Created: 22 February 2026

Last Updated: 08 March 2026

Suggested Monthly Events.

Date in the month of the event to be decied as Club Night and Weather Dependent

• MARCH - Clare Castle - 60 miles round trip and has a Cafe. 
• APRIL - Café 33 Stradishall - 64 miles round trip
• MAY - Day at the Races Snetterton 30th May
• JUNE - Parlour Cafe, Burham On Crouch - 64 miles round trip
• JULY - Finchingfield (Sunday)
• AUGUST - 22nd August Mersea Island Family and Vehicle Show
• SEPTEMBER Andy Tiernan Framlingham - 90 miles round trip (Ask Andy to open)
• The Last Year Ride

Created: 05 February 2026

Last Updated: 05 February 2026

The February meeting got off to a slow start with Caroline and I in the Pub on our own until 19:30. We started to wonder if the poor weather had made everyone so fed up, they couldn’t be bothered to leave their warm and comfortable homes. However, within another 10 mins people started to arrive.

We had 3 apologies, Vic and Brian were otherwise engaged and Kim our Club Treasurer has got a terrible cold and decided to stay at home rather than spread the misery – wise choice. Eventually we had 20 members attending, which is a good number all things considered.

I kicked off the meeting with thoughts of the year ahead and an idea for our annual Coach/Minibus trip. The last 3 years we have enjoyed trips to Sammy Millers, NMM and the Triumph factory but the plan for this year is a day at the races. Being an old racer myself, I have suggested that as the Lansdowne and CRMC Club are racing at Snetterton on the 30^th May we could have our trip to see these wonderful machines being pushed to the limit. This was met with general agreement so we will start the organisation.

Also to attempt to get as much time on the bikes as possible we will plan a set of ride outs having at least 1 a month. Some good suggestions of locations were forth coming, Café’s, Castles, Breakfast venues so we will look to publish a schedule soon.

Our previous Chairman (Colin) advised that he has just purchased a new bike after a leave of absence from riding due to an incident that broke his foot. We all look forward to seeing him back on 2 wheels. Lastly, we have to congratulate Reg Green on his 80^th birthday. Reg is known to a lot of people in different sections, a brilliant and lovely guy. Sorry Reg I know you were trying to keep it quiet but you have a lot friends out there.

Let’s all hope for better weather soon.

Created: 09 January 2026

Last Updated: 05 February 2026

It was wonderful to see so many of you at the Christmas Dinner on Wednesday. I believe the Cricketers did a good spread for us, I certainly had more than enough food and mince pies and I hope you all felt the same.

I will do a fuller write up later next week but the highlights were:

• The Ralph Davis Cup. This went to Dale Clutterham for his efforts to continue to get to club events despite his continuing convalesces after a serious accident involving an Amazon delivery van.

• The Reeve Family Cup. This was awarded to Peter Bugg and Son for their participation on a Lovley brace of Matchless motorcycles and for bringing his Son into the pleasure of Classic motorcycling. It’s the next generation that we need to keep the enjoyment going.

• The Alan Jones Cup. Went to the legend that is Vic Sayers. Despite the weather he stills arrives on a bike and has completed over 850,000 miles on 2 wheels, which he knows as he records the mileage of every bike he has bought.

• The Gordon Levett Cup. This went to the 2 people who without which I couldn't keep the club running. They are a constant support and takes on the organisation and finances. The award went jointly to Caroline and Kim.

• The John Lay Cup. This final and most prestigious award went to a long running member of the club. He is an unassuming character whom has quietly assisted the Club members on many levels: collecting the subs, organising the MICA for Fish and Chip run and obtaining the Motorcycle papers for club night to name a few, and all whilst struggling with his knees and mobility. We were proud to award the cup this year to Bernie Hunt.

The picture of the evening can be viewed and downloaded if requried from: 2025 Christmas Photos

Created: 14 December 2025

Last Updated: 14 December 2025

Christmas is well and truly upon us now. I hope everyone is getting into the Christmas sprint and looking forward to the big day on the 25^th. As is traditional (well it’s a new tradition) for the club we don’t have a Club night in December as the Pub needs the room for Parties so instead, we meet at the Marks Tey Diner for breakfast.

We moved it by a week (we settled on the 13^th December) so as not to clash with the Kempton park Autojumble, which I must say was one of the biggest and best I’ve seen for a long time – long may it continue. Being an optimist and the predicted weather forecast for the Saturday I was hoping to muster up the Club for a pre breakfast rideout. Unfortunately, Friday night it rained and the roads became even more greasy than they already were, so it was cancelled to save any confusion and any Christmas impacting events.

The meeting was an informal event, so no speeches or club business to discuss – sparing the other members of the public who were having breakfast from hearing my voice. A good number attended 15 in total, with 3 brave souls coming on 2 wheels. Reg Green and his son and Vic Sayers popped in on his way to Manningtree – brave indeed. Some even wore Christmas attire to make the event festive.

Breakfast Pictures

The next event for the club is the annual Christmas and Awards Dinner that we always hold in January, this year – or should that be next – is on the 7th January. It’s quite a big affair with 41 people attending, so the pressure is on Me, Caroline and Kim as organiser to ensure it is a successful evening.

Merry Christmas all, and let’s all look forward to the New Year and more 2 wheeled action.

Created: 09 November 2025

Last Updated: 09 November 2025

If it wasn’t for the darkness at 19:00 we could have easily had a pre-meeting ride out. Being 16 degrees in temperature on club night, certainly wasn’t the reason. We had 20 members and 1 guest for the evening and Vic Sayers was the only one that arrived on a bike, putting us all to shame. He advised on the night that he has kept a record of all his bikes mileage since starting to ride. He has now covered approximately 850,000 miles on 32 bikes. Firstly, I was amazed that he kept records, something I have never done and that he had covered that many miles. Vic is a legend.

There are a few things to look forward to as announced at the meeting.

·         As we don’t have a December club night due to the Pub needing the room for festive parties, we have agreed to a breakfast meeting at the American Diner in Marks Tey on the 13^th December. Originally, it was going to be the 6^th but as most of us are going to Kempton we move to the 13^th. If the weather holds, we will have a pre-breakfast ride out, amazing if we manage it in December.

·         Our Christmas dinner and Awards will take place on January 7^th Club Night. Again, this year the event is proving to be very popular with already 40 people signed up. Members and wives, partners are in attendance, which is very pleasing to see.  Most cups have now been returned in readiness for the event.

All the North Essex section members hope everyone has a wonderful festive period and look forward to another year of motorcycling in 2026.

Created: 05 October 2025

Last Updated: 05 October 2025

As we enter the last quarter of the year, things are starting to slow down as the daylight hours reduce. However, it’s been a good month leading up to club night. We have had a good relationship with the Hadleigh Motorcycle club (in Suffolk) for many years and attending their BBQ event to help raise money for their club funds took place in Sept. They always put on a good show and this year was no different. We accumulated at the Cricketers Pub as we would use the event as a club ride out, 8 Bikes and 10 people set off and we took a beautiful route through the Suffolk countryside. Unfortunately, the lead rider decided to keep ignoring “Road Closed” signs and there was a couple of U-Turns. I would sack the Lead Rider for poor navigation, but as it was me, I decided to be lenient and give myself a good talking to instead. The BBQ was well attended and after a few hours we all started to make tracks for home. A couple of the old girls, had trouble starting but after some helpful pushing and bump starting they fired and away, they went. It was good to feel we had one last good ride out before the weather and darkness started to creep in.

There was no pre-meeting ride out organised for this October meeting as it is now getting too dark, but a few decided to arrive on bikes – the brave souls. The main topic for discussion was our Christmas Dinner and Awards event, which will be held on the 7^th Jan. December being so busy for most, having it in Jan always seems to work best. We only have one more Club Night this year as there is no December Club, The Cricketers Pub use the room for festive events. To offset this, we are organising a December Club Breakfast on the 6^th December – venue to be decided.

On a personal note. On the weekend of 3/4^th October I attended the Alternate Rally organised by the East London and Essex Section at Battlesbridge Antiques Centre. I would just like to thank their section for a great weekend, good company, good ride outs and lots of laughs, many thanks for a job well done.

Created: 07 September 2025

Last Updated: 07 September 2025

Unfortunately, the weather scuppered what would have been our final pre-meeting ride out of the year, which was a shame as we have had several good events and rides in the last month.

Our annual coach trip took place on the 28th August, this year we visited the Triumph Factory and paid for a group Tour. We managed to fill a 17-Seater Minibus, with Kym Stroud and Myself sharing the driving. The Tour guide was very knowledgeable and it was good to actually see some manufacturing activity and the place has a thriving machine shop. Nice to know that there is still some Engineering expertise left in this country and to top it all still using Colchester lathes, now made in Yorkshire but originally in our home town of Colchester Essex. The trip went off well and everybody enjoyed themselves and it was nice to see that some of the members wives/partners came along.

Saturday the 6^th Sept the club members were invited to join the Hadleigh Motorcycle Club’s annual BBQ in Thrope Morieux. This is held at Christian’s home and is always an enjoyable occasion, Christian and the Club members are great hosts and always made us welcome. We used the occasion for an organised ride out and set off from our usual meeting place travelling along some lovely Suffolk back roads. Unfortunately, the lead rider – myself – decided to ignore the odd “Road Closed” sign causing a couple of U-turns – sorry folks. When it came time to leave, Peter had trouble starting his G9 but with the help of some burly men pushing she fired and he and his son on another Matchless made it home safely.

Our member Dale who had an accident some months ago now, is still making a slow recovery. The event caused him some pretty serious injuries and he is still unable to put much weight on his legs. We all wish him well and hope his recovery continues and look forward to seeing him soon.

i

Let’s hope we still get some good weather in September and can grab some bike time before it gets too dark.

Created: 24 August 2025

Last Updated: 24 August 2025

For those attending the Triumph Factory Tour on the 28^th August here is the agenda with approx. times – traffic permitting.

08:30 – Nick and Kym pick Up Minibus from Robertson

09:00 - Depart Napier Road Car Parks Pick Up point

12:00 - Arrive at Triumph Factory and go walkabout around Exhibits

14:00 - Triumph Factory Tour Commences

15:30 - Tour Finishes and final chance to look around

16:30 - Depart for Home or when ready

19:30 - Arrive back at Napier Road Car Parks

People need to be parked at the Napier Road Car Parks by 08:45 so boarding the Minibus can take place and depart at 09:00am. I expect the journey to take 3 hours, this includes one stop for facilities to be used.

We have a Tour slot of 14:00, so we should have some time before and after the tour to view the rest of the museum. We will depart for home when everyone is ready, expect another 3 hour journey home.

If you have club attire, might be worth wearing for a club photo at the Factory – just a suggestion.

CAR PARK DETAIL

Napier Road Car Park ( North and South, they are on opposite sides of the road), Off Mersea Road , Colchester

Map of the Location of Car Parks: https://www.colchester.gov.uk/parking-and-travel/town-centre-car-parks/?id=&page=napier--road--north

There is a website to pre-book your parking, here is the link with the correct location: https://secure.mipermit.com/root/Account/PayAndStayAdd.aspx?LocationCode=737838

• MiPermit location number of Car parks: 737838
• As we will be back after 18:00 please book until 05:59am the next day. Car sharing is probably advisable to keep costs down.
• Parking can now be booked.

Created: 10 August 2025

Last Updated: 10 August 2025

The great weather continues, which is enabling more time on the bikes – hooray for that. Club night pre-meeting was a lovely ride through the Essex and a Suffolk countryside; a route Caroline and I had spec’ed out the weekend before. 15 bikes set off and 15 returned, we seem to be getting good at this now and 22 members at the meeting.  At the Cricketers we had to use the Bar area as they were using the Back room for a birthday party, so the paying public had to put up with my droning voice for a while.

There were 2 future events to announce and give members details. The Gordon Memorial ride out was taking place at the weekend, this is to remember one of the Club organisers who passed away 2 years ago. A lovely fella who I was just getting to know when he suddenly fell ill. Shaun Parker led us on one of his usual magical mystery tours to Cafe33 near Haverhill. 9 attended on 8 bikes, we all had a great time and talked about and remembered Gordon. There was also a nice level of banter between the group.

Gordon doing what he enjoyed.

Shaun and the Cardboard Cutouts.

The other big event is the annual Minibus Tour, which this year is to the Triumph Factory on the 28^th. 17 Members are travelling to Hinckley and taking the Tour on a Thursday as the Factory is operational for only 2.5 days, so good to do the tour and actually see people working. We will set off at 09:00am and have a Tour slot of 14:00, still giving us time to walk around the exhibits.

It became apparent at July’s meeting when Peter and his son joined us for a ride out that we had no guidelines for members to read and adhere to if they partake on a ride out. Having perused other section sites I found a set that I thought were spot on, so I “borrowed” theirs and discussed these at Club night. All thought these were good and would improve the safety and experience.

Let’s hope the weather continues and we manage more rides between now and September’s club night.

Created: 07 July 2025

Last Updated: 12 July 2025

Glorious weather, good company, good food and 2 wheels, what a very nice start to the weekend. With 9 Bikes and 10 people setting off from the Cricketers at 08:30am, we picked up Tony, Mike and Keith on-route and met Brian and Peter (Bugg) at the Parlour Café venue. As it was still reasonably early the roads were quiet and we all made as one group. Breakfast, Tea's and Coffees were ordered. The Café was a delightful venue and the staff friendly and food served reasonably quick considering a group of 15 suddenly arriving. Well worth the effort and thanks to all for the participation. Unfortunately, due to traffic build up on the way home the group got split, hope everyone made it home ok.