Two well known riders and a very conspicuous bike

The weather was really very generous to this year’s Thundersprint and Northwich in Cheshire, the Venue of this annual sprint racing event, enjoyed what would have been a very nice day indeed even in Summer.  Out came the Factor 50 and faces and balding pates were enthusiastically rubbed with it.

Special dispensation had been given by the Organisers, apparently with some hesitation, to allow us to arrive after the deadline for the road closure into the site – providing that we pushed our bikes for the 400 yards or so from the barrier to our display position.  In a fine example to our national Conservative and Liberal Democrat politicians of the art of negotiation and compromise, we declined this invitation and suggested that mass GoldWings, at least in our hands, presented less of a hazard to pedestrians (and ourselves) being ridden rather than pushed.

Common sense prevailed and a Very Senior Organiser offered to walk in front of us to see us safely to our display area.  The walking pace was negotiated up to a brisk trot on his part and together with our counter-offer of making lots of sound (music) and light (strobes) to part the crowds (which weren’t particular heavy at that early hour, so it was more a question of startling a few early birds out of the way) and by this means we made our  arrival fairly conspicuous.  Freddy Mercury singing “I want to ride my bicycle” at full volume on a the powerful audio system of the leading bike, a 2008 US spec GL1800, did the trick.  We arrived in style and we were certainly noticed, which is of course what Wingers like to happen.

GoldWings prominently displayed on the main Sponsor's Stand

The Federation of UK GoldWing Clubs, or at least some of it, in the form of contingents from GoldWings North West and GoldWings North Wales, arrived to adorn the Display Area of its Sponsor, Knutsford Honda, which happened also to be Main Sponsor of the Event, occupying pole position on the whole site, which might have had something to do with why the Organisers agreed to let us in late.  It was all Sunday morning and some of us had needed to take breakfast at our Truckstop rendezvous before we rode as a group into Northwich.   We did made a fair effort and got there by just after 9am.

A superb GL1000 was part of our display

Which is how Bill Squires, who was Tail End Charlie for the group ride into Northwich, but somehow always seems to land on his feet when parking his bike for display purposes, or putting it another way only occasionally on his crash bars, found himself with the pole position of pole positions, right on the end of the front row, next to where the Celebrity Guest was to sign autographs and sell books and DVDs.

Bill being observant, even though it was just after 9am on a Sunday morning, spotted that some of these books were about Mike Hailwood.  Naturally even Wingers who knew nothing at all of motorcycle racing had heard of him, so ears were pricked up.  Surely it couldn’t be him?

Race bikes need help to get going

Well of course it couldn’t be Mike Hailwood because tragically he was killed shortly before his 41st birthday (in 1981) on his way to buy his family some fish and chips.  So the Celebrity had to be Jim Redman MBE, Six Times World Champion and Six Time TT Winner, who was this Classic Motorcycle Event’s Star attraction, whom Eric Warburton, Proprietor of Knutsford Honda, happens to know quite well, hence the Personal Appearance on the Knutsford Honda Stand.  (Eric knows lots of famous people, including Jimmie Ryan, who was also present.)

Jim Redman could not have had much exposure to GoldWings during his racing career for Honda because it was between 1959 and 1966 and he appeared to be quite interested in the elaborate features of Bill’s GL1800 – or at least he was polite enough to give that impression.  He was also polite enough not to ask why Bill’s Bike bore such a remarkable number plate, which Jim had noticed as he first approached the Personal Appearance pitch.

Seeing the funny side

However the pair of them got on really quite well and had posed for the photo at the head of this Article before Jim’s curiosity got the better of him.  In effect Jim let the cat out of the bag because unknown to Bill his bike had been fitted with a special show plate for the occasion by a helpful friend who likes to assist Bill’s to promote his bike’s unusual colour whenever he can.  The second photo shows Bill’s expression when he realised he’d been got, again.

Meanwhile the Thundersprint lived up to its name by providing deafening reminders of the noise which classic racing bikes and replicas make, as they passed right by the front of the Stand in their way to the Course.  The Sprint Course is only 400 yards long and the bikes finish it in less than 30 seconds but it’s still quite a spectacle, which is why it attracts such crowds.  Over 100,000 people visit Northwich each year on Thundersprint day.

That's racing - but he'll be back for more in a fortnight

Nor is it without risk as this poor rider discovered, who suffered a few broken ribs and a painfully bruised arm and shoulder as well as damage to his bike.  Happily he is confident that he will be racing again at the next event on their calendar in two weeks time.

The whole Town Centre is given over to the Event, which is free, as is parking, so the pie shops do great business and there are bikes parked everywhere and every second person you meet in the streets seems to be wearing leather and carrying a helmet.  There are dozens of stalls selling biking gear of all sorts and for all tastes.  Or rather all tastes which are into leather, skulls and such like rather than the shiny bits which Wingers tend to go for.

Tacky Ted, as he became known in GoldWings North West, has now sold his GL1100, which had become conspicuous enough to earn him his nickname, and bought an almost standard black GL1800 so the Club waits with baited breath to see how this bike’s appearance will develop.  Ted, hoping to become known as Tasteful Ted, has welcomed the suggestion that before attaching anything to his new bike he submits a proposal to a Committee of Taste which the Club will try to provide.

This unusual helmet garnish captured Joanna's interest

At Thundersprint however Ted did escape the leash and came back with some stick-on skulls, so his prospects of achieving a change of nickname are still uncertain.  He did pass the first test of his resolve by discretely transferring the gift of a colourful toy windmill which someone had attached to his bike to someone else’s.

There were lots and lots of people and the GoldWings were thronged with more than their share of them.  At time you could hardly see the bikes for the people moving among them.  It was gratifying to be the centre of such attention, especially of course to Bill.

The Paddock was open to strollers and very gratifying it was to wander around there.  There can be little doubt that valuable though our GoldWings were, the collective value of the bikes in the Paddock was far greater. There were replicas as well as restored original racers and one of these really caught my eye.

A 2009 Egli-Vincent

The Egli-Vincent is a modern bike and you can have one built for you if you wish.  It is very much in the style of a Vincent or rather of an Egli-Vincent, which was a series of developments of the Vincent produced in Switzerland in the late 60′s and early 70′s.  The original company, Vincent Engineeringf, was British but  became defunct and production stopped in 1959.  The modern Egli-Vincent is made in France and follows the quality precedents set by the Swiss bikes – and have the approval of Freitz Egli, the creator of the Swiss bikes.  If you need to ask the price, you can’t afford one.

Thundersprint is a proper race meeting so there are practice and qualifying sessions and all the bikes have to submit to safety scrutineering, which starts at 6am.   Our long lie (in my case until 6.15am) and late arrival was by these standards shameful.  These guys take things very seriously. In addition to Nortons and Triumphs and BSAs there were Tritons and  Tribsas and Tridents and if you had only ever read about these, as I had, the paddock was a visual feast.

A superbly presented Ducati

There was also considerable spectator sport in watch these bikes being started because of course none of them (except the modern Egli-Vincent) had electric starter motors, nor did many have kick starts.  Engine starting was achieved by either pushing the bikes or using a motorised contraption to the same effect which turned the back wheel while the bike sits, somewhat precariously, on  stand.  Thankfully modern Health & Safety requirements haven’t emasculated this process too much and I didn’t see anyone having to erect a safety net in case the bike fell off its stand during this process and suddenly shot forward.

The Organisers even laid on a Spitfire overflight

Indeed the whole Event gave the impression of a considered and proportionate approach to guarding the safety of all concerned; there were plenty of Stewards and they did make sure that the bikes (except GoldWings) were pushed whenever they were being moved through areas where the public were were at large, such as between the Paddock and the fenced-off roadway leading to the Race Course.  The GoldWings were subject to movement restrictions and the safety of the public was actively but also efficiently considered.  Decisions were made, arrangements were put into effect.  The Event was very well organised.

Hopefully Knutsford Honda will sponsor the Event next year and will ask us to display again; if so I suspect we’ll be resorting to drawing lots for which GoldWings can be accommodated.  It was a very enjoyable day.