen off too many times whilst taking part in events, I decided that it was time to do something safe and stay in the shed.

The inspiration for the Yamaha goes back in time to the 1960's when my hero was Phil Read. At that time he was racing British singles in the form of AJS and Matchless machines along with a sprinkling of others. He was good at his job and the then fledgling Yamaha Company took him on as their number one rider and supplied him with 250cc and 251cc machines for him to campaign in national meetings in the UK. The machines were RD56 works racers, the 251 an overbored 250 with which he could take part in 350cc races. Both machines were fast but reliability somewhat erratic but on their day they would bring home the champer’s. It was these screaming two stroke machines that really excited me but finance in those days prevented me from any sort of entry into the sport. However, I would travel to various circuits to watch the racing and was lucky enough to marshall in the Isle of Man at the TT on three occasions in the late 60's and early 70's. I have included in the photo’s some taken at Oulton Park during those early days when Read would turn up in his Citroen estate (that was before he came in a Roller), the works transporter was a Commer van with Yamaha painted on the side, a far cry from the palaces that the GP riders are provided with today. It was following the purchase of a book in 1995 chronicling Japanese Racing Machines where I saw a photo of the Yamaha YZ623 that I decided to have a go at making a replica racer and a trip to Gary Burton’s place at Cawston saw me rummaging through piles of bits and coming home with the basic parts needed for the project. Although the YZ623 is a 125cc machine, I decided to stick with the 200cc engine as this was with the bits and is virtually identical in size to the RD 125 and it seems parts are more readily available. Although most of the main bits were to hand I made dozens of phone calls to various contacts to locate the things I still needed, but in time I was able to put them all together and have made the machine you see in the photo’s.Frame is RD/RS 200, All bits not required have been removed, extra tubing has been bent to shape and added to mount the footrests, seat and fairing. The frame is painted with Hammerite smooth black and looks very like the stove enamel on the YZ623. Forks are of un-known origin but may be Honda, they have been modified to fit the Yamaha head stock and are of a heavier construction than the somewhat skinny RD items, clip on’s of course have been used along with alloy levers.Engine and gearbox are RD200. The engine and box etc, had been sitting somewhere and water had been allowed to get into the crankcase, it was at a bit of an angle and consequently the big end that side had picked up some quite serious rust damage. The engine was completely stripped and cases, barrels and heads sand blasted to try to make them look like the sand cast items fitted to the factory racers. Again all un-necessary bits such as electric start, generator, posi-lube and carbs etc. were ditched. The crank was overhauled, barrels were re-bored and new bearings, rods, pistons and rings etc, fitted and combustion chambers polished. Motor was re-built carefully with new gaskets and seals but was left otherwise un-modified. Carburation has been altered by fitting modified reed valve inlet mounts together with 28mm, Mikuni’s. It was suggested by Fahron Engineering that these would be required for a race modified RD engine of this type (when and if I ever got around to doing it). Racing plugs are fitted with the original points ignition being retained at present, electronic set up was to be fitted when funds allowed, twin coils take care of the spark. When running, I use either leaded or un-leaded fuel with synthetic racing oil as pre-mix. Exhausts have been made by Andy Bacon of ABCON exhausts who has the technical and manufacturing details of those specified by Fahron Engineering for their successful race modified RD200s, they are superbly crafted and make all the right noise that you would expect from a two stroke machine from the early seventies. Brakes have been modified also, the front item is Honda twin leading shoe, CB72 possibly and air cooling has been improved by the addition of a perforated vent one side with holes drilled on the other. The racer that I have replicated has a double sided 4 leading shoe arrangement but I guess I would have more chance of finding the proverbial rocking horse stuff than picking one of these up at the local jumble, unless you know different! please search your shed for one just in case you put one on that shelf. Rear brake is the original Yamaha item. Wheel rims are period looking narrow-ish alloy and have been re-spoked, tyres are quite narrow by todays standards but they look similar to the triangular racing Dunlops used during the sixties and early seventies, they may not be contributing to my personal safety but look the part. Fuel tank and seat are made from fibre glass and are identical to the 125cc. YZ623 works machine, they were made by Norwich’s Tony Milk from moulds taken from a TA 125 that he owned, this was Yamaha’s over the counter 125cc. racer which shares a number of similarities to the YZ 623. The fairing was purchased new from Hersham Racing down in London and is allegedly from a mould taken from a works 125cc disc valved racer, having spoken to Ken Inwood from Hersham at Snetterton circuit, he said that he thought that he had one that might fit, off I went to London and came home with it, as you can see, it fits perfectly. The belly pan that it came with was also fibre glass but this was discarded in favour of an aluminium panel carefully hand rolled just like the works machines had fitted, this is held in place using Dzuts fasteners. Painting of all components was done by myself using brush-on enamel for the frame and cans of spray-on for the fibre glass bits. I suppose you are wondering how it goes, well I have no idea as I have not had it on a track. It seems to run ok and makes a lot of the right sounds but is totally for track use so I can not even venture on to the road outside my house. I have ridden it relatively slowly on some of the runways at RAF Sculthorpe during a classic sprint meeting (I was not taking part), but the organisers asked me not to venture too far away from the paddock as their insurance was limited. Maybe I will get sorted and take it to a track day sometime before the Lord makes other plans for me. If you would like any more info regarding the bike David would be very happy to share his experiences and contact can be made through Adrian at the bike club or by leaving a note on this post.

Easter Egg Run 2008 by Mike Howard

2008-03-30T20:23:00.001Z

It was cold and wet, a typical spring morning. How many fool hardy motorcyclists are going to turn out on a morning like this?
I was pleased to see 36 Motorcycles and 2 Moped riders turn up to join us on our annual bike run to “Break” Sheringham.
I would like to thank members from other motorcycle clubs including “Raptor” and “The Lost Knights” who where most welcome, in boosting our numbers.
A cooked breakfast could be purchased at the pub. A full English Break-fast was most agreeable, and went down well with two cups (mugs) of tea. I must thank Mark and his staff for turning out early and opening the pub to us.
The run was headed by Chocolate John who done a fantastic job in sheparding us along the windy and wet roads to our destination.
The moped riders left 10 minutes before the main bunch, and re-joined upon entering Sheringham.
May I say a big thank-you, to you all in participating in this fun run and presenting Break with Easter Eggs and toiletries plus a special thank you to Chocolate John & Graham in advertising this event.
Sorry about the weather, but it was beyond my control to organise the sun & heat but I hope you enjoyed yourselves.
Michael.

Annual Easter Egg Fun Run

2008-01-30T21:03:00.000Z

The Panthers
North Norfolk Motorcycle Club
Annual Easter Egg- Fun Run
To
"Break" Childrens Home
SHERINGHAM
Leaving From the “3 Horse Shoes” Public House
Scottow (B1150)

Sunday 16th March 2006
Depart @ 10:30 – 11:00

For further details Contact Michael
01692 409980 or 07850 692659
e-mail michael.howard97@yahoo.co.uk
ALL MOTORCYCLISTS ARE WELCOME

Cooked Breakfasts Available from 9:30am

Please bring something for the children
They have asked for Toiletries, Soap, Toothpaste, Smellies, Flannels, Shampoo etc.
Also DVD's are very popular, Action, Adventure, Family viewing, Cartoons Disney etc.

Enduro Africa

2007-11-26T15:47:00.000Z

2007 will hold fond memories for all, but none more than for Keith as he embarked on his Enduro Africa adventure, starting with months of planning and fund raising right through to successfully completing his expedition. During his trip Keith kept a diary, below is exactly what he wrote and hopefully will give you an insight into his thoughts and feelings.

Arrived in Johannesburg. 10degrees and pouring. Very quick change for flight to Durban.
Arrive Durban, 24deg!!! Sunny.
Coach trip very interesting, shanty towns, very small houses people walking even adjacent to main roads.
Very green.
Lots of trivial jobs, porters, man directing to correct pump at petrol station etc. Soil bright orange, strange trees and birds.
Arrive at hotel at 3pm so travelling 26 hours, Hotel great but had to wait for luggage in extra van. Unfortunately first experience of Africa is broken-in-to bag but nothing missing as only socks and pants in that bit.
Security fences and electric fences around all decent houses, definitely a country of haves and have-nots.
Bikes waiting for us in the garden on arrival, much bigger and chunkier than they look on the web.
First “Do” at 4pm, Breakie at 7 for 8 O’clock start
Met Adrian and had our briefing sitting on the beach when we went to get fuel.
Briefing very good, friendly and inspiring.
Not much of a party last night, everyone knackered. Dinner excellent but English, Roast beef.
Set alarm (with help) for 6am!!! Nice to be in a clean bed. Woken by text from Sophie and then Bonnie at 12.20ish but then slept well.
Breakie great, weather dull but warm, setting fantastic. Bags packed in van by 7am, put sticker on bike and rearing to go. Managed to get 2 ½ ltrs of water in my 3 ltr bladder.
Sitting on cliff surrounded by palms with exotic birds singing and huge waves crashing below. Africa drum music, live in background.
Jim who I shared room 106 with last night is really nice bloke.
Missed the dolphins by 10mins this morning. Hotel awash with people cleaning and sweeping everything but the only black person eating in the restaurant was the one e brought with us.
Just ½ hour to the off now. The SA guides are really great fun and some extremely experienced off-roaders plus we have a Doctor, Jacque, who was on last year’s trip and the first person to break a bone!
Can’t believe I’m here
SUNDAY
What a day, lots of road works, Bikes at first really poor. Brakes didn’t work., engine tight.
Rode mainly along the coast (to our left so going south).
First off road was really dusty, visibility about 20 feet or so, and very light powdery sand taking front wheel away.
We are riding in the “1000 valleys” which we could see as we came in to land at Durban.
First crash was one of the SA experts who totalled bike and almost himself when he hit an 18” step at about 50-60kph and just stopped dead, before cart wheeling down the hillside.
One of the green team also ended up in a ditch. The dust was so bad his sweeper rode straight past so he had to drag his bike out and catch up. Would you believe we stopped at a Wimpy Bar for lunch!!
Ridden through fantastic valleys and many rivers. Lots of smiling waving people. Lots of sugar cane this morning Banana plantations this afternoon. 236km got us to our stopover. Lots of cabins in a hilly park with monkeys and exotic birds all around.
Went for a swim in Indian Ocean, lovely and warm but big surf. Very exhilarating and described as being in a large salty tumble dryer.
When I came back from swim my bike was gone. Not a nice feeling. Luckily another had been left by prankster so I rode this back to the bar, sat for 1½hours talking to a bloke complaining about my bike being nicked then it turned out it was his bike I’d ridden back on in exchange but he denied all knowledge.
Had a great meal, after the “Dick of the Day” award was handed to the crasher, BBQ lamb, pork, borroworst (beef sausage) with porridge is called mealybum apparently. Had another couple of beers then back to phone home and another early night, knackered but happy. Actually had quite a few beers without realising it leading to a stinking hangover the next day.
TUESDAY
I’m sitting in wet clothes having just had to put on what got soaked yesterday.
It started well, nice and sunny but hazy so warm not hot, lovely tarmac ride through villages, wonderful countryside (didn’t have breakfast due to feeling sick from too much drink. Had bad hangover all day). After fuel stop we headed off road and to the first difficult river crossing and climbs, difficult is relative! Going well but getting hotter and hotter. Sun now strong and no shade, eventually we split for the high road (easy) or low road (difficult) and even with the still ever present hangover I went for the difficult one.
I can’t describe it adequately. We went down a sandy slope 300-400yrds long, 50-75 degrees from vertical. Most of the time both wheels were locked up and I was skiing down. Once down we had to go all the way as we couldn’t get back up.
Through a couple of rivers and then a killer climb, Loose boulders and rocks, wicked thorn bushes and so steep. We rode, fell, pushed our way to the “top” feeling good only to find another harder climb only now it was raining and hailing violently. The dusty trail up now became a muddy river going down. I had stopped to put someone’s chain on so when the storm broke I didn’t have my waterproofs with me!
The next three quarters of an hour we all struggled to get everyone up as bikes were continually dropped. If you stopped going up you just slithered backwards until a boulder or thorn bush stopped you. I can’t explain the enormous experience in the time I have. When we got to the top we were all completely exhausted and completely elated.
After refuelling we had a 40km ride in the dark on slimy clay roads to get to our accommodation. This was flat out all the way and exciting to the point of being scary. We arrived as heroes and I’ve never enjoyed a hot shower and soft bed so much. Dinner was lovely, soup, roast chicken and so-on.
Breakfast this morning was eaten with whales breaching in the sea just outside the window.
Due to the humidity all the wet clothes from yesterday are still wet and I’m now getting into them for more!! (room 305 Jim)
UNIT 9 WED Mark, Jim, Johnny Me
Came round a corner and there’s a cow pissing in the middle of the road, 5 legged dog round another corner. Jumps and Potholes.
Fantastic day yesterday, lot’s of interesting tarmac and fantastic dirt roads. Pace much hotter. Same 4 at the front now Shaun, Jim and me with Johnny just behind Adrian. Only one river crossing yesterday and I managed to “Harvey” Shaun.
Wonderful scenery, went into a hut, used the mealy maize grinder. Everywhere you stop people appear from nowhere, smiling and happy. Hut was 15’ diameter fire in centre. Earth floor, Thatched roof.
Food basic but good last night, nice piece of beef.
Great fun in bar, played pool and laughed a lot.
Memory of day is everyone grinning like idiots every time we re-grouped and the 5 legged dog!
THURSDAY
What a day yesterday, up for breakfast we all had to queue ages for then a spoke tightening session with oil top up for good measure. Then off to the “Hole in the wall”. Stunning scenery and great rides over green hills with a few climbs and steep drops but not too bad. Some good dirt road stuff then a stop at a general store for drinks and snacks, it was a bit like the store in the Walton’s or a little house on the prairie. Had my first “Off” on the rise with hidden bump in but stayed with the bike and struggled up un-aided. Bought sweets at the store but as everyone was giving them out I hung on to mine and gave them to a group of wonderful smiling kids in a tiny village further on.
Crossed a bridge where women washing their clothes and two beautiful babies sat in green washing up bowls having a bath.
After lunch stop with snack van we split into two groups with the usual suspects going for the low road. On the first serious climb I got up OK but then had nowhere to go as bikes were already using up all the flat bit. I slid down backwards and then got thrown right over the back of the bike when it hit a rock, landed on my head and right shoulder blade. Thank God for body armour! Picked up bike, Shaun was right behind me in same predicament.
No choice but to ride on asked Doc for some pain killers and took them with some Diclofenac.
Very painful to hit bumps now so ride mainly with left arm-hand doing all the work standing on the pegs.
Ride continued OK when pills kicked in mixed with adrenaline. Went down tiny track through undergrowth tunnel, slippery rocks going down and slippery tree roots going up until eventually came to large river after going through several smaller ones.
Not only was this too deep to ford, the ferry that we were relying on no longer exists.
The next two hours were spent getting 4 bikes at a time across a fast flowing river in a small rowing boat. We started with paddles but eventually found enough rope to tie boat in centre and pull back and forth.
Too many Chiefs and not enough Indians meant this took a long time and several failures to get right.
I crossed on the last boat and managed to keep feet dry right up to the last moment. Got off boat in shallows then stepped in a hole and instantly filled me wonderful waterproof socks.
Now we had to ride on sand which was so difficult and sapped the power of the poor little engines.
From then on it was an unbelievable ride in the dark over the veldt.
Fording rivers, climbing steep hills, going down severe drops. Occasionally we would loose people and have to stop and re-group listening for horns or engine noise. Often bikes would run out of fuel and a plastic water bottle was used to take a little from other bikes to get them going again.
People were getting genuinely scared. Travelling at speed you could no longer tell the difference between a clump of grass and a rock which would take your front wheel away. As well as running low of fuel others were out of water and starting to struggle.
The relief when we finally arrived was enormous but I was in pain and feeling very sick. I couldn’t eat my supper and went back to my room and had a long hot bath. (Room was more like a bungalow with traditional thatched roof) and then collapsed. Johnny and Mark helped me to my bed and then I just hurt and felt sick.
KOBI INN
Awoke this morning feeling very weak and sore. Missed breakfast. Went to see Doc at 10.30 but not much he can do except give me more pain killers. Tried a sling but as much as it eased my shoulder it hurt my back more. Probably connective tissue damage but could be fractured ribs and/or shoulder blade. Took pills then went for lie down and missed lunch too!!
Felt better this afternoon, got bad stomach but ate most of supper. Got lovely text from Bonnie and spoke to Sophie. Texted Sam earlier to wish him Happy Birthday and Sophie said he had received it.
Hosed Bike down this afternoon and cleaned the air filter. Topped up the fuel and checked things over. Forks were twisted.
All gear packed and riding gear laid out for morning so going to sleep now at 11.30, 6am start coming up!! Tomorrow we ride THE GORGE!
FRIDAY 3 NOV
Woke just before dawn, felt fine but took two of Doc’s green pills straight away then rested for a while.
Breakfast was good but fast then we set out for the gorge. It was not as bad as some bits we’ve done but tough all the same. Lots of off road riding today, ups and downs with several river crossings and some more sand. I finally got on top of the sand today and it was great, flat out in second just skimming the surface.
Grey team working well together today.
Called in at school that had been built by money donated by mountain bike race through the area. We found nearly empty buildings with just a few bits of broken furniture. We are going to try to fund kitting it out to complete the job.
Stopped at an amazing store gain for lunch. Wonderful kids again. Ended up arm wrestling them on the floor and bouncing them on my knee to glorious giggles. Would happily have brought some home with me.
More excellent riding to a ferry across the river Kai (hence Transkai) where I bought some beads and then a short ride to accommodation.
One more broken collar bone just before ferry in Yellow team. Shaun had an “off” in a pot hole and clouted his side quite hard and Alan caught his foot in a tree root and wrenched his ankle.
SA guys not good at fitting tyres without pinching tubes. We’re getting through a lot of them and we no patches.
Called S and B from hotel balcony at Morgan’s Bay. Sharing with big Jim again.
Ride today just long and difficult enough to be another fantastic day. Beautiful scenery, ferry ride, sand skimming and buying presents from lovely African ladies all great.
SATURDAY
Long dusty gravel road to start day after great breakfast, Morgan’s bay hotel very spread out, a collection of small two storey buildings connected together.
Views over sea fantastic as ever. After fuel stop we visited small engine museum with engines from 1800s up for generators, pumps etc. great old fella in museum who started various ones up for us.
Lunch was picnic at a golf club, very nice then off for a superb run through a forest. Much of it was plantation and some of it cleared but roads were soft red-brown clay, very twisty with ups and downs.
I almost hit a puff adder which I didn’t see.
Lots of very fast dirt road stuff today.
We had our first two punctures so we had to show Adrian how to fit a tyre without using levers so as not to nip the tube. (He was very impressed!)
Went through an area that Garry said could be Texas and we saw a tortoise 50cm long and some smaller ones.
Still no broken bones in our team, only us and the reds left and they’re not going quick enough to break an egg! (just kidding Reds).
Arrived at Port Alfred at lovely hotel on harbour. Had good dinner but beef a bit tough and in bad by 10 as knackered.
It was a long day of over 310kms some on tar but mainly fast dirt track. Borrowed bat charger off Allan so phone will be OK till end of trip. Called Sophie and Garry.
SUNDAY Last day riding
Just cornflakes for breakfast as feeling a bit grim in the stomach. Not too far to ride today so we said we’d take it easy to avoid injury.
As soon as we were on fast gravel roads again it was flat out!
High pastureland this morning with long straight or mainly straight tracks. No big drops or climbs but some good potholes. Good section of lowland dairy country with sweet smells that somehow reminded me of my childhood.
Very tiring 2-3km of pure sand roads had me up on top, flat out in 4th gear. It was great but very scary.
Arrived at game reserve and quickly you’re onto Landrover for swift tour to see Giraffe, Wildebeest, Impala, Warthog, Ostrich and Lions.
Had seen Rhino earlier as we rode through a different reserve.
That was the slowest ride of the week at 20kmh to keep noise down so we might see some animals. Saw Zebra and many antelope.
After short but great safari we had lunch in a wonderful corral with a circular thatched wooden building enclosing an enchanting spot with a Braai.
Game Stew, beans rice, carrots and ginger sponge with custard for pud, Great spot for lunch and rest and fortunately a great toilet too!
Fast road work into town to meet police escort.
Much jubilation at the achievement but green team then managed to crash twice on way into hotel even managing to take out their own returned member who had rejoined with a broken collarbone to make the ride in!
For first 15mins at Hotel we just congratulated each other and enjoyed the occasion. On way to pick up key the swimming pool looked so inviting I dived in still in all my gear, it felt so good.
Everyone a bit “flat” now but it should be a good party.
Party a bit slow.
Some good speeches from Nick and especially Mike but I think everyone’s just a bit sad it’s over.
There were some nice. Wall hangings, hand painted, for sale (£60) so the grey team bought on for Adrian and one for Doc and we all signed the back then had our own little presentation. They have both been so inspirational and great fun we will miss them very much.
Lots of e-mail address swapping going on, didn’t drink much but sat around with the gang till quite late laughing till it hurt which is very easy at the moment.
LAST DAY (OR NOT)
At last a lie in.
8pm start for Breakie at 7.30 before taking bikes to Mikes place for crating up. On this very last short trip I run out of fuel! Jules fills a bottle I find in the hedge and we carry on.
Once back we all pack up, well everyone else packed whilst I slept and then took bags to reception.
Spent last few minutes in bar where I had a very nice burger and then we drank a few rounds of “poison dwarf”. I have no idea what they were, just small glasses full of different coloured liquid in layers which slipped down very nicely. Had a short swim but pool was quite cold.
Got on bus to go to Port Elizabeth airport where on arrival we learn that the J.B. to London flight has been cancelled. We were all bossed to a very nice hotel where tempers got a bit thin but I ended up in a lovely suite with Robert.
Slept well then just a bit of Breakie before getting back on shuttle for airport.
Checking in very straightforward. Had a coffee and cinnamon bun with Jim and Jim and then on to flight.
Plane only half full so had double seat to curl up on and slept some of the way. Awoke to look out at incredible scene of Sahara Desert, just sand forever rippled like the tide just went out. Stunning.
Incredibly there was a settlement right in the middle of nowhere, the circles made by the irrigation booms quite clear amongst other more irregular traditionally watered areas and buildings scattered around a few roads leading to nothing. Shortly later the terrain changed to more rugged mountains with more clouds.

Run to the Ace Cafe

2007-11-25T17:17:00.000Z

Well, a few of us managed to get away on a fine Sunday in September to the Ace Cafe. We set off around 7am and made our way down to South Mimms Services for a warming cup of tea, before making our way round the North Circular to the Ace. Here we are after forcing down an Ace Breakfast.As you can see they let anyone into this place!We also met this guy who told his missus he was just taking the dog out! After we got fed up watching the locals go past on their back wheels, we made our way home via the A10 under the impeccable leadership of "Cruiser Stu"Another fine day out.....................Paul

2007-09-07T20:36:00.000Z

One in your Diaries
Super Moto Sunday

23rd September

Guaranteed to be a good day out

Possibly the last one of the season

Leaving the Horse Shoes @ 7.00am

For more details about the day

Log on to

http://www.ace-cafe-london.com/

If you're interested and would like to know

more details about the trip either phone

Gibbo or leave a message in the comments

section below

Brits Abroad Part 1

2007-08-09T20:04:00.000Z

Has it finally stopped raining? It’s been a while since there’s been anything to add because with the way the weather has been biking has not been much fun but here’s Brits Abroad 2007 pt 1.
The trip to Spa went well even though the cloudfollowed us across the channel.
As we got off the ferry it looked quite promising and we actually sat in the sunshine while we waited for Jeff and Mel to catch us up. Jeff elected to use the Chunnel as it was much quicker than the old fashioned boat only to find his train was cancelled and his arrival much delayed.
Soon after we met up the clouds regrouped and gave us the occasional drenching for the rest of the day. Leaving the main roads as soon as poss. we twiddled our way across France through some fine scenery. Stopping off for a great lunch in a small restaurant which stayed open just for us. We enjoyed an interesting “tart of cheese” for desert which was both a local specialty and an acquired taste. Sadly not acquired by all!
Our route to Skt Vith took us in and out of France and Belgium a number of times as we re-discovered some familiar towns often approached from a new direction. At one point we passed very close to Chimay where we had visited a wonderful Classic Race meeting some years earlier, even riding past the Café where I managed to “obtain” a large poster for the event when we stopped for a snack.
The hostel at Skt Vith is one of the best, not just because it has its own bar where fine Belgian beer is very reasonably priced, in a pretty little town with fine restaurants just a short walk away. Here we enjoyed our first proper meal of the trip with some fine pizza and pasta and a lovely waitress who Sam instantly fell in lust with. It’s his age, this was the first of many over the next few days. (Meals and lust falling episodes)
Up nice and bright next day we breakfasted well and then set off for the Bikers Classic at the awesome Spa Francorchamps track. We had a bit of a sat-nav situation as we arrived resulting in most of us following the signs intended for participants only to the wrong entrance. Eventually we found our way to the secure and well organized parking and the spectacle we found was well worth the long trip.
As we approached the track sidecars were hurtling up Eau Rouge with the engine note rising rhythmically as the rear wheel lost and then fond traction on the greasy surface time and time again until they disappeared out of sight and sound over the brow. The experience of standing at the bottom of the straight and watching the machines barrel through this section is right up there with the most popular Isle of Mann viewpoints.
As this was a Friday the crowd was thin and we were able to wander unhindered through the garages in pit lane and get right up to the most amazing variety of racing machinery. British machinery was well represented with exotica like Manx Norton’s, AJS 7rs and Triumph/BSA triples rubbing shoulders with more mundane production based T100s and the like.
Probably the best represented nation was Italy with Laverda and Guzzi strong in numbers and MV and others overwhelming in their technical prowess and presentation.
All the time spent wandering in a blissful eye-watering daze was accompanied by the most soul stirring soundtrack imaginable and the sweet smell of castor based oil

Ideas for a caption to go with this photos in the comments section please!!

Chairmans Chatter - April Showers-NOT

2007-06-06T19:51:00.000Z

What a weird start to the year we’ve had.. April was like June and May has been like March, only worse!
We had a great run to Break at Easter but since then the two runs to the Ace café and the Donnington Bikefest have been rained off. We’re not talking spring showers here but torrential downpours that kept the hardiest traveller inside.
Coming up are two local runs, one to put some bikes on the Esplanade at Sheringham on Father’s Day to support a Break event and our annual hippy/druid visit to Blakeney to watch the sun disappear behind the Point.
The Break “do” is limited to Club members bikes only as there are restrictions on numbers ,details will be given at Monday June 11th and we’ll probably ride from the “Shoes”. The idea of the event is for various organisations that may appeal to dads to present what they have to offer so we will be promoting the Club and Biking in general.
The Blakeney run will as usual be a friendly night out ,hopefully meeting other clubs and bikers, to just enjoy a drink and a get together to enjoy the longest evening of the summer. Meeting place and time will again be discussed at Club on the 11th.
I have had one outing that didn’t get rained off. 4 of us went off to Cadwell Park for a track day on what turned out to be probably the best day in May. Gary, John and I set off at 4.30 am to meet Jef , who had stayed in luxury close to the track, only to find that he was still eating breakfast when we arrived . All our gear was in the trailer with Jef so we got off to a slow start.
For the first time ever we had to pass noise meter tests before we could ride but all got through OK. There has been a lot of re-surfacing carried out and even a bit of smoothing of the brow of the “Mountain” so it was a bit odd on the first few laps. This and the fact that it was the first time I’d taken the 955i Daytona there made me a bit nervy on the first session. As usual Gary and Gixer John got straight into the groove and Jef’s Blade was too quick for me still.
As the day went on there were numerous crashes which eventually lead to a major bollocking on the tannoy as we were asked to ride with our heads rather than any other part of our anatomy and I think things were a bit calmer in the afternoon.
Sadly Jef’s blade literally spat the dummy, firing a plug out of the head early in the afternoon. With tell tale aluminium in the threads it was obviously game over for the Honda so he changed to group one and took our bikes out in turn. It must have been an interesting afternoon finding the best of the four different bikes and enjoying the differences.
For the second time this year Gary “Flymo” Browne managed to stay entirely on the tarmac and I have to confess to being the only one of our merry band who had to take to the grass having locked the front brakes up avoiding an R1 which left the track only to rejoin rather dramatically right in front of me at the chicane.
We had a brilliant day and look forward to going back. We all agreed that a day at Cadwell is worth about 3 at Snetterton.

Well , other news…
Stu is back from Thailand and looking very refreshed. You can still see what he got up to on his blog. Well most of it anyway!
Adi is chuffed to bits with his new Blade which is very subtly seductive in sexy silver.
Jim (who has not yet rejoined but has wangled his way onto the e-mail list!) has just gone and ditched the sports bike experience for a Honda Verydearo for not very much money at all. (and I thought I was getting old!) as has David who is far too busy polishing his pumps to ride the thing!
Den has bought a lovely Lawson Rep Kawasaki on the pretence that his old bike was too big, So how big is the new one then Den?
Brits abroad is getting very close now so I hope you all have your ferry tickets sorted. Accommodation is sorted but I was having trouble getting confirmation from Vianden Their e-mail was kaput and I‘ve just sorted it out on the old fashioned telephonic communicator. So it will be Belgium, Belgium, Luxembourg, Luxembourg, France and then home. That’s something else to chat about on the 11th.
Keep it shiny side up, Gibbo

Ernest Doe boys to do it for Charity!!

2007-05-31T20:24:00.000Z

Pop in and see Jim or give him a call, your support will be much appreciated

Jim Pamment, Branch Manager
Ernest Doe & Sons, Lyngate Ind Est
North Walsham, Norfolk, NR28 9XN
01692 405121 or 07774 499965

2007 Easter Egg Run

2007-04-06T12:03:00.000Z

A huge thank you to all those that attended this years Easter Egg Run to the Break Children’s Home in Sheringham, it was fantastic to see so many bikes and riders in attendance.
It was 9.30am when I arrived at the Horseshoes and already the car park was pretty much full of an array of different bikes from the latest state to the art machinery to several really nice examples of classic motorcycles.
Mike Howard was quite deservedly very excited by the numbers in attendance which he deserves total credit for, each year Mike works tirelessly to promote this event through the differing media available and the year on year attendance seems to grow annually.
A huge thank you must also go to the Staff at the Scottow Three Horseshoes, as by the time everyone started to arrive the coffee and Bacon rolls where available in abundance, with the exception of Richard who openly admitted to sleeping through the whole event, somewhat concerning considering the numbers right outside his bedroom window and the noise as all the bikes started to roll off.
Gibbo gave a little speech (looks like he's singing his favourite Val Dooningham number here) whilst Sophie ran around taking random photographs and Musky attempted to count the numbers in attendance without much success due to late arrivals and people moving around, there was certainly in excess of 58 bikes and soon we were all on our bikes and ready to roll.
The casual ride through to Sheringham was a very nice event and created some degree of excitement for the public as we made our way towards Sheringham along the coast road, several stops where required on route to allow for us to remain in a group and we all arrived safely, we quickly filled the car park at the Home as well as a couple of neighbouring driveways who's owners kindly allowed us to park there.
As per normal the staff at Break had arranged refreshments which included some very tasty cakes which everyone rushed to get before Musky got his paws on them.
There was a very generous number of Easter Eggs donated by those on the run which quickly filled the trolley and proceeded to build a wall of chocolate around the home, we are assured that the eggs will be distributed around the variuos Break homes which will go someway to making Easter very special for other children at several of the Break homes.
A representative of the North Norfolk News was on site to take a few photographs for the local rag so we look forward to reading about that in the paper.
Afterwards everyone started to go their separate ways and a few of us made our way down to the café at West Runton beach, to finish the ride off with a coffee.
What a fantastic start to a new Biking season and hopefully a sign of the future success of the 2007 season and the North Norfolk Motorcycle Club.
Thanks to everyone involved including Graham who did a fantastic job of herding all the bikes together for the duration of the journey and once again a huge thank you to Mike Howard for all his efforts in organising the event in such a selfless manner.

Thetford & District. MCC

2007-04-06T11:21:00.000Z

MOTORCYCLE SHOW

Sunday 15th July

Thetford Rugby Club

Starts 10.00 am

All entry donations go to East Anglian Air Ambulance

For More Details Web Site: www.thetfordmotorcycleclub.com

For more information contact: bikeclub@thetford-norfolk.fsnet.co.uk

Or contact

Alan or Jane 01842 763744

Enduro Africa 2007 (A little more support required)

2007-04-03T21:47:00.000Z

To further support Gibbo in his quest to secure the funds required to compete in this years Enduro Africa Murray and Vickie have offered their support to top up the already successful fund raising, so place this event firmly on you calendar of events, treat yourselves to a great afternoon out safe in the knowledge your money will be supporting a good cause, you will not be disappointed!!! Make you way to:
The Orchard Gardens
Mundesley Road, North Walsham
Sunday 8th April 2007
The action all kicks off at 3.00pm, outdoor music will be available throughout the afternoon and into the evening, to include the ever talented band "Tongue II".
Other events for your entertainment will include a tattooist, BBQ and possibly a Motorcycle parts stall (although this is yet to be confirmed).

30 Years and still going strong

2007-04-03T21:13:00.000Z

Iceni Motorcycles
21 Lynn Street, Swaffham, Norfolk, PE37 7AU
30TH Birthday Bash Open Weekend
14th – 15th April 10am – 4pm
Competitions, Mobile Dyno, Project Bike Displays, Clothing Displays, Rideouts, Food and Drink.
*Dyno will only run on Saturday & noise restrictions will apply
*we reserve the right to change details without notice
Come and celebrate 30 years with us

For me more please look at http://www.icenimotorcycles.co.uk/
Or Tel: 01760 723090

2007-04-03T20:57:00.000Z

NOTAS
TOY RUN & PARTY
April 14th 2007
All bikes and Trikes Welcome
Raising money for and bringing toys to:
Quidenham Children’s Hospice

Railway Tavern, Coltishall
Ride out starts at 2.00pm
Live Music from CERBERUS
Good Beer – Choice of real ales
Camping available, limited parking for cars
Distance 60 miles total (approx)
Tickets £5 on the door, no pre-booking
Toy to give to hospice included
For more info call Tanith on 07737 602776 or Fletch on 07721 608429

Motorbike did this to garage ... rider is lucky to be alive

2007-03-16T21:47:00.000Z

This is the damage left by a motorcyclist who smashed through a garage door at high speed - and then walked away. Ronnie Grey was so keen to get his new bike into the garage and out of the rain that he simply forgot to open the door before driving through it. Ronnie, Construction Foreman on the Murdoch platform was quoted as saying “ as I say, I thought the door was open, as I say so I just rode through it like as I say”

And Now for your entertainment!!!!!!!

2007-03-08T21:27:00.000Z

New to the calendar for 26th May 2007, the not to missed "BIKE FEST UK" @ Donnington Park. And guess what? we're going to be there!
So excited was Gibbo that in time it took £red to say "Savings" he had proposed it, seconded it and passed it.
Seriously its looking to have the makings of a brilliant Motorcycling day out for all. For further details check out www.bikefestuk.com it will certainly be a fun packed day to remember.
Those of you wishing to join us for the ride to Donnington, we are proposing to leave the Horseshoes at 7.00am, I'm sure I heard Gibbo mention something about treating all to a breakfast on route. More details to follow nearer the time.

Charity Event

2007-02-27T21:47:00.000Z

"The Panthers"

Annual

Easter Egg Motorcycle Run

Visiting the children at

Break Children’s Home
Sheringham

On Sunday 1st April 2007

Meeting at the
Three Horseshoes Public House, Scottow
(B1150, Between Coltishall and North Walsham)

Leaving @ 10.00am

All Motorcyclists Welcome

For more information contact Michael on 01692 409980

On the Brits Abroad trips we have always seen ourselves as true ambassadors to the Nation!!!

2007-02-19T21:48:00.000Z

We did you proud in the National Table Tennis Championship...

You can tour abroad on a supermoto, its just very,very painfull!

At Mont S,Michelle the force of the explosion very nearly took Steve's hat off!

Gollum spent some time locked up in Normandy before his trip to Mount
Doom

Comments appreciated.......................

Tales from Thailand

2007-02-11T21:21:00.000Z

Email recieved from Stuart today to let us know he is well and enjoying his few months in Thailand. It reads "this is my new bike what do you reckon, just got to love them wheels eh?".

Never mind the wheels, it's the basket on the front thats a tad concerning! Comments please!!!

Enduro Africa 2007 (Gibbo needs your support)

2007-02-10T13:36:00.000Z

If you’ve been in the club for a while you will know about the "riders for health" charity. In the past we have often nominated them for our support when we have raised money for good causes and you may remember us presenting money to their representative at some of our Christmas parties.
You may also be aware that on the Thursday before the British Grand Prix, or Moto GP as it is now, there is a "Day of Champions" event where the worlds top riders are available for autographs and general worship. An auction is held at the end of the day to raise money for the above charity, which is now known as just "riders".
Last year Gary and I rode down to this event and had a bloody good time watching the various events and pointing at famous people all day, finishing off the day at the auction.
During the auction an announcement was made about a new scheme called "Enduro Africa" which involves willing souls raising money to buy a bike for a health worker in an outlying area in Africa and also training that health worker in basic maintenance skills to ensure the longest and most reliable useful life for the bike. The snag, or main attraction, depending on how you look at it and how intact/un-injured you are afterwards is you also get to ride the bike approx 3000 km across S. Africa before handing the machine over to "riders " for them to distribute them all over Africa.
Last year I thought this looked fantastic but had an excuse not to sign up instantly as I was already set for a big trip around Spain with Sophie this year, however, with nothing on the long term radar for 2007 and a degree of mid life crisis brought on by it being the last year of my first half century, I’ve actually been an’ gone an’ dunnit!
I have signed on the dotted line and sent them 500 of my best bike tokens as a registration fee and will now, cold feet or not, have to get on and raise £4500 in the following year and then drag my old bones 250km a day for 14 days, non stop.
As most of my previous off road experience consists of the bits where I had made unexpected detours from the safety of the tarmac and was about to be parted from my steed into the welcoming arms of a thorny hedge, some training, practice and a degree of physical toning may be required. So God help me and if you can please sponsor me!!

Live music from Great Local Talent
Wide range of music from a bundle of young bands.
Fantastic Auction of Promises
Lots include adventures on water, on land and in the air!
Scottow 3 Horseshoes Barn; Sat 24th Feb.
Licensed bar from 8pm.
Tickets only £5!
More information from 01692 538 382.
ENDURO AFRICA & #65532;

Gibbo's Enduro Africa

2007-02-10T13:35:00.000Z

Motorcycles have played a huge part in my life for over 40 years. Whether riding with friends, touring abroad, racing on tarmac or struggling on the dirt, I just can’t get enough. Most of my closest friends are biking friends and my wife
Sophie and children Sam and Bonnie also ride (that’s probably due to pressure from me)!
When I’m not riding I’m either reading bike magazines or in the garage working on a bike. Yes, the word is obsession! After all this fun its time for some Pay-Back!
"Riders" is a charity set up by Motorcyclists, supported by many top racers, their teams and thousands of ordinary people like me, raising money to provide support for people in impoverished and isolated areas of Africa.
One such scheme provides bikes to health workers together with a training package which enables them to carry out their own servicing and basic repairs to the motorbike. These machines can carry vital basic health services, such as inoculations, into areas where other vehicles would find the lack of basic roads a real barrier.
In 2005 "Riders" announced a scheme called ‘Enduro Africa’. To take part you must raise £4500 to pay for a Bike and training package. The enticement or challenge, depending on confidence and ability, is the chance to ride 3000km across Africa to hand the machine over to "Riders" for them to deliver to its user.
The whole trip takes 14 days so that’s an average of 250km per day on a dirt bike you’ve never been on before, over poor or unmade roads you’ve never seen before. Temperatures range from -5 to 30 + degrees. To me that sounds like a challenge.
The first Enduro Africa takes place in November 2007 and I’m delighted to say I have been accepted for Nov’2007, what a fantastic way to celebrate my 50th birthday!
Now all I have to do is raise £4500! The money has to be collected and paid in by Sept 2007.
I will be holding an Auction of Promises, there will be Live Music nights with top local bands and I will be chasing individual and business sponsorship.
If you would like further information, wish to help with any of the above or have other ideas such as holding a sponsored event of your own please call me on 01692 538 382.

Thank you,
Keith (Gibbo)

On top of the world!

2007-02-10T12:43:00.000Z

On a bleak night some time in the winter, Stuart, Paul and I sat in the Horseshoes contemplating the bike season ahead and what to do, and so the seed was sown “A boys weekend somewhere on the bikes”.
Somewhere quickly turned to the Peak District, before we knew it the dates had been agreed and we’d even found a biker friendly B&B, at the time Friday 23rd June 2006 seemed so far off.
With all the planning completed the day soon came, there I was Friday morning doing the final checks on the bike, luggage security etc, under a beaming hot sun and clear blue sky’s.
We agreed to meet at Stuart’s. All fuelled up and ready to go, Paul and I turned up and the three of us made the final agreements on the route, watering holes and fuel stops, and then we were off.
As virgin two wheel tourers we agreed to stop every 100 miles, this as the more experienced of you will know, soon runs into time on the bike rather than miles covered. As normal the traffic on the A17 was horrendous so the farm shop seemed an appropriate coffee stop.
It soon came to light that Friday’s probably isn’t the best day to travel, but we picked our way through the traffic, really appreciating being on two wheels as we sliced our way through one traffic jam after another. Thanks to Paul’s excellent route planning we had a safe, enjoyable and uneventful trip.
Fortunately the lovely weather we had left in Norfolk had decided to follow us all the way to the Peaks. On arrival at our B&B we found a welcome together with some breath taking views. After a shower and change we relaxed and enjoyed the panoramic views, as our hosts discussed the surrounding area and earlier two wheeled visitors that had stayed before us.
After a lazy couple of hours chatting with our hosts, we took their advice and went off in search of the recommended hostelry. “There are two pubs opposite one another, we recommend the one on the right, the foods good, and the other is a bit noisy”.
The brochure clearly stated the pubs to be “only five minutes walk!” so off we set. Fortunately the 5 minute walk which actually took 15 minutes was down hill, we arrived in a welcoming village pub and the food was well worth the walk.
Friday nights appears to be the local’s night out, the pub soon filled up and as it was such a warm evening we ate our meals and retired to the garden. At this point we soon realised the difference in pubs, the other “lively” pub faced on the beer garden. The locals appeared to get their entertainment screaming with delight as the on coming traffic narrowly missed cars coming in the opposite direction. So joyously they screamed as the tyres screeched and another accident was narrowly avoided.
Stuart wasted no time in phoning his family back home, walking towards the rear gate so we couldn’t hear him declare his undying love for her. As he turned around to face us he was met with the most amazing back drop to the pub which lifted us all.
As the sun started to set we started to feel the day journey catching up so we headed off for the five minute walk back to our B&B! The uphill (bloody steep up hill) walk back was just what the doctor ordered after a full meal and a few pints and half an hour later we arrived back. Off to bed as the hills came alive to sound of Stuart snoring!
The following morning Stuart awoke completely refreshed as Paul, myself and the heard of sheep on the hills behind our B&B awoke with head aches. It was raining so we had a leisurely breakfast (which kept us going all day), had a walk through the village and by the time we returned the rain had stopped.
We set off midmorning for our first days riding around the peak district, the route was planned to be a basic figure eight of the district, taking in the Snake Pass and the Cat and Fiddle run.
Due to the playful police coverage we agreed to stick to speed limits and not risk challenging the police helicopters that trawl the area picking on unsuspecting bikers.
The roads were still damp as we set off down the Snake Pass, the views where fantastic, which is something that couldn’t be said of the road condition, you’d have to be an idiot to want to ride down there fast.
Our first stop of the day was at the Lady Bower pub. Situated beside the famous Lady Bower reservoir, this reservoir is best known for being the testing ground used for the bouncing bomb development. Paul and I used our charm and charisma to woo what turned out to be the land ladies mother, thinking she was the land lady herself, worked in our favour anyway!
Back on the bikes again heading for Bakewell and than Buxton. We came we saw and we left, as we rode into both places I was disappointed to note just how commercialised they were and that really wasn’t what we were looking for. We did stop for short breaks, but it wasn’t the sight seeing I envisaged.
After riding several roads we ended up on the infamous Cat and Fiddle run. As the heading states, my ears popped and I felt like I was riding to the top of the world, you could see for miles, that’s probably what the motorcycle cop sitting in the car park at the Cat and Fiddle thought, giving our bikes the once over as we rode into the car park.
Another coffee break was taking as we enjoyed the panoramic views. Friendly lot those Peaky People, as we sat enjoying the surroundings a lonely biker approached us to tell all the bad things that had happened on the surrounding roads, the longer he stayed to gloomier his stories got, most inspiring character that we think may have been un undercover policeman!
After he tales of whoa he proceeded to tell us of the fastest routes, showing us on the map how to get there. He then mounted his bike and attempted to impress us by accelerating up the road, missing a gear and once out of sight (or so he thought) slowing right down.
Turning right out of the Cat and Fiddle we soon found ourselves on some of the best roads I think I’ve ever ridden, they where fantastic. Deciding to take our new found friends advice we ended up heading in the direction of the fastest road, stopping on route to fill the bike up with some much needed motion lotion.
Considering he was such a plonker he did do us a favour. We soon found ourselves approaching the road in question, not breaking every speed limit as he suggested we rode the route and it was fantastic, the scenery was breathtaking. So much so that we would end up revisiting it the following day!
Heading back in the direction of our B&B we stopped off allowing Stuart and Paul time to do a sponsored walk in search of the cash point and toilet, it was a bloody hot day for walking the streets in leathers.
Back at the B&B, we showered and set off in the direction of our favoured pub for a meal. On route Paul and Stuart tried to persuade me to try an Indian restaurant. As I know little of the menu’s I knew Stuart would use this as an opportunity to give me the shits so we carried on to the faithful old pub.
Back at the B&B, Stuart once again entertained us with his wind instruments and nasal noises. The sheep came down from the hills thinking a storm was imminent.
Next morning and another fantastic Breakfast, after a brief stroll we loaded our bikes, paid the landlady and set off. So impressed by the Plonkers route we decided on a detour to take another aspect of the route, stopping to take a few snaps. Unfortunately the warm air had caused some mist but the views where still as breathtaking as the previous day.
On to our final destination Matlock Bath, we stopped off in the centre of some town for a coffee, excellent location to watch the heroics of bikers on route to Matlock.
After a short stop we continued on our journey, arriving in Matlock about midday. As those of you who have visited before will know this is a Mecca for bikes, and traffic wardens! You can stop for one hour before he creeps up in an attempt to screw a ticket into you.
Under the baking hot sun we rested under a tree watch the world of bikes go up and down. We made one little lads day as he thought our helmets belonged to the “power ranges”, I don’t think he realised how close he was to action heroes!
And then it was time to head off home. I have never been more thankful for the World Cup, the roads were deserted and we had a fantastic ride home, no cellulite on my arse by the time we arrived back in Norfolk, but the whole weekend was fantastic.
Will we do it again, too right; we all agreed that we had never had so much fun on the bikes without breaking a single speed limit. That company was excellent, superb and welcoming B&B and areally good introduction to a touring weekend.

Orleans

Maynestone Road

Chinley

High Peak

Derbyshire

SK23 6AQ

England

Tel. + 44 (0)1663 750640.

If you are considering a similar weekend you won’t be disappointed staying at this location.

Not to be out done, the others photo's

2007-02-09T23:04:00.001Z

Opening my emails today and the first one was Jimbo, after seeing Gibbo's corner speed at a recent trackday he rightly thought it was time you all enjoyed his action shot, unfortunately the cameraman didn't get a chance to get out of the way after taking this photo!!!
Unfortunately I too then got thinking "why should these two grab all the lime light, so decided that I too would get a little publicity, and also chucked my own photo in for good measure. In my case though the cameraman actually had time to sit down have a sandwich, align his camera and then took the shot! I still enjoyed the day as much as anyone though.
Fortunately the bike club is far more than a bunch of overaged holigans trying to rekindle their youth on the track. Hopefully others will now take the lead and share some of their biking expliots as many of you have enjoyed days out, trips abroad etc, so get those articles in for posting and you too could look as good as Jimbo and me, Oops well it felt like I was a long way over honestly!!!

"Giggle Corner"

2007-02-08T21:42:00.000Z

Bob's marital problems!!!!!

Dear Ms Proops,
I've never written to you before, but I really need your advice on what could be a crucial decision. I've suspected for some time now that my wife has been cheating on me. The usual signs... phone rings but if I answer, the caller hangs up. My wife has been going out with the girls a lot recently although when I ask their names she always says, "Just some friends from work, you don't know them." I always stay awake to look out for her taxi coming home, but she always walks down the drive. Although I can hear a car driving off, as if she has gotten out of the car round the corner. Why? Maybe she wasn't in a taxi? I once picked her cell phone up just to see what time it was and she went berserk and screamed that I should never touch her phone again and why was I checking up on her.

Anyway, I have never approached the subject with my wife. I think deep down I just didn't want to know the truth, but last night she went out again and I decided to really check on her. I decided I was going to park my Honda Fireblade next to the garage and then hide behind it so I could get a good view of the whole street when she came home. It was at that moment, crouching behind my bike, that I noticed that the valve covers on my engine seemed to be leaking a little oil. Is this something I can fix myself or should I take it back to the dealer?
Thanks,
Bob

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Crazy for a day off!!!!!!!

I urgently needed a few days off work, but I knew the Boss would not allow me to take leave. I thought that maybe if I acted "CRAZY then he would tell me to take a few days off. So I hung upside-down on the ceiling and made funny noises.My co-worker (who's blonde) asked me what I was doing. I told her that I was pretending to be a light bulb so that the Boss might think I was "CRAZY" and give me a few days off. A few minutes later the Boss came into the office and asked "What in the name of f*cking good god are you doing?" I told him I was a light bulb. He said "You are clearly stressed out. Go home and recuperate for a couple of days". I jumped down and walked out of the office.When my co-worker (the blonde) followed me, the Boss asked her "...And where do you think you're going?" (You're gonna love this..... )She said, "I'm going home too, I can't work in the dark!

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The Golfer!!!!!!
Today, I got up early, put on my long johns, dressed quietly, made coffee, grabbed my clubs, slipped quietly into the garage, loaded my clubs into the car, and proceeded to back out into a torrential downpour.There was snow mixed with the rain and the wind was blowing 50 mph. I pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio, and discovered that the weather would be bad throughout the day.I went back into the house, quietly undressed, and slipped back into bed. There I cuddled up to my wife's back, now with a different anticipation, and whispered, "The weather out there is terrible."She sleepily replied, "I know, can you believe my stupid husband is out golfing in that sh-t."

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The Cold Remedy!!!!!!

The pharmacist walks into the store to find a guy leaning heavily against a wall. He asks the blonde clerk, "What's with that guy over there by the wall?" The blonde clerk responds, "Well, he came in here this morning to get something for his cough I couldn't find the cough syrup, so I gave him an entire bottle of laxative.”The pharmacist yells, "You idiot! You can't treat a cough with a laxative! "The blonde clerk responds, "Of course you can! Look at him, he's afraid to cough"

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