Rallies - Ides Of March, Dwyle Funkers & 2 Moons

We have been to several motorcycle rallies this year. I will not go into too much detail as they tend to go along the lines of:

Arrived at.....
Met with....
Got drunk....
Woke up with hangover....

Anyone who read the two rally magazines (Big Bollards and Rally Review) will remember the style of writing of reports of rallies. The report of these rallies will be brief and I will let the pictures do the talking.

The Ides Of March.

This rally is organised by the Salford Centurians and is held outside Todmorden. The weather for this event can vary between wind, snow or rain. This year we only had the wind and rain, with a few tents being flattened.
The views of the surrounding area are enjoyable and worth a visit in summertime, which I must do soon.


The rally limit is 110 and usually sells out very quick. There is also a varied selection of two and three wheeled transport in the pub's car park.

Dwyle Funkers

This small trad. rally is arranged by the Dwyle Funkers themselves. Over the years it has been in several locations including Wales, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire and this year it was at the
Lower Lode on the banks of the River Severn not far from Tewkesbury. The pub suffered from flooding last year when the river burst its banks. There was a rally on when this occured and a couple of motorcycles were damaged as they didn't get to higher land in time. The field containing static caravans also did not escape the flood water.
On the river bank there is a mooring place for a few boats with these sculptures.
Although the rally was organised by our friends Guzzisue felt uncomfortable in the pub. Her father cannot go near fields where there has been a major battle in English history, so we think this is something that has been passed on to her.
A pleasant evening was spent chewing the cud with a small break for a raffle and award giving. The best bike was chosen by the landlady, with Bob winning the Best Bike with his Guzzi.
Sunday's dawn chorus consisted of a flock of geese that had great delight in waking everyone up and then when they decided to settle down got very uptight if they were approached.
Of course some people do tend to take a lot of gear for a weekend away.

Two Moons Rally.


This is our club's rally held at The Rising Sun near Altarnun in Cornwall. As it was the 10th and final 2 Moons, Robbie had decided to go out with a bang. We arrived on site on the Thursday to help erect a marque lent from the Pint Pullers.
Thursday nights are a chance for club members to have a quiet pre rally drink before the onslaught of Friday and Saturday. With us arriving on the Thursday it also gives Ian, Guzzisue and myself a day to do some of the Round Britain Rally landmarks on Friday before people start to arrive for the weekend.
We had intended to have an early start on Friday to get to all the Cornish landmarks, but the evening session was longer than expected so we had to miss going to one. We did however manage to get to Chain Fort / Blockhouse at Polruan. This was built with another on the opposite bank of the River Fowery to protect the harbour. It was errected in the 15th Century and last used in the 1600's.
From here we rode up to St Cleer to photograph the Memorial to a Lost Railway Line. At times the rain was so heavy that it seemed that we were riding in a stream!
Whilst we were taking the above photos a local biker stopped to see if we were ok as he thought that Ian had dropped the Guzzi. He was quite bemused when Guzzisue explained what we were doing.
Next we into the county of Devon and to the site of the Lydford Leap. Here we met up with fellow RBRers Jacki, Phill and Rufus, a well travelled sheep.
Back at the rally site people were arriving for the weekend and a good Friday night was had by all present. Saturday arrived with the traditional rain and many held off from going out for a ride until it subsided a little. There was some lost property handed in at the control tent, but the article was not claimed!

Ian, Guzzisue and myself walked down into the village for a few supplies and a look around the local church. In the village there were two events taking place, one in the village hall and the other in the church hall. Ian bought some tombola tickets and managed to win some prizes, which then ended up in our own raffle that night. Guzzisue did the same at the church hall!
Guzzisue managed to get a lift back from the church warden as Ian and myself had already returned with the supplies. The warden also promised to return later that afternoon on his motorcycle if the rain stopped.



Here are a few motorcycles from the site. First is my computer guru Roy on his Savage
followed by Ted Trek's very smart BMW
or how about this tidy Norton?
or Geoff and Carole's Ural combo?
As Saturday night progressed the fox above the bar got into the spirit of the rally
and as per usual when drink flows the conversation gets slightly far fetched and there is a place where people talking rubbish get sent to!
There were three birthdays birthdays being celebrated over the weekend, one I'm not sure about, Guzzisue's and Robbie's 40th (and he thought he was going to get away with it).
During the evening Andy the landlord treated everyone to a shot of whisky as he was enjoying the weekend so much. Ian told him that we had done over 6,000 miles commuting to the rally over the years. Andy's reply was that we had better do another 6,000!
The 2 Moons is dead. Long live the next rally name. Yes I know what it is but my lips are sealed at this moment.

2003 Scandanavian Circle - Postscript

I received an email From my friend Lise in Oslo the other day, having read my review on the Vigeland Park, she sent me this newspaper clip of the Monolith as it was in 1926 at the quarry!
Below is the clip and a few words from Lise.

Please find enclosed a photo of what the monolit in the Vigeland Park looked like in 1926. One of my grandfathers is mentioned in the article, one of his brother-in-laws (he was British) was in charge of the men working with the stone. That’s probably why these people on the photo were invited for a Sunday trip to have a look at the stone before it was transported to Oslo, by boat!

Thank you very much for this insite. I bet you are very proud to have relatives that helped with this wonderful project Lise!

Banbury Run 2008

This year's Banbury Run was held at the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon in Warwickshire on Sunday 22nd June. The event is for motorcycles made before 31st December 1930. The day was dry but windy enough to topple a few of the machines in the paddock area, hopefully not causing too much damage to any of the motorcycles.
We spent quite some time going round the pit area taking photos of the weird and wonderful assortment as riders and machines were checked before the start at 10.00. including the following:

This is a Wall Auto Wheel, with an engine capacity of 118cc built in 1913.
Purchased from Murray's Museum on the Isle of Man this 1922 Autoglider De Luxe (269cc) in 2005 had been unused since 1930.

A 1903 Hunter Olympia Tandem that churns out a whopping 2 & 3/4hp. Get peddling on anything but level ground!

Ian is inspecting this 1929 Brough Superior OHV 680. This motorcycle had been dismantled in 1965 and exported to Australia and brought back to the UK in 2003 still in pieces.

A 1910 Indian single cylinder fitted with a 1913 frame. This motorcycle has only had two owners in its life.




Of course not all the motorcycles were in pristine condition, for example
this 1917 Excelsior American Army 1000cc was used in France at the end of World War One, ended up in a museum in London until the present owner rescued it and has used it regularly since the 1960's.
As 10.00 approached we made for the first corner to watch many of the early machines setting off on their routes before walking a little further to take some more photos.
Some of the riders got into the spirit of the occasion by dressing in period costume,
Ralph Boreham on his 1919 Triumph L.W. Junior 2 1/4hp, wearing a WW1 uniform, even if all hostilities had ceased in 1918.

John Scott was hoping for better luck on his 1927 Scott Squirrel this year. Last year was his first Banbury having spent 17 years rebuilding the bike. You guessed it, he managed 17 miles before breaking down outside a pub.

A 1921 Raleigh Flat Twin 700cc made in our home town.


A special mention goes to Des James riding his 1911 New Hudson Model 3B, going for his 8th oldest bike/rider award.

Having watched over half of the 600 entrants set off we decided to find the auto jumble where there was many stalls selling spares, bikes for a winter project, for example
enamelled signs
as well as t-shirts. books and magazines.

Since Roy managed to upgrade my computer (many thanks once again), I have managed to start uploading some of my video onto You Tube. Here are a couple of Banbury clips I have put on.
The first is a motorcycle Ian, Guzzisue or myself thought we would never see, never mind being run on the road. It is a 1915 Henderson E model.






To finish with a 1924 Triumph Model P 500cc based on the Shuttleworth Speed Demon from the George Formby film "No Limit"



If you enjoyed these short films I have posted two more. Just search "bikerted1100" on You Tube and this should bring up all my film clips.

2003 Scandanavian Circle -

We were in no hurry today as all we had to do was get to the port this afternoon, so clothes were tumble dried and our cabin was vacated at 11.30. With Ian's wonderful sense of direction he managed to take a wrong turn. This was not too much of a problem as he picked up the motorway and then followed the signs for the port.
Our ferry arrived late and having boarded, found our cabin it was time to say farewell to Oslo.
The ferry was a large one with two duty free shops, two cinemas plus a bar casino. We must have been fortunate to get on board with the crossing being fully booked shortly after getting our tickets. Guzzisue retired early and Ian and myself were not long behind.
At 05.30 we were woken by an announcement breakfast will be served at 06.00 at which time the duty free shop will once again be open. As sleep once again takes over the peace is shattered once again by the voice on the tannoy reminding us that the duty free shop will open in 15 minutes. Eventually we got up at 06.45, got dressed, mounted the Guzzi and thought about going the scenic route to Billund and Legoland, However the weather was against us so we decided to take the motorway.
Arriving at Legoland we tried to book a cabin for two nights but there were none available but we could have a hotel room for a mere 695KR per night plus extra for bed linen and towels! This would be a cost of £150 for both nights and there was not even a tv in the room. With very little deliberation we decide to give the hotel a miss and find a local tourist information centre who suggest a campsite at Riis and they have a small cabin for 300KR per night. It is situated only 15 miles from Legoloand so tomorrow we will travel there on the Guzzi.
Following the directions we were given we arrived at the campsite expecting it to be a small concern, is actually a 3 star site complete with swimming pool, shop and bar. The hut is quite small but could sleep a family of four if the children were young.
Next day we wake up to the sound of rain with an increasing wind. By 10.00 we decide to get on the bike and head for Legoland. Tickets were purchased on the campsite at a cost of 170Kr each to save queuing when we arrive. Reaching our destination we ride round and round the car parks eventually deciding on the one nearest the entrance, at a cost of 25JR to you sir!
The models inside are really amazing. The first one we saw was an airport scene with planes taxing around and even luggage being loaded onto waiting craft.
When we passed the model of Bergen we joked about the Italian Restaurant we had eaten in, up a back street away from the fish market. Sure enough the restaurant was there in the model-full marks for detail.

Many of the models were of Scandinavian cities but there was one of the Statue of Liberty,
and Neuschwanstein.
As Legoland is a theme park there were some rides for the older visitor, generally they are aimed at younger children. There was also a 4D Movie which was a 12 minute cartoon in 3D with special effects making it into 4D, for example large fans being turned on for the wind in your face experience and foam bubbles in the cinema to represent snow.
We depart Legoland at about 17.00 to avoid the leaving rush when the park closes, call in at a supermarket and then get lost trying to find the campsite. The quiet campsite of yesterday has now become a lively one with weekenders arriving and young children running all over the place.
Next day once again we wake to the sound of wind and rain, so we decided to go back to sleep for a while. When we finally decided to get up the rain stopped and Guzzisue packed the panniers while Ian and myself studied the map for a scenic route to Esbjerg.
Departing at 11.00 it is raining once again but we start on the planned route until several cars flash their headlights at us. The Guzzi has an electrical problem. We have no headlight, no tacho and after a short while no lights at all. Due to this we opt for the easy way to the port so that Ian can investigate the problem, hopefully under shelter.
The problem is nothing more than a blown fuse and this is sorted as Guzzisue wanders off in search of food.
Our ferry is already in port and being loaded with freight. We are able to check in at 16.00 and board an hour later. Due to the windy conditions on the way across we took sea-sick pills for the first time and it was just as well because it was a rough crossing. Small children were screaming for their parents to make it stop, there were many green faces with several being sick. By 22.00 there were only a handful of people in the bar. Guzzisue sat and read her novel while Ian and myself watched the waves break over the bar windows, which is on the 7th deck! until we retired for the evening.
Next morning all is quiet, the storm has subsided and we get an early breakfast. As England comes into view the tv screens come into life with Jackie Chan's movie, Tuxedo. As to why this was not played last night to help keep peoples' minds off the storm I don't know.
Arriving back in the UK, our adventure comes to an end as others are starting.