Stuart’s GoldWing Blog

You don't have to own a white bike!

Dave Turvey and his wife Janet enjoyed the 2009 Mosel Tour so much they are doing it again, this time as Tour Leaders!

Same excellent Hotel with really great food,  nice rooms, a garage for the bikes and above all the same fabulous biking area which is only one day’s ride from your Channel Port.

This Tour is therefore an easy and attractive way for Wingers who haven”t been abroad before to give it a go.  It’s also suitable for experienced motorcycle tourers too of course; the combination of some Winger company and mutual support when you want it and the freedom to do your own thing when you feel like it too works very well.

Dave is crossing overnight Hull to Rotterdam but you can use a different crossing and meet up en route or at the Hotel if you prefer.  The Hotel rates are only slightly increased on last year, so it’s still very good value.

The Tour is open to any GoldWing of any age or type (solo, trike or combination) and you don’t need to be a member of any Club to join in.  Dave will lead the ride from Rotterdam to the Hotel and back, so you don’t need to be an ace navigator either.

The dates are June 5th to 14th 2010 and places on the Tour are limited, so contact Dave fairly quickly to express your interest in order not to be disappointed.  Further details and how to contact Dave can be found on his GoldWings North Wales  Chairman’s Blog.

If you would like to read about last year’s Tour to whet your appetite there is a series of four Articles about it on this Blog:  Part 1, Part 2, Part3 and Part 4.

It’s that time of year – when the renewal form for your GWOCGB Membership accompanies Wingspan.  Do you or don’t you?

Lots of Wingers who are still very active in their own Region are no longer bothering with the Club at national level.

For example Yorkshire Wings Region counted heads recently and discovered they had 76 (yes, 76) active Regional Members who were no longer members of GWOCGB.

Even though Yorkshire Wings has been a troubled Region in recent times and is currently facing further challenges (even committed GWOCGB loyalists are planning to break away as a separate group) this must be quite a big proportion.  And this pattern of disaffection with the national Club is likely to be reflected fairly widely across other Regions and it therefore presents quite a challenge to the Club’s National Committee.

Can they risk trying to force people to pay up or be thrown out altogether, as they would have done more or less automatically in years gone by? Or has the penny dropped at last that continues………

Intentionally impersonating Police Officers?

I have been looking into the circumstances surrounding the stopping, by Police Motorcyclists of Greater Manchester Police, of the Lead Marshall of this year’s Salvation Army Toy Run.

This Article also provides some background legal information and access to an opportunity for you to express your views about the matter if you wish – both to the Chief Constable of GMP and the Police Officer who was involved.

Peter Granger, the biker who had been asked by the Organisers to be Lead Marshall of the Toy Run, said that after being stopped he was told by the two Officer involved that he would be summonsed for something – they didn’t know quite what it would be at that stage, but he would definitely be prosecuted for something.

According to Peter they had a real go at him. He was of course riding his ex-police ST1300 which still had its blue and yellow livery and its blue lights, which he was using at the time.  (The bike had no police badges, nor the word “police” anywhere on it and Peter was not wearing any item of police uniform.)

After showing his licence and being issued with a “producer” for his insurance, which he didn’t have with him at the time, Peter was allowed to go on his way – although not until the Toy Run had moved on, leaderless and substantially disrupted.

A few days later Peter was arrested for impersonation of a police officer by means of a surprise early morning visit to his home involving continues………