A Guid New Year to Ane & a’

As we enter this year with the doom and gloom merchants all around just take stock and ask what you have to moan about. Firstly you all (or most of you) have motorcycles and as such have the best anti depressant in the world sitting in your garage (or front room). Petrol prices are down at least 20% from the summer high so you can do 20% more miles and have more fun for the same money. Because of the worlds financial mismanagement by the biggest crooks in the world (the banks) shop prices are coming down so it’s cheaper than last year to buy stuff. The price of Classic bikes is still rising as people look for places to store cash, obviously good if you’re thinking of selling but not good if you’re buying. Norton are (allegedly) back in business and in the UK. For our European pals its never been cheaper to come to the UK or to buy bikes from the UK and finally it’s going to be a great year weather wise guaranteed. 2009 will be remembered as the year the worlds economy continued in recession but the people were happier with a reappraisal of what’s really important in life and helped by constant sunshine.

My year started off well with a visit to Phil & Trudie on New years day, plenty Norton talk and plenty whisky, unfortunately that meant that the 2^nd was a bit of a wash out. The weather although cold has been inviting so I used the bike on the 3^rd and had the Lothians & Borders “Frostbite” run on the 4^th. The first Sunday the year sees the annual Lothians & Borders Classic & Vintage club “Frostbite run” . Starting (as always) from the public car park in Peebles on the first Sunday of the New Year. We had arranged to meet up at Dreghorn services on the City Bypass at 10am. I must admit it was a thought getting out of bed on a frosty cold January morning to put the bike gear on but I was glad that I did. I was on the Mk3 Le Mans which was chosen because it can handle powering my heated jacket & gloves, Fiona has now gone one better and has heated socks to complete the set and to ensure that warmth is always there even on a cold day. The run itself was around 35 miles over the back roads in the Peebles Innerleithen area. The organisers warned about very bad road conditions, they weren’t wrong! Snow, Ice, potholes and debris from tree felling were amongst the obstacles. At one point I was going just a little to quickly when I found myself on a ¼ mile section of sheet Ice, the term steering with the cheeks of your ar*e took on its correct meaning. We had one faller, luckily unhurt and the day was capped of with stovies, pudding and tea at the usual spot in Innerleithen. A grand day out, lets face it what else is there to do on a cold frosty winters day? An excellent turnout as well with over 30 bikes taking part.

So as I said earlier look forward to another year using your Norton in glorious weather!

The Norton Owners Club Jubilee year

The club are putting together a series of events to celebrate this year (50 years of the NOC) as agreed at the last meeting before Christmas our contribution will be a Camping weekend at Applecross the week after the Norton meeting at Donnington which will be the 26^th – 28^th of June. The weekend will have an organised run on the Saturday around the coast road and back over the Bealach. If you’ve never been to Applecross make the effort and see why its my favourite place in Scotland.

The details I’ve sent to the club so far are “Experience the best the Scottish Highlands have to offer, recommended route North Via Perth Crieff Craininlarich, Glencoe, Fort William turning of at Invergarry for the excellent run down past the famous Eilen Donan Castle, turning over towards Loch Carron in the most spectacular scenery before tackling the tricky Bealach na Ba (The pass of the cattle) http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=oYKmUQQ0Vqo before arriving at Applecross. Award winning food at both the pub and the walled garden resturant.

Saturday a proposed run around the coast road and back over the Bealach.

Depart on Sunday (or stay if people wish) recommended (faster route) turning off at Spean Bridge to experience the Laggan road made famous by the UK TV series Monarch of the Glen before heading south on the A9.

We hope to have something to commemorate the weekend either a special badge or T shirt (or Both)

Further details to follow So NO excuses! Be there or miss out on an event which will be talked about for decades.

2009 Plan so far

My plan for this years Norton events so far if anyone wants to come along is Norton Friday at Donnington (possibly just for the Friday) Applecross NOC Camping weekend (of course) Austria (for the second weekend) leaving midweek before and returning midweek after and of Course the Begonia Rally in Belgium in August. There’s also the Camping weekend (Hotel & Bunkhouse available for non campers) at Glen Clova on the 2^nd bank holiday in May run jointly with the Scottish Classic club & the sidecar club which also promises to be a great weekend.

MVD latest

After stripping the motor I’ve decided to fit a PW3 cam which I had lying around. The old cam had lost 5mm from lobe 3 OUCH! Looks like Lube failure. Now I’m considering using synthetic oil, I’ll keep you all posted

The Small Print

The views and opinions contained within this publication are not necessarily those of the NOC or of the branch but are probably mine as I wrote it.

No one accepts any responsibility for anything, if you have a good time don't say I didn't warn you.

Gino Rondelli

January 2009