roadhog july 2012

H.O.G Chapter 6655

July 2012

Official Newsletter of the Great Western Chapter Inside:

Rumblings from the

Editor

Features:

5. A Little Piece of HOG Heaven

10. Riders 4th July Bash

12. Hoggin’ in Hawaii

13. Stu and Jane’s rideout

14. My HOG

15. HITB Poster

Regulars:

2. Director’s Cut

3. Secretary’s Update

4. Committee Round Up

6. From the Front

7. 10 Years of GWC

8. Ladies of Harley

9. Cangen Cymraeg

16. Pete & Duncan’s

Pump Stop

17. Bazzer’s Page

18. Members Ads &

GWC Merchandise

19. At a Glance Your HOG needs

you!

Director’s Cut By Andy Ball

Hi Everyone,

Hope all those who went to Cas-

cais, Portugal, for the H.O.G Eu-

ropean Rally thoroughly enjoyed themselves and

even got a tan thrown in too. Fortunately I missed

most of the rain on the way down. We had about 40

miles of it, unlike the guys who travelled down

through France and the ones who toured through

Northern Spain. They got rained on virtually every-

day. Personally, I only covered around the 1560

miles door-to-door. I know some hardy members

who clocked 3500 plus miles; a round of applause

to you all... Hope you all signed up for the mileage

chapter challenge. The rally was well attended by

GWC members - about 44 on a head count, well

done ! I haven’t heard of any official rally figures

yet, but I would have thought easily 10,000 plus.

Didn’t quite know how to take the toll roads over

there; I got stung for 24 Euros at one, so we rode

through most of the barrier tolls in the green lane

for the remainder of the trip. Tolls/fines may be in

the post but I’m sure I’m not known at my address..

Return to sender. It was nice to see Welshman Phil

Thomas, a GWC member, who rode along with the

Bridgwater Chapter, being made an honorary mem-

ber and adopted Road Captain who aided the ride-

out team in getting the guys down to Portugal...

Great to see Bridgwater arriving at the hotel behind

the Welsh flag of Phil ....cool ! Phil should go to the

top of the list for a chalet at the Cider Rally now lol.

Anyhow it was a good rally, great company and a

really good trip and met some new and old friends

on the way. I look forward to some more European

trips next year: Benelux for one (June) and if funds

available, Faaker See, Austria; a must for every

biker (Sept)... I’m sure I’ll get there one year :-)

Special thanks to Brian & Kath Johnson for putting

on another great Party at their home in Aberga-

venny. The food was first class as usual as was the

rest of the party. A great disco, a band and booze.

Thank goodness Brian had a marquee, as the

heavens opened up around 8ish and never

stopped. I counted around 16 GWC members

there. All in all a great party and a happy 65th to

Brian.

By the time you read this we would have had our

Hogs in the Hayfields Rally. Hopefully, all went well

and the weather was superb. We would like to

thank you for your support in attending and to all

those who helped out over the weekend. Full report

in next month’s edition.

My next rally is SOFER, held in Bisley; that’s the

South Of England Rally to any new members. It’s

another rally not to be missed and one of the big-

gest held in the UK. Tickets are still on sale at

£30.... go on you know you want to !

This is Ian, our Editor’s second edition of our

RoadHog mag, so hope you’re enjoying them! I

think it looks great. If you think so too, drop Ian a

line! I’m sure you all have some decent stories or

pictures you can send in. If they’re not used next

month, we’ll try and fit them in throughout the year.

Hopefully we’ve seen the last of the rain, another

June ride-out cancelled. What’s going on with the

weather...it’s the end of the world I tell ya !

A date for your diary ... Christmas Party December

8th at St Mary’s. Unbelievably that was the only

date available unless we wanted October, which

we thought was a little too early :-)

Remember to use the web page & blog for updates

on activities don’t just rely on MailChimp e-mails

That’s all for now folks, I’m off to wash me bike and

polish me bits

Rumblings from the Editor Hello all,

Thanks to all contributors this month.

Deadline for contributions to next month’s RoadHOG

is 20th July 2012.

Ian Furey-King

email to: [email protected]

GWC Secretary’s Update By Yvonne Roberts

Hi Everyone,

I’ve just returned from the

European Rally in Portugal

as we opted to take the long

route – 3,600 miles in total!

Looking at all the photos we

took on the trip makes me

realise that the rain in Spain definitely does not fall

mainly on the plain! We battled through heavy rain

and strong winds almost all of the way down. It was

great to arrive in Cascais to warm sunshine, relax

and enjoy the Rally.

We had great company and saw some wonderful

sights on our travels. I reckon that there must have

been getting on for 50 GWC members who attend-

ed the Rally. We were thankful that we avoided the

rain on our return trip, all the way home; then it

poured down! I gather that the weather in the UK

hasn’t been too great whilst we were away. We had

a few technical problems - Mucker saved the day

when he managed to remove Christof’s locking

petrol cap, which was jammed, by using a large

screwdriver which he just happened to have! We

were able to get some new front brake pads from

the Auvergne Harley dealership to replace Mucker’s

and Graham Roach’s which had worn right down.

Graham Roach’s new ones then later fell off at a

fuel stop, fortunately there, and not whilst he was

on the autoroute! I gather others weren’t so lucky

with their bikes, and had to be recovered, but hope-

fully we all arrived home safely.

The Cangen Cymraeg Club night was held just be-

fore we left for Portugal, and the 100 Club was

drawn. The winners were, Rob Lawrence – first

prize of £60, and Derek St John – second prize of

£30. The next draw will be held in September.

Big Al sent us news of Club night at the “Cross

Hands” and of Ness being the lucky winner of the

free Rally ticket. She was delighted to hear the

good news!

Jenny and Bill organised our raffles, and as usual

you were very generous at both Club nights, de-

spite there being fewer numbers, by donating £60

at our Bristol meeting and £55 at our Cangen meet-

ing, making a total of £115 for the Orchard Trust.

Neil Lewis took this picture of Janice Lloyd from

Bridgend at the last Club night at St Mary’s Golf

Club.

We are pleased to welcome a new member to our

Chapter: Alan Smith from Bristol.

I am always available at Club nights, and you can

also contact me by phone on:

01225 751017 or by e-mail:

[email protected]

Ride safe,

Yvonne

mailto:[email protected]

Secretary’s Round-up of May’s Committee Meeting

Secretary’s Round-up of June’s Committee

Meeting

Your Committee held its monthly meeting on June

2nd

at the “Old Ferry Inn”, Beachley for a change. In

fact a good few GWC members took over the pub

for most of the day, as we also held a Rally meeting

and a Gurzels rehearsal there!

Baz gave an update on the progress made so far

on plans for the programme of events in 2013, to

celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the formation of

our Chapter. He reported that 9 of the 10 events

were going ahead, but since receiving feedback

from GWC members, the proposed tour to Faaker

See had been dropped, and another event was

needed to replace it.

We agreed that Andy Ball should book the 2012

Christmas Party at St Mary’s Golf Club, Pencoed,

avoiding the date of the Bridgwater Chapter’s Party,

to give our members the option of attending both.

Peter outlined plans for a USA Tour of Arizona and

New Mexico in 2014 and we agreed that it should

be included in the 2014 OTRA Programme.

We also agreed that there should be a regular

article, with photographs, in RoadHOG featuring the

Orchard Trust so that Chapter members can be

kept up to date with their activities. The Committee

plans to review the way we support charities at a

later date.

The date of our next meeting will be July 14th at

10.30am at Riders.

A copy of the full minutes is available on request.

Yvonne Roberts

Secretary

Our Club Nights

St Mary’s Golf & Country

Club

Pencoed Home of the Cangen Cymraeg

Branch of the Great Western

Chapter Get together on the 2nd

Wednesday of the month 7.00pm - 8.00 pm start

Plus - “Natter Nights”

the “Old Ferry Inn”, Beachley on the 4th Tuesday

A Little Piece of HOG Heaven By Kevin Lear

Having decided that the recent Dia-mond Jubilee would be a good time for a long weekend away on the bikes we searched for a B & B that would suit everyone’s needs and whims. We found a perfect location in the village of Berrynarbor in North Devon about 4 miles outside Ilfracombe – The Langleigh Guest House http://www.langleighguesthouse.co.uk/index.htm

After an initial enquiry in which the owners Gill and Andy said they would look forward to the Harley’s waking up the village we knew we had found an ideal venue. They also offered us secure undercover parking and use of the BBQ in the pretty terraced garden weather permitting (we will take them up on this offer next time as the pub was drier and warmer on our planned BBQ night). As the village pub was only across the lane it wasn’t far to go for some excellent food. (Ye Olde Globe Inn

http://www.yeoldeglobe.co.uk/ )

However we did book a Cream tea for our arrival

and Gill exceeded everyone’s expec-tations with local strawberries, home-made scones, jam and freshly baked (still warm) fairy cakes! (One GWC member was heard to say it was bet-ter than the one she had had at the Dorchester in London – praise in-deed)

The area around is great for riding with Exmoor, Dartmoor and Cornwall all easy to explore.

So if anyone is looking for an ideal place for a night or two away with an exceptionally warm welcome, I (and everyone else in our group) would recommend a call to the Langleigh Guest House.

Lou & Kev Lear

P.S. - Check out the reviews;

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g1129483-d1373920-Reviews-Langleigh_Guest_House-Berrynarbor_Devon_England.html

http://www.langleighguesthouse.co.uk/index.htm



http://www.yeoldeglobe.co.uk/





From The Front By Alan “Big Al” Stokes

Hi All

June turned out to be a bit of a mixed bag for me. Firstly Graham Roach and I had to take the deci-sion to cancel the 3

rd June ride-out

due to the adverse weather.

Believe it or not, this is two years on the trot that we have had to make that shout in June. January, we kind of expect this, but not in June. I guess that is the joy of running rides into mid-Wales during the sum-mer, months. I think Graham is now questioning organising next years ride lol. Anyway, apologies if this caused inconvenience to anyone, but safety is always paramount and the weather would have spoilt any kind of enjoyment. As a reminder, it is always good to check the Hotline when we have bad weath-er. It could well save you a wasted journey.

Next on the agenda for me, was to run the Great Western monthly club night at the Cross Hands on the English side of the River Severn. The European

H.O.G Rally in Portugal saw Andy Ball away party-ing with many of our other members. I managed to keep track of progress on Facebook, which was good. Well, it is all well and truly over with for another year. I’m sure there will be many stories forthcoming within these pages over the next couple of months, so look out for the articles.

I can report that all went well at Club Night and I would like personally to thank all those members who turned out to support what I thought was a good evening. The group raised £60 on the raffle during the evening and that will go to the Orchard Trust charity. I’m happy to report at least one committee member won a raffle prize (eh Ed) despite so many being away.

It also gives me great pleasure to announce the suc-cessful completion of the Road Captains course held in Oxford. As a result, Jane Scott, Andy “RKK” Ken-dall, Martin James, Darren Sharp and Ian Johnson are now active Road Captains with immediate affect. Mike Sage has also come on board as a Road Mar-shal. All will be presented with their rockers at next month’s meeting.

All that’s left now is to thank all of you who supported our rally and especially if you were one of those who joined my excellent team on the Saturday morning ride-out.

If you are new to the Chapter, then please come along and join us on one of our monthly rides. Be sure to make yourself known to any of the Road Cap-tains or Marshals.

Full details of up and coming rideouts can be found on the Great Western Chapter website. Individual rideouts are classified into 3 main types:

Level A - Short and easy below 100 miles round

trip.

Level B - Fine for average riders but may be a bit

longer.

Level C – Can include some complex sections but

mainly a longer duration.

For last minute updates please call the “Hotline” on 08444 994508 and please keep a check on the

website for changes.

Until the next time, have fun and ride hard.

Alan “Big Al” Stokes

Head Road Captain

Update on our 10 Events

4. Night Ride – Summer Solstice – update from

Tony Yendle

An update on the proposed “Night Ride” for next year’s 10th Anniversary celebrations - Myself and Andy K (Snr) did the ride to Stonehenge on the 21st June to assess the parking situation for next year. Having left Bristol in the pouring rain (Stair rods comes to mind!!) at 2.30am for an arrival time at the Stones for 4.00am – sun up at 4.54am, not that we saw the sun, just a lot of very happy (as in stoned) peo-ple and a bunch of Druid types doing their thing. Quite a large crowd there on the day, we estimated around 3 – 4,000 people although the press has put the figure a lot higher than that, I guess they must be right, they don’t lie do they?? A great ride back to Bristol with the roads drying out and a hearty break-fast in Keynsham at 7.00! Lovely Jubbly!! Anyway – the main conten-tion will be the parking, the security people there wanted us to park on the main car park field on the A344 (about 1 mile walk to the stones). Well, you can imagine what it was like after all the rain that had been around – a total quagmire! After politely refusing their offer, we rode to the other end of the Stones and managed to talk a nicer security guy and a van full of Bobbies into letting us park on the closed section of road on the A344 where it meets the A303. There were only 2 bikes after all, this may not be the case next year! With the possibility of the 15 or so bikes expected from our recent Club Night “show of hands”, this may not be a solution, therefore for this part of the planned Night Ride to ahead next year it will have to be totally weather

dependent. Or indeed left out entirely

and plan for a different destination. We will overcome!

.

5. Rhayader Riding Weekend –

July 11th

to 14th

– update from

Yvonne Roberts

You will have received comprehen-sive details of accommodation for this event with this edition of RoadHOG, to help you book your own accommo-dation.

In addition to the Wyeside Caravan and Camping Park listed in the de-tails, we also have information about camping facilities at the Rugby Club. The charges will be £5.00 per pitch per night for tents, and £5 per person per night for campervans and cara-vans. Facilities at the Rugby Club include basic showers and toilets and a small kitchen. There is no time limit on making a noise, unlike the Wye-side which has an 11.00pm limit on noise. (I am waiting for details of how you can book a pitch at the Rugby Club). Please contact me if you

need any further information.

9. Fun Money-Raising Event Involving the Orchard Trust –

update from Nige Garnett

Another one of the exciting activities the 10th Anniversary Team is propos-ing is something with the Orchard Trust. I have an idea to hire some canoes on the River Wye for ½ a day - www.thecanoehire.co.uk followed by a BBQ at the Trust.

Canoe hire is £35 for a 4-person ca-noe; so, as this is to raise money, I was thinking...we could have teams of canoes, for those that would like the experience, and a race, (unofficial of course!) But we would hate to leave

anyone out, so for the landlubbers some kind of sweep on the outcome. This is where Mr Bill MacDonald comes in. We have yet to parameter-ise the event but you could expect incessant badgering from Bill to part with your hard earned cash to predict the outcome. – Prize? Who knows? All followed by an afternoon/evening BBQ in the grounds of the Trust. Again we are seeking feedback to see if the Members would like this event?

10. Boys-Only Weekend Away –

update from Nige Garnett

One of the exciting activities the 10th Anniversary Team is proposing is a “Boys-only Event”. We have yet to define exactly what type of event, and subsequently the time of year. Roger Line and I are happy to make any arrangements and have put some of our ideas together. Obviously we need to consider budget and dura-tion, and would like to go with the most popular idea.

Some of the ideas are:

1. Bike racing weekend – either home or away and could be BSB, WSB or Moto GP (Czech Moto GP is one ex-ample.

2. Drag racing – Santa Pod weekend

3. Isle of Man TT

4. Le Mans - just for the weekend

5. A nominated rally

6. A Shakies Night (GWC camping weekend)

7. Alternatively we could do a non bike event like a city break in either the UK or Amsterdam, Paris etc.

Or, (this is where you come in), what would you like to be our 10th Anniver-sary “Boys-Only Event”?

Please send your ideas to Yvonne or give your ideas to us at Club nights. [email protected]

http://www.thecanoehire.co.uk

Ladies of Harley By Jane Scott

Hello Ladies,

I’m sitting here writing my article, the sun is shining, yes it is England, and then I hear on the radio that we have only 6 months to go before it’s Christmas Day. I just can’t believe people are thinking of that already, even before we have had any proper sun-shine and some decent riding weather, which leads me to say hope everyone had a safe trip back from Portugal. I’m sure there will be plenty of tales in next month’s RoadHOG. For us, it was a good trip, company was good, route excellent thanks to Stu.

My Rambling Radnor Forest ride went well. Thanks to the A team, 19 bikes in total. I would just like to thank all who attended. Stu is in the process of do-ing the write-up for the ride, so catch up with that in the magazine.

Since the last article, I have had a weekend at the Oxford Harley Davidson HQ, along with Martin James, Andy Kendall, Ian Johnson and Darren Sharp for a Road Captains’ training course. It was fine, though I can’t say we learnt much more than we already knew. I suppose that’s a “thanks” to Bazzer and Stu, but I suppose it has to be done. So thanks guys for putting up with me, even though I had to wait for you all to straighten your hair and paint your nails before coming out, lol.

What else has happened? Oh yes, our Rally! However, while I’m writing this I’m thinking it will be fine on the night? Yes, our Gurzels performance, but we can now put our dancing shoes away, and not have any more nightmares. Whoops, Arlene, I meant dreams on how it will be.

I have been speaking with Kathryn from the Or-chard Trust. As they are holding their Open Day on the 29

th July, it’s a good chance to see what the

Trust is all about. Like last year, if you would like to donate any cakes or biscuits for the stall, it would be much appreciated and, if you would like to lend a hand, that would be great.

Bazzer’s page has more info on the ride details.

For the 2013 Ladies of Harley event there have been a few ideas and I am looking into them. If any of you ladies have any thoughts then please come forward.

Of course we have the chapter wedding this month GOOD LUCK Bill and Sam, hope all goes well.

I would also like to send Get Well Wishes to Sue Stokes after her op, also to Big Al. Thinking of you guys x

That’s about it for this month

Jane x

Mobile no 07894086626 Email [email protected]

Cangen Cymraeg Graham Roach

Well, back home from Portugal safe and sound,

totally knackered after a round trip of 4057miles. It

was certainly a trip to remember: our trip didn't start

off too well, what with running over a log in the road

only 3 miles from home in the pouring rain at 6am.

My oil cooler was stuffed with splinters all the way to

Portugal and back.

Graham and Jan were so keen to start the trip they

turned up a day early at Clackett lane - as I always

say you can never be too early ha ha.

The ferry crossing from Dover was a bit choppy to

say the least and the weather - the first two days

through France was bloody wet and windy, but

finally got better on the third day. We had an

impromptu stop at the Le Mans race circuit thanks

to Si Griff meeting the Aston Martin race team at our

hotel the evening before. We spent four or so hours

at the circuit and even got a guided tour of the Aston

Martin pit. Certainly one to remember, it was to be

one of the highlights on the way down.

We had to miss the Picos mountains due to bad

weather. The rest of the trip down improved with

good weather. I would certainly recommend Portu-

gal to anyone touring on a bike, the new toll roads

are brilliant with sweeping bends and virtually no

traffic. Apparently the Portuguese refuse to use

them due to the cost (no wonder the country is

bust).

After 6 days on the road it was good to finally get to

the hotel in Cascais. It seemed to be full of Great

Western and Bridgwater members, a bit like the

Cider Rally with sunshine. The hotel itself was ex-

cellent and only a short walk to the rally site. it

couldn't have been better. The location for the rally

itself was spot on, the only downside was the head-

line band on the Saturday night an ABBA tribute

band W.T.F. (Where were “Devious” when you

needed them-Ed)

We had a chill out day on Sunday, messing around

by the pool ready for the off on Monday morning

and a five day trip ahead of us back home. We

crossed through to Salamanca, a long day’s ride.

Then on to Irun and across to Millau via part of the

Napolean Highway, after which Mucker and myself

had to replace break pads. Millau was an absolute-

ly stunning town to visit, and the viaduct itself a fan-

tastic sight, best viewed from below to get the scale

of it. We then left in the morning to travel over it;

what an awesome experience and stunning views.

Next, another long day’s ride to Clermont Ferrand

through the Bordeaux region with fantastic scenery.

Clermont was an unexpected highlight as there hap-

pened to be a music festival on, with thousands of

students milling about in party mood and music

playing everywhere, brilliant. Then on to Abbeville

and our last night before catching the ferry home.

We managed to get all the way back from

Portugal to Bristol dry and then home sweet home.

It was rain all the way for the last 150miles. All in all

a good trip with lots of memories and a few battle

scars on the bike, certainly a trip to remember.

Many thanks to everyone who joined us and to

Chris Harding who joined us for the homeward jour-

ney. You all made the journey what it was, see you

at Hogs in the Hayfields.

Iachyd dda

Graham.

Riders Independence Day Bash

A selection of photos from the Riders of Bristol 4th

July celebration, held on Saturday 30th June 2012.

Harley in Hawaii by Martin Cook

Imagine my excitement, or maybe it was panic, when my daughter an-nounced that her wedding would be in Hawaii! The mental image of my bank account emptying at a rate of knots wasn’t far from the truth. How-ever, the anxiety was tempered somewhat by my discovery, on fur-ther investigation, that Big Island in Hawaii had a Harley Davidson deal-ership. I was obviously excited for my daughter on her big day but I have to admit that I was also looking for-ward with great anticipation to see-ing Hawaii from the seat of a Harley-Davidson. The 6th April arrived and, after 24 hours of travelling, we reached Ha-waii and my first port of call was the H-D dealership, only three miles down the road in Kona. They had a Softail Deluxe, which I eagerly booked and looked forward to a great holiday. The wedding was on Wednesday 11th April at the Sheri-ton Hotel in Kona. The ceremony took place on a lawned garden overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It was a wonderful, if not magical day and my daughter looked radiant. But that’s enough about the wed-ding; let’s move on to H-D trip! It was booked for Friday and those good at numbers will realise that it was Friday the 13th, but I reasoned that it had been the Romans who came up with the calendar and 13 had always been a bit of a lucky number in my family, so I shouldn’t be put off by silly superstitions. Alt-hough I did get married on Friday 13th April 1984 and was divorced 18 years later, but what the hell, it was just a date. As it turned out that date became one of my best and most

memorable biking experiences. Big Island, Hawaii is a fascinating land mass. It is the youngest of the Hawaiian Islands but is, as the name suggests, the biggest. It was the first to be inhabited by the Poly-nesian settlers and has an amazing climate. It is more diverse climatical-ly than any other comparably-sized piece of land in the world, having ten of the fifteen types of world cli-matic zones. We experienced a few of them on the trip! The plan, albeit a rather fluid one, was to ride up the west side of Big Island on Highway 19 towards Ka-waihae and onto Highway 270 to Hawi at the northern tip of the is-land. To make it a circular route I’d planned to return on Highway 190 the Hawaii Belt Road, which I’d trav-elled by car at the start of the holi-day. I felt that it was a more interest-ing section of highway, passing through the lava fields, spewed out many years before from Mauna Kee Mountain. At the mountain’s summit is the site of one of the world’s most important observatories, which is easy to understand when you see its head poking through the clouds. I arrived at the dealership early, just before 8.30am and sorted out the paper work. My son had decided to join me so I picked up an extra hel-met for him. He had been night scu-ba diving with manta rays the previ-ous night and had forgotten to have his dive log stamped and signed, but as the harbour was off Highway 19 we decided to do that first. Highway 19 was a typical American style road, no real need to steer, just head back and throttle open. Actually, the limit is 55mph so not too much throttle. They’re pretty hot on speeding, so I just enjoyed the coastal views. We stopped at Waikoloa Resort for drinks, food and for Rhys to buy his girlfriend a present with his last dol-lars as he was flying home that night. I still had 3 more days on Big Island. Another blast up Highway 19 to Ka-waihae, at least just before the town to Pu’Kohola Heiau National Historic site, which had the sort of beach I’d

imagined before arriving in Hawaii; sloping golden sands, palm trees and a turquoise blue Pacific Ocean. We took a few photographs here and I began to regret having worn jeans and a leather waistcoat; I was sweltering. After stopping in Hawi, with all of its art galleries and quaint American style buildings, we rode to Pololu Valley. We were met with stunning scenery straight out of the film, Ju-rassic Park. Towering lava cliffs covered with lush green vegetation and precipitous cliffs stretched out before us. I half expected a T. Rex to come bursting through the trees. We then rode on to Walmea and filled up with petrol, being half the price we pay in the UK, yet the Americans still have a moan about the price of a gallon. Highway 190 was the strangest experience of the trip. We went through about three different climates and my son shout-ed into my ear, ‘It’s like riding through three different countries in half an hour!’ The road climbs into the cloud that constantly sits over Mauna Kee Mountain, like a halo. We got hit by a sharp shower, rain striking our faces like grit, yet within ten minutes we were drying out in the sun. The highway eventually brought us back to Kailua Kona where we parked the Harley. We sat and had a cool beer soaking up the sun and sights, looking across to the Pacific breakers and pinching ourselves, hardly believing that we’d cruised Big Island, Hawaii on a Harley. It really doesn’t get better than that, except of course on a Chapter ride-out!

More like a rumble to Radnor Forest by Stu and Jane Scott

Well, after disembarking at Plym-outh from Santander and a ride in the p***ing down of rain (a precipita-tion for you posh types) and with the weather prospect for Sunday’s ride- out not looking good, did I need an-other drenching? Well I’ve got to do it; it’s our team’s ride 1, and Jane i8 lead Road Captain 2; need I say more there’s no way out!

Sunday turns out to be a bit dull but dry as we all meet at Aust Services 19 bikes in total, and it’s nice to see some guys I ain’t seen in a while. Jane does her spiel (sounded more like a warning to me) then it’s off across the Severn Bridge to Chep-stow, along the Wye Valley to Mon-mouth at quite a leisurely pace as we are following a coach load of Nederlanders *OOK !

I marshal the lights in Monmouth for the right turn onto the A40 and it seems an age before I see RKK sweeping, Mart & Ei breakdown with Keith as last man on his sporty trike. Now its time for a quick blast to my next turn passing the group and parking up to direct to

Hereford where Baz and Jac are marshalling the lights – why is Baz climbing a lamp post? I’m sure he’s tall enough to be seen! So with a

comfort break at Sainsbury’s much to the astonishment of some of their

customers, then its time to ride out to Rhayader for lunch at the Elan Valley Visitors centre. We then ride back on the A470 to Builth for a fuel stop and on to Abergavenny for our penultimate stop and a goodbye to the Welsh guys who peel off here and head off home. We in turn ride to Raglan-Lansoy, Devauden & Chepstow to stop for the final fare-well then all head home.

Thanks to all you guys and gals that turned out on a dreary Sunday morning, but the sun did come out for the last few hours.

For Jane’s first route plan as lead Road Captain for our team, all I can say is excellent- scenic, good roads, leisurely pace, no worries and well done

Ta Ta

Stu

My HOG (1942 WLA Harley Davidson) Beryl Furey-King

Last month Ian showed you his Military 1941 H.D. so I thought you would like to see my civilian ver-sion.

This is a WLA (A for American) built originally in 1942. It was restored a few years ago and is my pride and joy. She is beautiful but still a bit of a beast to ride. When I originally got it she did not have a hand clutch so it was a case of having to bal-ance yourself and use the foot clutch only to pull away and then change as you were riding. I found this a bit of a challenge as I have small feet and the amount of travel that the foot clutch makes means I am more or less standing on tip-toe to change gear. Ian has now added a hand clutch which can be used for ‘taking off’ and this has improved the ride-ability tremendously.

The only downside to having such a treasure is that I am almost frightened to take her out, as I would hate to damage her at all. She is also rather an old girl and although robust I try to appreciate that she is a bit of a grandmother!

I hope those of you who visited Riders for the Inde-pendence Day Bash got a chance to see her in the flesh.

Hoggin’ the Bridge

Pete and Duncan’s Pump Stop

What a two weeks! Aside from the short hop across on the Dover-Calais ferry, it was 10 days and 3,600 miles, all for 4 days of fun in the sun at The European H.O.Gâ, rally in Cascais. It certainly didn’t start off with any sun on June 8th, with gale-force winds and rain. The neighbours on our lane couldn’t believe that we were serious about riding to Dover. Actually, in comparison with what was to come, it was a breeze. Our sea crossing was delayed by over two hours because of the stormy weather – thankfully our P&O ferry was spanking new with high tech sta-bilisation. As long as I could see the hori-zon, I felt OK. The riding down through France, as far as Bilbao in Spain, was pretty much a soggy blur (wet clothes, wet boots and poor visibil-ity) and, for that privilege, a fortune in auto-route tolls. On day 2, we bumped into some of the Aston Martin team at our hotel in Le Mans, and got invited to visit the race circuit pits – wow! It wasn’t until we got virtually to Lisbon, that the weather finally improved and blue ap-peared in the sky! The rally itself was great fun and Great

Western Chapter was present in force – though, thankfully, rather more understated (except for one or two miscreants) than the Bridgwater merry band! Cascais is a near-perfect resort and our “headquarters” hotel was just minutes away from the town centre and the “Harley-Village”. The food/wine/beer was excellent and the bands were not bad, though having an

ABBA tribute band for the grand finale, on the Saturday night, was a slightly bizarre idea.

We also had some entertainment outside our hotel by a guy from the Hogs Back Chapter. He enthusiastically jumped onto his brand new CVO Ultra, unfortunately forgetting to take off the chunky chain se-curing the front wheel. To the accompani-ment of much noise, the chain ripped off part of the fender and brought the bike down!! This was rather more devastating than Mark Chinnick’s erstwhile escapade in London.

After our days of relaxation in Cascais, we were not relishing the long homeward jour-ney, but hey, the weather improved and we had 5 days without anything worse than a sprinkling. The high-point of our travels was our visit to Millau in the Massif Central and to see, and later ride over in brilliant sunshine, Norman Foster’s 6-year old cable-stay bridge, 1,125 feet above the Tarn River. An entertaining feature of our journey was the “battle of the satnavs” (TomTom versus Garmin) between our fellow riders. Not having one, yet, Yvonne and I were simply bemused observers. Examples were too many to mention, leading to U-turns on autoroute on-ramps and an unplanned (and never-ever to be repeated) ride around the Paris Peripherique on a Friday, at the start of rush hour. White knuckles or what? It was good to get home at last, and then spend almost two days cleaning the bike – and yes, we did all wash our bikes en route,

several times. Between us, we must have executed billions of insects with our

screens, “wing-bats”, helmets and visors! I had e-mailed Duncan about the delectable weather on the way down to Cascais, so it’s possible that the subject matter of July’s Tip of the Month is not a coincidence: By now I thought we would be talking about how hot it’s been and what great riding conditions we have had. Unfortunately thisis not the case and, as half of us here at Rid-ers ride every day, the weather has been testing our bikes and our riding skills in more ways than one. So, this month I thought we could talk about how to make life a little safer and dryer in these lovely summer conditions:

There are a number of products on the market that can help. If, for example, you water-proofed your gloves this would not only keep your hands dryer and warmer, but also improve your grip on the handle bar and levers, Using windshield and visor wipes will enhance visibility during wet weather riding, They will reduce the surface tension of water, allowing it to bead and dissipate from the windshield or visor by the air flow during riding.

There are leather products that water-proof jackets and trousers and also leave them breathable. Leather treatment will help to avoid saddle bags and seats holding water and the use of zip sacks, that fit neatly into saddle bags, will keep clothing dry on long trips.

We have also talked in the past about tyres; in the wet is ever more important to have good tread. Your braking should be even across the front and rear of the bike and not quick or erratic. Your lamps should be clean and visible at all times.

These are some of the things that will hope-fully help us to still enjoy our ride despite the weather.

Once again, Ride Safe

Peter and Duncan@Riders

Bazzer’s Page By Barry “Bazzer” Aggett

Hi All,

Firstly to say a big THANK YOU to Brian Johnson for the GWC invite to his 65

th Birthday curry night

celebration in his garden in Abergavenny. The cur-ries were superb, the drinks were flowing and the resident DJ (our very own Chris McCarthy) stirred the girls into dancing in the pouring rain. A shame it wasn’t warm enough for a wet T- Shirt competition!!

The H.O.G Rally in Portugal was a blast and I wait with anticipation to read the write up from Mart & Eileen James, I fear it may include a little mishap on my part!!

At time of writing, Mrs Too Talls and I are frantically trying to pull together the quiz and a little side show game for our very own not to be missed Hogs in the Hayfields. Black Rat, good friends and Devious, what else could anyone want!

Again by the time you read this RKK (Andy Kenny Kendall), fresh from his Road captains training, will have led a ride to Weston Super Mare for the Amer-ican Power event. I look forward to reading the write up with photos Andy!!

Coming up we have:-

15th

July - Treasure Hunt

Due to personal / family issues Jeff and Julie need to put this event on hold for the moment, so look out for a revised date.

21st

July - Wedding Celebration

Bill & Sam will be gazing into each other’s eyes and making the pledge, followed by an evening celebra-tion at Cleve Rugby Club with yes, another chance to rock with Devious. Mine’s a Black Rat Bill !!

29th

July - Orchard Trust Summer Fete

As per last year we are planning to support with a show of our bikes and I will lead a short ride up to the Orchard Trust leaving Aust Services at 1.30 pm (Fete starts at 2.00 and finishes at 4.30 pm). This is a chance for you to see how your monthly raffle contributions go towards an improved lifestyle at the Trust.

18th

August - Bristol Bike Show

A chill-out day stood around taking in the ambience and maybe a jar or three in the local hostelries!!

Further ahead September is looking a quiet month for activities so I make a note to dust off my thinking cap!! And dare I mention Christmas at this time of year! I’m afraid so, St Mary’s has been booked for the 8

th December, so looking for suggestions to up-

stage the Seven Sisters!

And looking miles ahead 2013 planning is coming together, so more to follow.

That’s all for now and if you have any ideas for fu-ture activities please get in touch.

Home number 01291 620371

Email [email protected]

GWC Blog

Barry Bazzer Aggett – Activities Officer

mailto:[email protected]

The new line in men’s & ladies’

long & short sleeve T-shirts with

embroidered GWC logo is proving

popular!

Men’s short sleeve T shirts in

100% cotton, £11 (S-5XL), &

Men’s long sleeve T shirts in

100% cotton, £13 (S-2XL)

Ladies short sleeve T Shirt in

100% cotton, £12.50 (10-18),

Ladies long sleeved T shirts in

96% cotton/4% Elastane, £15 (8-

18), & Ladies short sleeve V neck

T shirt in 95% cotton/5% Elas-

tane, £13.50 (8-18)

We also have a range of wickable

T-shirts for men and ladies, ideal

for touring, and micro fleeces to

wear under riding jackets.

To order, please see the order

forms for details of colours and

sizes for all these items, which

are downloadable via a link from

the Merchandise Page on our

website, and send to me together

with a cheque.

Please see the Merchandise

page on our website for details of

all our stock, the prices of some

items have been reduced.

I do have in stock a selection of

micro fleeces in black, and a few

of the new T shirts, as well as a

limited number of Official H.O.G®

GWC Tee Shirts at the reduced

price of £14.50

I am usually available at Club

nights should you wish to see me

about any of these items.

Yvonne

e-mail:

[email protected]

Members Adverts

Merchandise Yvonne Roberts

The Firebirds (Rock ‘n’ Roll Band)

www.thefirebirds.co.uk

FOR SALE

Deluxe Saddlebag Liners

Part Number 91885-97A

Fits 94 – Later Touring models equipped

With colour matched hard saddlebags.

As new £25. Ideal for anyone travelling on

The American tour and hiring a Road King or Glide

Contact: Alan Stokes / Mobile 07766 237242

At a Glance - 2012 GWC Yearly Calendar Contact Barry Aggett if you have any other event you would like to see listed. Tel

01291 620371, e-mail [email protected]

For further details on any event listed visit GWC website “What’s On”

Date Chapter Events

Organiser Details

July

15th Activity Barry Aggett Treasure Hunt - POSTPONED

21st Wedding

Celebration

Tony Yendle Bill & Sam, Cleve Rugby Club

24th Natter Night Andy Ball Ferry Inn, Beachley

29th Charity Bill MacDonald Orchard Trust Summer Fete

August

3/4&5th OTRA Chris Harding South of England Rally SOFER

3/4&5th OTRA Andy Kendall Somme, Northern France.

8th Club Night Andy Ball St Mary’s Hotel, Pencoed

12th Ride out Graham Roach

14th Club Night Andy Ball Cross Hands Hotel, Old Sodbury

18th Activity Barry Aggett Bristol Bike Show

19th Ride out Nigel Garnett The Woolacombe Wanderer

23/24/25/2

6&27

OTRA Chris Harding Cornish Cream Rally

24/25/26&

27th

OTRA Chris Harding Thunder in the Glens Rally

28th Natter Night Andy Ball Ferry Inn, Beachley

September

4th to 19th OTRA Peter Roberts USA California




23rd Ride out Steph Pocock White Horses of Wiltshire

25th Natter Night Andy Ball

October




21st Activity Barry Aggett Hoggin’ the Bridge Curry?

23rd Natter Night Andy Ball

28th Ride out Alan Stokes The Shaftesbury Scrambler

November




25th Ride out Barry Aggett Evo's to Evesham

27th Natter Night Andy Ball

December

2nd Ride out Nigel Garnett The Christmas Spectacular

8th Xmas Party Barry Aggett St Marys, Pencoed



January



February



Committee Contacts

Sponsoring Dealer:-

Duncan White 0117

9588777

Director:

Andy Ball 07970 271151

Asst Director/Treasurer:

Peter Roberts 07540 164157

Asst Director/Webmaster:

Chris Harding 07801 562011

Secretary :

Yvonne Roberts 01225

751017

Head Road Captain :

Alan Stokes 07766 237242

Activities Officer :

Barry Aggett 01291 630371

Safety Officer :

Andy Kendall 07905 397474

Editor: Ian Furey-King

0117 9615016

Photographer/Historian :

Tony Yendle 07787 551612

Ladies of Harley :

Jane Scott 07894 086626

Charity Co-ordinator :

Bill MacDonald 07989

987189

Cangen Cymraeg Rep :

Graham Roach 07973

459036

Rally Co-ordinator :

Tony James 07940 895921

Road Captains Barry Aggett, Andrew Ball

Paul Bromhead, Mark

Chivers, Nigel Garnett, Paul

Groom, Sean Gully, Chris

Harding, Martin James, Ian

Johnson, Andy Kendall,

Andy Kendall, (RKK), Dave

Pocock, Stephanie Pocock.

Graham Roach, Dave

Roberts, Darren Sharp,

Jane & Stuart Scott, Alan

Stokes, Tony Yendle.

Road Marshals Dave Bennett, Mike Brake,

Tony Cole, Steve Crook,

Simon Griffiths, Ian Mead,

Greg Payne, Mike Sage.

RoadHOG is printed

by the Woodside Press

All details on GWC web site

www.greatwesternhog.co.u

roadhog july 2012

Documents

good rally

cider rally

hayfields rally

gwc members

great party

official rally figures

great western chapter

south of england rally