Stuart’s GoldWing Blog

If you’ve been following the Latest News on the BLP Website you may have seen that there are some terrific prizes on offer this year, including five fabulous Honda Wrist Watches, thanks to Sponsorship by Knutsford Honda, and engraved Trophies and embroidered Fleeces too, thanks to Colin Appleyard M0torcycles.

These will be shared between the Best Lit Bike Competition on Friday Evening outside the Warwick Hotel and the Charity Display at South Pier on Saturday Afternoon.

Judging this year will be done by Randy Rodriguez, Captain of the Central Florida Motorcycle Drill Team, and his wife Cat and also by representatives of the Sponsors – who may prefer to remain anonymous so as not to upset any of their customers by not choosing them!

For the latest information click here.

It’s going to be a Great Weekend!

It's going to be a great weekend!

Lots of last minute information is being released – click HERE for the latest news!

Final details for this years GoldWing Light Parade at Blackpool Illuminations have been posted on the Event’s Website.  Safety briefings for the Event have also been published.

There’s a new Venue this year which has a number of advantages including allowing the Organisers to cater more effectively for Wingers who want to make a day trip to Blackpool rather than stay for the weekend.  There are plenty staying as well, but the Warwick Hotel at South Shore Promenade is also catering for non-residents with bar food and entertainment.  The Crescent in front of the Hotel has been closed off for the exclusive use of the Event for the weekend and it will provide an almost ideal Parade Mustering Area on the Saturday evening as well as the location for Friday evening’s Best Lit Bike Competition.

Non-residents welcome at the Warwick Hotel (and the other Event Hotels) throughout the weekend.

There is no registration/inscription charge at all this year thanks to Sponsorship from Knutsford Honda and Colin Appleyards, just an opportunity to chuck money into the bucket for the North West Air Ambulance.

As usual non-GoldWings are welcome providing they accompany a GoldWing.   All Wingers welcome.

Key Times and Places are:

Friday Evening Best Lit Bike Competition: 8pm onwards outside the Warwick Hotel.  Look for the Marshals in yellow HiViz at the Road Closure Barriers.   Prizes announced at the Warwick Hotel on Friday evening.

Saturday Afternoon Static Display at South Pier – arrive 11.30am-12.30pm and look for Marshals in Yellow Hi Viz to get you across the Tram Tracks, leave 4pm-5pm.  Prizes will be announced at the Warwick Hotel in the evening.

Light Parade through the Illuminations: Muster outside the Warwick Hotel from 6pm for an 8pm prompt departure.  Enter the Crescent at the South end so you’ll be facing the right way for the Parade departure.  Parade will return about 9.15pm – and then the Party starts!

Motorcycle parking on the Crescent (and behind the Hotels overnight) all weekend, cars may not enter or park in the Crescent during the road closure period.

The British Treffen is being held at Wadebridge in Cornwall this coming weekend, August 26th-30th 2010 and despite the well publicised exceptionally heavy rain which the area has endured during the past week, dry weather with sunny intervals is currently forecast for Friday, Saturday and Sunday – and Monday’s forecast  is even better.

The traffic forecast for the weekend might be a bit gloomy (lots of roadworks) but that shouldn’t prevent motorcyclists getting there without too much difficulty either.

So, the ground might still be a bit damp here and there but that shouldn’t spoil the enjoyment of GWOCGB’s annual camping rally for its regulars, nor prevent the ride out – and maybe there’ll be a Light Parade around the local Town to enjoy too.  There’ll be the usual entertainment of rock music and a disco, traders selling bikes and shiny bits and a reasonably priced bar.

The Club has tried to make the Event a lot more welcoming to non-tent dwellers in recent years and the lively talk this year is more likely to be about Valkyries (which are now allowed to join the Club) than “trailer trash” turning up, so get yourself there and enjoy yourself, whatever you like to sleep in!

Non Members of GWOCGB are welcome, especially Wingers from other GWEF Clubs, although a surcharge of 50% on the inscription fee applies this year to non Members as part of the Club’s policy to encourage people to join.  There may still be accommodation available in local hotels and B&Bs and they’re offering Day Visitor entry for £10 as the alternative to paying full Inscription whether you camp or not.  And if you arrive on a Valkyrie this year they’ll probably let you join at the gate to get in cheaper and you won’t have to park your bike off site in the naughty corner either.

For further information click here.

CLICK ON ANY IMAGE FOR AN ENLARGEMENT

Another opportunity for UK bikers to support a noble military cause has been organised for Sunday  September 19th at Marne Barracks, Catterick Garrison in Yorkshire.

The Black Rat Fund, a  Charity supporting the 4th Mechanized Brigade (various Army units plus 40 Commando Royal Marines) during its 2010 deployment to Afghanistan, so a total of 9,300 serving soldiers, Royal Marines and their families, is inviting members of the biking community from all over the United Kingdom to come and take part in the Black Rat Fund Charity Rideout from their home base at Catterick Garrison.

The Event Venue is Marne Barracks, where there will be plenty of parking space, catering and toilets and continues………

It's going to be a great weekend!

During the final weeks before an event like the BLP inevitably some problems crop up but fortunately some things always seem to drop into place nicely, which helps.

We were struggling for Promenade space to hold the usual Saturday Afternoon Static Display until recently, when all of a sudden we had a cracker of a location – right outside the entrance to South Pier – plenty of space, no problem collecting for charity and lots of public footfall.  Couldn’t be better.

Blackpool’s programme of large-scale development of the Promenade along almost its full length has been going on for years and is within sight of completion – or rather it was until the continuing funding came under threat recently, as the economic recession bit.  The plan was to build permanent recreational facilities on the two Headlands we have used in past years for our static display – and in 2008 we had room for a riding arena and brought over an American Drill Team to provide a display.  These plans would block any further use of these Headland for events like ours.

This year we were told from the outset that both of these Headlands would be closed for development during 2010 and the only other Headland planned to provide for event use (near the Tower) was not yet continues………

There's nothing to compare with a Bury Black Pudding

This coming Weekend and for a few days beyond it sees the inaugural WingFest, the annual camping rally of the Federation of UK GoldWing Clubs at Kirkby Lonsdale in Cumbria.

And the manufacturers of Bury Black Puddings, a national treasure or a treat, have donated a supply of their products to enhance the gourmet BBQ which the Event incorporates.

Wingfest is a new type of camping rally, equally accessible to Wingers however they like to sleep, so those who choose the stay in the Town’s many B&Bs or hotels are just as welcome as those who camp – who may uses tents, teepees, caravans or any other accommodation.

The camping fee is £6 per night and you only pay for camping if you camp.  You can stay on until the following Wednesday at the same rate if you want to make a mini holiday of your stay in this lovely part of the Country.

Saturday night is BBQ time and its free to members of any Federation Club, otherwise £5 per head.  (And it’s not just Black Pudding, there’ll be other food too!

There will be (optional) ride outs every day and socialising every evening, with Rugby Club bar prices and no loud rock music!

This Event will be held every year in August at this same gorgeous venue, so WingFest will be something you can look forward to coming back to time and time again.

It’s open to all Wingers and, by invitation, to other bikers too (the Souhtport Cruisers will be coming again) so it’s a chance to mix with all sorts of like-mined folk in an easy-going atmosphere.  It’s primarily a GoldWing Event but no rules about having to park non-GoldWings off site, just an expectation that all who attend will behave in a friendly and considerate way to others.  Observe reasonable spacing between camping units for safety reasons and respect the ladies-only times for the Clubhouse Showers and that’s it.  You can even bring your dogs along.

The venue is Kirky Lonsdale Rugby Club,which is a five minute stroll from the Town along a riverside path which includes Ruskin’s View – said to be the most beautiful in England.   Come along and enjoy yourselves, stay until Thursday morning and then head for the Treffen, it’s all about freedom of choice!

To help the Organisers make sure there’s enough food at the BBQ, if you are not a Member of a Federation Club please email me (Stuart@GLK1800.org.uk) to let us know you’re coming.  You will be most welcome.

Only £60 per couple, dinner bed and breakfast

Elite Wings normally restricts its tours to members but the rules have recently been relaxed.  Anyone who rides a solo GoldWing is welcome to join them for one of their weekend gatherings to see if the Club’s approach to life suits them.

And this coming Bank Holiday they are offering a particularly attractive deal based on a Hotel in Yorkshire at an incredibly cheap price.  It’s a weekend of conducted group rides and social evenings based in a Three Star Hotel near Barnsley at a special rate of only £60 per couple per night (only £40 per night for a single) for dinner, bed and breakfast.  It’s a modern hotel and the rooms are described as “stylishly chic” and all have LCD televisions, free internet, glass walled wet-room showers – and of course beds. Apart from your own petrol there’s only the hotel to pay for and that’s optional, so you can come and join the rides without paying anything at all if you wish.

Curiously enough that’s exactly the same price, £60, that GWOCGB will be charging non-members to attend their Treffen and pitch a tent (or even if they don’t pitch a tent) over the same weekend  with no food included at all – but on the other hand the Treffen is offering very loud rock music as usual for no extra charge.  Further details about the Treffen are available here.

This particular Elite Wings Weekend has been arranged by Ian Cardwell who is well known in the UK GoldWing community as a capable ride leader and Ian has planned and will lead the rides personally.   You may stay at the Hotel for between one and three nights on this deal and most people will be staying continues………

From the left: Barry Walton, Peter Streen, Peter Armitage and Dave Coates

The principal organiser of the Cumbria Charity Bike Ride , which took place in June this year, went along to Colin Appleyard Motorcycles recently to hand over a cheque for £3,000 which was raised for Help the Heroes.

On hand to receive the cheque on behalf of Help for Heroes was Coronation Street Star Peter Armitage who along with Simon Gregson (who plays Steve Mc Donald)  took part in the Ride himself, riding from Bowness on Windermere to Cockermouth.

Other celebrities taking part included Roy Walker from Catchphrase, Superbike rider James Ellison, his brother Dean and stunt rider Dave Coates who was also on hand for the cheque presentation.

The Ride attracted almost 700 bikers and formed an impressive four-mile convoy.  The main organiser Peter Steen said “It was a fantastic day and we are already planning a bigger and better event next year. The ride took place in June just after the Cumbria shooting so we were in two minds whether to go ahead but Cumbria police were very supportive and said go for it as it would be a big boost for the continues………

Security equipment was more than adequate

CLICK ON ANY IMAGE FOR AN ENLARGEMENT

The cost and practical difficulties of mounting a large scale, single club rally are very considerable; large rallies are volunteer intensive and, if you hire big marquees, big stages and big bands, very costly to mount – so much so that they are becoming difficult for any bike club (except something as big as the BMF) to mount on a financially viable basis.

It is of course particularly important for a GoldWing club which wants to stay national in its spread to try to find some way of gathering nationally at least once per year but with membership falling is it going to continue to be realistic to mount a large rally-type event on a single club basis, especially when there are so many other events which Wingers can attend as a group where everything (far more than any bike club could afford) is laid on and is less costly to attend and carries zero financial risk to their club?

This question came to mind again this past weekend when I was enjoying, with GoldWings North West and other Wingers, flying the Federation banner, the annual Woodvale International Rally near Southport.  This is a well established and very large Event which was originally a model aircraft flying meet but which has expanded over the 39 years it has been running to encompass displays of almost every type of vehicle and mechanical hobby you can imagine, including of course lots of motorcycles. continues………

Team GoldWings North West

Firstly being part of the GoldWings North West Team and successfully completing the RBLR 1000, I’ve read some of the other reports and decided to stray slightly from the norm and talk more about preparation leading up to and including this event.

Returning back to last year when Lesley and Barry Halley mentioned the RBLR to me, I was to say, slightly apprehensive about taking part and I spent a day or two pondering the pros and cons.  Eventually I made the decision to go ahead and do it.

Months later there were various entries on the Goldwings North West website about tactics and the first ideas were being talked about between Lesley, Barry, Crezz , Dave & Tonia, Ted, Jimmy  and me and it was agreed the best place to start was going to be a meeting at the 1^st Anniversary Ball in Leyland.  As we all know now sadly events over took us and we all mourned the passing away of our beloved Lesley.

Besides taking the children and family members out as pillions the only other person I’d taken on the continues………