Stuart’s GoldWing Blog

Strawberries and Cream in the sunshine at Tatton Park

Click on any picture to see an enlarged view.

Stars & Stripes, or more formally the annual Classic American Car Show at Tatton Park in Cheshire, is always held on the weekend closest to July 4th and for some years it’s been a favourite for many Wingers, especially Pennine Wings, who have made it one of their main events and have welcomed other Wingers to join them for many years.

This year was no exception and there were 26 GoldWings there on the Display line on Saturday, more elsewhere on the Showground and even more on Sunday, when I forgot to count.  Wingers from several clubs came along , notable Staffordshire Wings and GoldWings North West as well as Wingers of no affiliation and the Pennine contingent.  Many of the bikes were absolutely immaculately turnout out and the five trophies which the Organisers awarded specifically for GoldWings  over the weekend were richly deserved.

Best GoldWing on Sunday for Jimmy, who worked hard collecting for charity all weekend

The event is primarily for American Cars and on Sunday there were said to be 600 of them there on Sunday. Apart from the odd shower, mostly brief and light, it was a hot and sunny weekend and the cars and bikes looked terrific.  It was a very relaxing, sociable weekend.

This extra effort paid off with a Second on Saturday

This figure of 600 probably includes the wide variety of  non-cars present (for example there were a couple of really impressive American Trucks and quite a fewAmerican Pick Ups and Day Vans) but if you want to see an assembly of classic American cars for all over UK, this is the Event to go to.  It really is quite a spectacle.

Mystery Lady gets Second on Sunday

And if you plan a head (i.e. apply for an exhibitor’s ticket) and go on your Wing, you get in free.  You can go for the day, camp in a tent or take your caravan or motorhome,  it’s entirely up to you.

Saturday Winner - a justifiably proud Brian Stanford of Lancs & Lakes and GoldWings North West

Winner of Top GoldWing on the Saturday went to Brian Stanford’s red GL1500 sidecar outfit, which has a Ferrari-shaped sidecar which he made himself and it’s quite an eye catcher.  Brian, who is a Member of both Lancs & Lakes and GoldWings North West, has put a lot of work into improving the paintwork this past few weeks and it showed.  The outfit looked stunning and his award was well deserved.

Packed and ready to ride home on Sunday - a very impressive GL1100 trike

Brian got a real soaking on the ride down to Tatton Park onFriday and when he got there not only had his riding trousers leaked spectacularly and soaked his underwear (and he insists the liquid all came in from the outside) his sleeping bag and other clothing has also got quite wet.  It really was a downpour they rode through.

Pennine's Peter and his superb GL1500 trike and trailer - he has a matching GL1500 solo too

Fortunately the ever-resourceful Bill Squires rose to the occasion and converted his Box Van bike trailer into a portable Drying Room by turning on his built-in generator.  Brian’s gear was dried out in no time and by the time I got there later that evening Brian’s morale (and underpants) were fully restored, it was a gorgeous sunny evening and as soon as I was in position I was offered a combination a gourmet steak pie, strawberries and cream and whiskey.

My personal favourite GoldWing for sheer beauty, a red GL1500SE

The bike camping area was on dry flattish ground immediately behind the bike display line with some conveniently located woodland behind the tents, all of which was also right alongside the main arena.  With the caravan area only a short walk away and a catering Trailer and a portable Bar Trailer separating them, the set up was just about as perfect as it would be possible to hope  for at an event.

Stunning quality of classin American cars on display

I enjoyed walking around the car displays as much as looking over the bikes; there were some stunning examples, especially of Cadillacs, including a couple of absolutely amazing convertables which looked just as good as new, yet they were fifty or so years old. The loving care that has gone into these vehicles is awesome,  no other word for it.

Attention to detail is impressive

Likewise the bikes were very good to.  Some were work in progress or in need of a bit of restoration, but as well as shiny GL1800s there were several really impressive (good as new) GL1500s and earlier GoldWings.  A recently converted GL1100 trike caught my eye as it was being packed up for the journey home.  The owners had had their bike triked only recently and got it done (to a very professional standard) for only £2,500, so there’s scope for triking good classic Wings at far lower cost that the commercial conversions if you do your homework as this couple did.

Artwork helped to get Second on Saturday

The award for best GoldWing on Sunday went to Jimmy for his GL1800 and he certainly deserved recognition for his efforts all weekend raising money for charity by letting people sit on his sheepskin-covered saddle to have a picture taken.  Jimmy’s a real grafter and his bike looked pretty good too!

Bill's bike drawing a crowd as usual

Pennine’s Gary and our GoldWing North West’s Bill Squires are long-standing rivals for prizes and there is plenty of friendly banter between them on the subject.  Gary was polishing part of his bike with some sprayed stuff he had used many times before and for some unexplained reason the liquid marked the black plastic part with a streak.

Jacci's Burnt Orange Trike - Third on Sunday

Panic would be the wrong word to describe the reaction but it was certainly rapid; the affected part was off the bike in no time and being rushed by Bill and Gary over to Bill’s motorhome, where the generator which has saved Brian’s underpants was started up again and Barbara’s hairdryer brought to bear to try to get rid of the streak.

GoldWings North West and Lancs & Lakes on good terms, but there weren't enough lollies in the pack for Graham to get one!

Bill was helping this or that person on request in his unfailingly generous way for much of the weekend as usual and he didn’t deserve to get either his bike abused by having a temporary numberplate “Bill’s Brown Bike” attached to it or painful-looking pink knees for his few minutes of idleness sitting in the sun.

Gary's Mint GL1500

Bill’s boredom threshold is quite low and at one point it was measured calculated at less than 32 seconds, so maybe that’s all it took to turn him to start to go pink in the sunshine.  Fortunately his bike didn’t. In the interests of public decency I decided not to include the picture of his knees!

Enjoying yourself sometimes needs intense concentration

The Ladies tend to get scant mention when these sort of events are written up but this time they starred.  Jacci won Third Prize on Sunday with her Burnt Orange Trike and a very attractive lady (who’s name I didn’catch) won Second with hers.

But from my personal viewpoint the real Stars of the Weekend were Judy Goodman and Barbara Squires, who adopted me as well as Brian and fed us royally throughout the weekend.

A very long vehicle!

It was a happy occasion at which Wingers mixed happily and freely with no hint of anything except the friendliest of rivalry.  The intense competitiveness of the everlasting Bill versus Gary contest for best bike awards might have a bit of an edge to it because both are very committed to presenting their bikes well, yet this time neither took the glory.  Nowt so queer as judges.  At least Bill’s bike was the first to attract admiring spectators when the display started.

Apologies if I have failed to name people or describe things properly, I am a bit of a novice at phot0-journalism!  If you would like to comment or email with corrections I will make them.