Welcome
to fellow BSA enthusiasts and other visitors to our website.
Bike
of the Month
THE THAMES VALLEY
BRANCH PROFILE Background The
current Thames Valley Branch of the BSAOC dates back to the beginning
of 1988 when a few enthusiasts got together at the Lord
Derby. As far as I can ascertain, these were Tony
Hamilton-Smith, Geoff Hill, Brian Norbury, Cyril Benn and Andrew
Stanley. The Thames Valley name was resurrected
from a defunct branch that used to meet at The Old House From Home at
Knowle Hill. Thanks to all of them for their work and
commitment over the years. It must have been very effective
as some 20 years later, the branch still meets up twice a month and has
a full programme of BSA related activities.
Membership We
have around 20 or so active members and a formal structure
that includes a Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary and Rides
Captain. We also hold a formal annual AGM
. Whilst our monthly meetings and ride-outs could
be considered to be our main activities, we also have a number of
social activities like the Summer Camp/BBQ , Christmas dinner, Skittles
evening, etc that enable our long suffering better
halves to "enjoy" our passion for BSAs. We do not
charge any additional membership subscription as we find that adequate
income for our modest needs is generated by the raffles that we hold at
these social events. We are fortunate to have quite a good
BSA skills base, particularly in regard to pre-unit singles and twins,
so much so that we have created an annual "Greasy Monkey" trophy for
the person who has been most helpful to others. Ian Clare was
deservedly the winner in 2007. Whilst we
have a keen/stable membership it is aging and although we will
inevitably follow the dinosaurs, we can try and keep the active passion
for BSA's alive as long as we can. In this regard,
BSAOC records indicate that there are some 25 people in our
immediate catchment area who have never shown up at any Thames Valley
Branch meeting/event in the five or so years that I have been
a member. They would be most welcome to meet up
with us and do not need to actively ride their BSAs, or currently own
one, to have an enjoyable evening/ride
out.
Bikes The
most common BSA in the branch is the 1950-62 pre-unit single/twin,
however, all BSAs are appreciated and, for example, in 2006 and 2007
the awards for the best bike trophy at our Summer Camp/BBQ went to a
pre-war Sloper and a 250cc Starfire. Fortunately we
have no puritanical rivet counters amongst our regulars as we all
remember the "customising" that we did to our original bikes and can
appreciate a quality bit of fettling. I remember having a
fully correct A7SS some 42 years ago and throwing most of the tinware
away to fit alloy guards, rearsets, sweptback pipes, clip-ons, chrome
headlight, racing fairing, etc. Similarly, our
Chairman, Cliff Turvill, recently finished what must be a strong
contender for the most expensive A7SS on the planet but, rather than
green, he painted it the colour of a bike that he had many years
ago. It looks much nicer in my view. We
also recognise that after our generation has gone, most old bikes will
gradually deteriorate as interest/skills wane, so we "ride for today"
and have a lot of fun doing so. Quite a few of us
have more modern bikes and sometimes we will elect to use those on a
ride-out for some reason or other. That's
okay, riding on a more modern bike, with luxuries like brakes,
effective lights, indicators and electric starting is better
than not riding at all.
Ride-Outs We
have always had a well organised approach to our ride-outs, so
incorporating the BSAOC risk assessment proforma has not caused any
inconvenience. Ride-outs tend to be organised such
that we either attend an event (like the Pioneer Run) or visit a place
(like the Fleet Air Arm museum). In general,
ride-outs avoid major roads and have a round trip of around 100
miles. Whilst we ride in convoy and tend to keep to a speed
that allows for any older/smaller capacity bikes, individuals can have
a bit of a blast to "clean the plugs". This is very
appreciated by the 6 of us with Gold Stars and by Bob with
his very rapid Firebird. We
only have a few basic rules, bikes must be in good roadworthy/legal
condition, riding must be safe and you have to turn up with a fairly
full tank of fuel. Details of our
ride-outs are published on this web-site, which can either be accessed
via the BSAOC or directly.
Interaction with Other
Branches/Members One of the objectives of this
profile is to encourage a better interaction with other branches of the
BSAOC and/or with other BSA enthusiasts.
We have fairly close contact with the Hampshire Branch and regularly
meet up with them in the summer. Depending on the
weather, we would be happy to meet up with other branches within, say,
a 100 mile radius of Basingstoke (e.g. both ride 50 miles to a suitable
pub/venue), provided that it is outside of the M25.
For individuals, as long as you are a BSA enthusiast, you are
very welcome to join our club nights and ride outs (which
tend to start at Odiham), regardless of whether you ride your BSA or
not.
