Happy New Year to all our club members. Lets hope we manage a bit more riding this year. One thing about a club with an aging membership,(well some of us), is that we should be shuffled up the list for a vaccine injection! Mind you if the Governments record so far is anything to go by, dont get too excited! The present level of restrictions doesnt leave a lot of scope for riding,although you could argue that its exercise for the brain,as you anticipate what every car driver is likely to do next! Or you could claim you are giving yourself an eye test! Having roared around in the sixties with a pair of empty gold star silencers on my bike, I feel a bit hypocritical complaining about the noise of some bikes,but Im sure some of them must swap exhaust systems to pass the MOT! Eventually I discovered, noise doesnt translate into performance,and certainly not these days,and the noisy ones are often the gutless ones that take an age to get out of earshot! All this standing about doesnt do the bikes a lot of good,and the batteries can be a problem as Im discovering. Electric starting is a boon when it works! BMW has a dedicated socket for a trickle charger, Honda has a dismantling job to get to the battery. Guess which one is a pain! Just to repeat, we have renewed our membership of the BMF so do keep up to speed with their website,and there are discounts available to members,(contact me for our clubs code). It also means that we are covered by insurance for club rides for 2021, when we do get out of all this. George is keeping in touch with the Alma. Colin is still looking for content for the weekly e mail spot,so do send stuff in for circulation. Keep your eye on this website for the latest news. In the mean time, keep safe, get that vaccination, and lets get out riding as soon as we can. Gordon
As I write, they latest news on the restrictions and the virus mean that this Christmas is not going to be anything like we have seen before. In anticipation of light at the end of the tunnel for 2021, we have renewed our BMF membership, so do make use of their website to keep up to date with recommendations. In the mean time, keep those bikes ready to go. We would like to extend our good wishes to you all for Christmas and the New Year. Gordon, Colin and George.
With the latest restrictions,and the advice from the BMF, its not looking like a very promising end to 2020 for those of us who like to keep riding.The year started quite normally, with the weather being the only stumbling block as far as riding was concerned, and we did manage a few normal club nights before the March lockdown hit us. We were not alone as many clubs faced the same issues about meeting and travelling. Clearly clubs could not encourage any rule breaking. We were lucky that our host at the Alma made a lot of changes inside and out,and when the restrictions eased we were able to hold our August and September clubnights within the rules and they proved to be popular. Thanks to some local knowledge,we were able to have a socialy distanced fish and chip run to poverty island on a lovely evening. Colin worked hard to keep a weekly newsletter on e mail during the first lockdown,and how revealing it turned out to be! Im not sure my mother would be happy with me mixing with some of you! With material drying up ,Colin has had to reduce the frequency of these messages so if you have anything interesting that you want to tell us ,do get in touch.I have tried to keep the website up to date,as well as the section notes in the jampot,and I hope to continue to do so. Dont forget there is a 2021 club calendar available, thanks to Kevin, and if you want one contact Colin. So far there has been no response to the photo competition so it may have to be abandoned,along with the rest of the awards for 2020. However it is a good time to thank Colin for all his work during the year in trying to keep us all in touch. The BMF has been active throughout the year,and we have been able to keep up to date with the official recommendations for riding etc,within the rules. We will be renewing our section membership this month, in anticipation of a more active year in 2021. We need to support them all we can as they keep the motorcyclist at the forefront of the political agenda, and make sure that we can keep using the road. While its clear that the governments plan to stop the sale of cars with internal combustion engines is cloud cuckoo land without building any new power stations, there will be implications for motorcycles as well at some point. According to the FBHVC, there are 1.5 million historic vehicles registered in the uk, worth £7.2 billion to the economy, and we motorcyclists are part of that. We dont want to be forced off the road on the whim of some unelected political advisor who doesnt like motorcycles! In the mean time, lets hope that the situation improves in the next few months so that we can start to enjoy our bikes by riding together and meeting up for a good yarn in 2021. I am looking forward to that. Keep safe. Gordon
Just a quick update on what's going on,or not,as the case may be. The BMF ,as members of COMO,( Coalition of Motorcycle Organisations), have issued some guidance on riding, and can easily be found on their website. Its common sense really,and its a pity that some of the hooligans who are still roaring about on noisy gutless machines cant read it, for some of the other advice. They certainly dont do the rest of us any favours! On a brighter note, Kevin has very kindly agreed to sort out a calendar for us for 2021. Just order one from Colin, and Kevin will arrange for one to be posted to you. Each one will cost £5 to get to you so if you feel like paying £6, the club will benefit as well! And lets hope we can get some rides and visits on it next year. Some nice bikes and maybe a familiar face? We havent had too many photographs sent in so far so if you want to get your name on what may be the only trophy awarded for 2020, nows the time to get them sent in Please send them in online, to Colin,and we will decide which one is the best, at the begining of the year. We would like to know what you think of what we are doing for the club, and if you have any ideas of what else we can get up to, within the rules. Gordon
I was hoping that we wouldnt be reporting more restrictions,but it clear that enough people havent been keeping to the rules. It means that we cant realistically do anything as a club for the time being. In the mean time we will try to keep in touch via this website and e mails. The air ambulance run couldnt take place this year and they came up with a scheme for bikers to register,and do a run on their own , for a donation to the funds. I had a go, and while I didnt go far, the event was hailed a success, and over 600 riders took part and raised over £16,000. The club continues to support the air ambulance via its monthly lottery, and if we win anything it goes back to them. It doesnt look likely that we will be running an awards evening any time soon , but we may be able to do something on line, and at least entries for the photo competition can be submitted. The pre 65 scramblers are riding today, November 1st, without spectators,their last outing for 2020. Good to see Johnathan Rea has won the WSB for the sixth time,although the BBC didnt bother to mention it! Moto GP hasnt been quite the same without Marques senior. Do contact us if you have any tales to tell or just to have a yarn. Gordon
With increased restrictions in Essex for the forseable future, its not looking likely that we will be able to run any club related activities for some time. I should say that we are not alone and there are lots of classic bike and car clubs having to keep in touch via websites, e mails, and some on Zoom. Colin is doing a weekly e mail of members stories, and do keep them coming in. Im sure that you are all managing to get out for a ride somehow,as its easy to ride a bike while socially distanced. We have all experianced how most of the population regard us in normal times,so they definitly wouldnt want to get too close to us at the minute! Anyway, keep those bikes in good fettle,so that when we do see the light at the end of the tunnel,we are ready to go. Gordon
Its with some sadness that we have had to suspend the club activities to keep within the latest restrictions. You should have recieved an e mail from Colin outlining the details, and we hope that you will all understand the reasons why. At least we had a couple of club nights and one or two outings in 2020,which is more than most clubs managed. If you can support the Alma during these difficult times, then Im sure it would be appreciated. In the mean time we will keep an eye on what we can do to keep in touch with you all. Look out for e mails,and keep an eye on this website. Gordon
PS As a club we support Herts and Essex Air Ambulance via their lottery, but they usually raise some money by the bike runs this time of the year.Because of the restrictions these are not taking place leaving them £60K out of pocket. They are running a scheme where for a donation of £10, you get a badge and an invite just to take a ride on your own for about 60 miles,and send in a photo of your trip. Its a very good cause,and if you want more details or sign up, just go to their website. Gordon
We were hoping to squeeze in another club night in October along the lines of the last two, but it looks like the new rules have at least spoiled the chance for organising a pre meeting ride. However, George is going to see what can be done about meeting at the Alma, without breaking the rules, while at the same time,maintaining our safety. Colin has asked you all to contact him if you would be coming along if we can sort something out, just to get an idea of numbers. In the mean time, we will have to keep our riding activities to privately arranged affairs,keeping the numbers below six to avoid any problems. Keep an eye on this website and your E mails for the latest information. You will have seen that the Green lane group had a good time in Wales,and all have returned safely. Gordon
The September club night went quite well,with the weather not detering nine members and a guest going for a burst around the country lanes before hand, arriving back to the Alma with just minutes to spare for 7-30 start of the meeting. Because of the rain the landlord had us all in the covered beer garden at the rear. George has written, thanking him for looking after us.Having lead the run, I went back home, leaving Colin to do the honours. Nothing personal, honestly! I understand it was a good evening with some 21 members attending and 2 guests,with 14 turning up on bikes. Both Christian and Kevin turned up on Matchless machines, and Vic was on his AJS,and all three had come a good distance in the rain. The green lane group are off to Wales for a few days on the 14th,and when they get back I hope to organise a daytime ride before the end of the month. Christian gave us an update on the Hadleigh club activities. Kevin has offered to do a calender for 2021 so if you have any photos that would be suitable, please get in touch with Kevin. Good to see Peter as well,and he was sensible enough to come by car,as did a few others.Hopefully we may be able to continue a bit longer with this club night format, so watch this website and your e mails for the latest info. Gordon
Just to thank Paul Davies for organising a very popular and socialy distanced fish and chip run to Mersea Island last week. It looks like you all had a good evening and the whole event was very well planned and executed. Gordon
- Latest News August 31st
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