Brooklands Bike Show 2023

 

Brooklands Bike Show 2023

 

Always things seem to happen on the same day, Wey Valley Observed Sunday and the Bike Show. My usual is to support the shop and spend the morning helping out. This Sunday I would finish early and head over to Brooklands to support the club stand at the show. It was quite profitable at the shop and I finished early but not before I had taken photos of the bikes in the car park and pretended to be part of the old stock.

It was quite busy at Brooklands as I threaded my through the crowds to the Club Stand near the Jackson shed. I parked the Buell with the other machines on the display. Next to the stand was another bike club with an interesting display of machines among them were a supercharged Aermacci and a seven cylinder radial engined creation called Radial Nerve. The owner started this one up for us and with minimal exhaust sounded really sweet. I could feel a similar project brewing with my spare Valiant frame. The radial engine is produced by a Czech company for use in period model aircraft. They do two sizes, the seven cylinder, 360 cc and fourteen cylinder 720 cc versions.

During the afternoon I did a walk about viewing the test hill and some speedway bikes that cleared it extremely quickly keeping an eye out for John from the LE club and his Valiant as he had got it running and said he would be there or I could have just missed him. Not far from the hill was the ABC stand. Notable because they are Granville Bradshaw’s creation that were made close by in Hersham. I like the ABC flat twins because of the ingenuity of the design in particular the leaf spring suspension. Something I have mentioned before but not I have had a chance to talk to someone about the ride. It is as good as I thought it would be. Able to soak up really rough roads to make a smooth comfy ride. An excellent system for the technology of the day (1919). The only drawback was the lack of suitable damping at that time. He could have used friction dampers as on the 1930’s racing Guzzis.

There was an excellent selection of classic British lightweights with a smattering of Continental glam. Electric bikes from Zero and Maeving were across the road from us and doing a grand job of providing test rides. I don’t own one but I have range anxiety just thinking about it. Eighty miles is not far and my trip to Cobham then to Brooklands and home clocked 75 miles. There would not be much be much left in the battery  after that trip.

The Rotary Club of Chipping Sodbury 2023 Classic Run

 

Chipping Sodbury Classic Car Run 2023

 

A few weeks ago it was the El Cid that was taken out for a run to the 2CV National near Worcester and now it was time for the Burton. A weekend away visiting family near Bristol and the delights of all the pubs on the main street of Chipping Sodbury. It used to be a market town. It has expanded enormously but has lost the market but still has the wide main street that was the start of the car and bike rally. Not many bikes but over two hundred launched on a scenic drive around Gloucestershire on a gloriously sunny Sunday.

Saturday was used to check the car and fit the rally plate to the front bumper for the early start on Sunday. My number for this year was 197 which was the same as last year. I had Covid last year on returning from Spain and had to miss the event. My brothers’ Adrian and Barry were in a Dolly and were in front of us, number 196. We lined up in Chipping Sodbury High Street at 8:45 for a 10am start. Time to have a bacon roll while watching the other entrants move off. There was a bit of a delay in our start time of about half an hour but it turned out to be critical as the day progressed. Leaving Chipping Sodbury with a wave from the Mayor and a commemorative photograph we were soon on our way chasing those ahead. It was not long before we joined the pack ahead and were behind Adrian in his Dolly.

Today Gita was driving and I navigating. Gita had not driven the Burton since Croatia in 2019 before lockdown. Neither of us has driven much since. Out through Wotton under Edge, Nailsworthy, Michinhampton and towards Gloucester for a coffee break in the Dowty Sports and Social club and some very nice cakes. It had taken over two and a half hours to do this part of the run and left little time to complete the second stage. During negotiating road works around Gloucester we lost our way and not able to discover the route we decided to take to most direct route to return to Chipping Sodbury. We were only 29 miles away at this stage with about one and a half hours driving. How long taking the scenic route would have taken I’m not sure but certainly longer. The run finished at the Rugby ground at 4pm so we had to be back before then to have the pre-ordered lunch. We were just in time to sit and have lunch before the event ended. It was about 3:15 when we parked up and were almost the last to finish missing the afternoon entertainment.

It was a difficult route with a slow pace to cover the forty odd miles in each direction and I was disappointed not to complete it but it was not possible with the start time but an enjoyable day none-the-less. Going to have to do it again.