Almost Easter and still Snow

As always I was looking forward to the Easter break this weekend and was intending to have a weekend camping at Applecross however the doom mongers are predicting near Arctic like conditions with a high possibility of snow for the weekend. I know that Easter is determined by the Moon and that’s why it changes every year, but if the other Christian celebration (Christmas) is always on 25^th of December then why does Easter have to change? I think we should lobby for a motorcyclists Easter which would always at least be in the middle of April!! And if this isn’t possible then God should at least bless us with some warm weather when he decides to call a holiday!

Last Weekend

A nice run down the east coast was the order of the day for Saturday, two things I wanted to do, first have breakfast and a cup of the best tea in the world at Gullane Village coffee house and secondly investigate reports that there were two German submarines lying at the low tide mark somewhere in the Aberlady to Gullane stretch of sand, It was a cold but not unpleasant day and a nice run down, the Mk3 Commando rolling along nicely and me with a big grin on the inside at the thought of a big pot of tea at my first stop. I kept the speed within legal limits as the cylinder head oil leak gets worse if you go above 70MPH.

The Village Coffee house in Gullane is without a doubt one of the best café’s around, it’s small and decorated to give it an old world feel, memorabilia from the 50’s adorn the shelves and the wallpaper is straight out of your Granny’s house. Tea is served (proper tea, not teabags!) in a proper teapot and use of the supplied tea strainer is necessary, one thing I like as much as my beer is a good cup of tea and this is a good cup of tea! The friendly ambience gives it that homely feel and it is on the list of compulsory stops if you are in the vicinity.

Tea over and parked the bike at Gullane beach to begin the search for mythical abandoned Submarines, walking with full winter motorcycling gear isn’t the easiest I can assure you. After walking along the shoreline to a point just at Aberlady bay I spotted them, two rusting hulks around 100 metres apart half buried in the sand. I looked at them and wondered why were they still here? Also what was the circumstances in which they found themselves beached here?

A l;ook at the all knowing Google this morning and I’ve found out they were British XT craft submarines, a variant of the X craft that bombed the Tirpiz in 1942, these midget submarines which had a crew of four normally were towed there in 1948, moored to a large concrete block and used for target practice. So much for my romantic notion that some sea battle had taken place here in the gentile surroundings of Aberlady & Gullane.

The long trek back to the bike proved that my bike jacket which was waterproof from the outside in was also waterproof from the inside out, net result was I ended up soaked due to building up a sweat and the heat having no escape, new jacket with breathable membrane on the shopping list for this week!

A short and pleasant run to Gifford followed and on to another café. Once again highly recommended if you are in the area. I parked the Norton out front and almost everyone who came in had a good look at it and wanted to talk about it. Two older gentlemen engaged me in conversation about the “old” British bikes that used to go around in the borders, one of the chaps could match owners with bikes going back to just after the war. Fascinating stuff and he invited us in for tea if we were ever passing his house. As I went out another guy hurried to speak to me, he was quite exited and uttered the words “I had a Mk3 in 76” Unfortunately it was one of a batch which had sat at Southampton docks for a while, obviously a failed export order which had been subsequently bought by Lloyds of Hamilton, it transpired that although he liked the bike he had nothing but problems which ended up in the courtroom, he won and the bike was repaired, eventually the wiring loom gave up the ghost (probably as a result of sitting exposed to salt air on the dockside while waiting for a new owner) and when a young student (from a local fee paying private school) knocked on the door of his flat and made him an offer he was only too glad to accept. A year later the student sent him a picture of the bike on a tour of Germany. In this day and age when we hear of the privileged classes giving their privately educated kids extravagant “coming of age” presents it was refreshing to hear this. It was obvious the guy had a real soft spot for the Commando though and he said he was considering getting back into motorcycling and was probably going to go for a Commando.

You meet the nicest people on a Norton!!

Engine rebuild time

Finally got all the bits together to start the Commando engine rebuild, many thanks to Alex for the use of his immaculate and well equipped workshop. We spent most of Sunday putting the bottom end together and preparing the bits for the rest of the motor, guess what, just about to phone RGM to order even more parts now, this thing will be like brand new when I’m finished but I’ll be too poor to ride it anywhere!!

National Rally 2008

Hopefully the flyer will be in the next Roadholder, having E mailed all and sundry on the committee & the editor + Magazine distributor I’ve had not one reply which is a bit worrying. However despite that there has been a fair bit of interest already so looking forward to the party. The T shirts are being designed at the moment and I’ll share the proposals with you before we make a decision. The next thing we need to do is to meet the Rugby club officials probably around the end of May, at the same time we’ll tie that in with the caterers. Still got to book a band for the Saturday, I’ve been holding off as we really need a band who “kick ass” to get the place jumping. Trophies we need to speak about plus a couple of other ideas I have around the weekend. Looking good though!

For those of you reading this in mainland Europe there is a special offer just now on Superrfast ferries from Rosyth (Edinburgh) - Zeebrugge but you will have to be quick as all offers finish on 30^th March, worth checking out but DFDS is still cheaper. http://www.superfast.com this alslo applies if any of you are thinking about a Europe trip this year.

For Sale

71 Fastback Commando, Metal flake Blue & Silver, Mikuni Cark, Boyer Ignition and engine rebuild by the late Charlie Pirie a few years ago. Some stainless, Borrani Alloy rims. Geoff Burns is selling it as he hasn’t the time to use it, currently MOT’d and asking price around £3500. I have pictures of the bike and Geoff’s phone number if you are interested

And Finally

Sandy Bloy officially handed over the reigns of Sandy Bloy Motorcycles to Gary and Stephen recently and he had a party to celebrate, suspect Sandy will still be there though offering advice to the young un’s, more time for him to get out on the commando now?

Scottish Motorcycle show

What can I say, it gets worse every year and has now become a social event rather than a bike show, even the classics were poorly represented this year and not a Commando in sight!

Crathes Vintage car and motorcycle rally. Being held 25th May at Crathes.
It is only a one day event but George has had a look around and there is a camp site pretty close situated just behind the Feughside inn outside Banchory. Contact George before April 5^thcut off for entries if interested..

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

March 2008