Old Bike Mart Magazine March 2016 Edizione posteriore

Pete’s Prattle

Now that the winter gloom is behind us at last, it’s time to start thinking seriously about those happy, and hopefully sunny, motorcycling days ahead.

While some of us might thoroughly enjoy setting off on long, contemplative journeys alone – and might even need to do so – for most it’s the company of like-minded souls that brings the most pleasure. Some of my happiest motorcycling memories are of club evenings with the Warrington Motor Cycle Club back in the 1960s, when we’d get together each week to read the latest motorc ycle magazines, scrutinise each other’s machines and, for a few pence in the pot, enjoy endless streams of tea, coffee, scones and sandwiches served up by ‘the girls’.

We’d decide on our next weekend runs – often North Wales or, if there was any racing on, nearby Oulton Park, Aintree, Prees Heath or Wallasey – and generally have a good crack together.

What happy-go-lucky days they were! On the runs there was always someone to help you fix a puncture or undertake the many other small roadside repairs that invariably cropped up, such as broken chains, loose fittings and snapped cables. My bikes were nothing special – just a second-hand 150cc BSA Bantam followed by a second-hand Ariel Arrow – but I was never made to feel second class by any of the owners whose big twins and singles surrounded them.

The growing list of motorcycling clubs on our ‘Club Call’ page amply demonstrates the depth and breadth of such organisations in Britain, from one-make (and even onemodel) clubs to those catering for motorcycles of certain eras or indeed of any era at all...