By all accounts the turnout of around 70 Goldwings was pretty much as expected, with the weather putting a bit of a damper on the day. The City of Chester was certainly a very popular venue with most of the ladies disappearing on retail therapy whilst the guys held court with many interested shoppers and city visitors.

Goldwings were split up into three display areas to maximise on the charity collection potential and to encourage wingers and visitors to explore the city.

The new 2012 GL1800 also made an appearance and 4 or 5 of the superb new models were on display, they really did attract quite a bit of attention, and already some owners had made very attractive modifications and additions to their machines.

Chester Lions, who provided all of the marshalls and charity collection effort for the event, had a great day raising money for the two nominated charities and I’m sure there will be an announcement soon with the totals. The official report on the days fun and parade can be read here. and press reports from the Chester Chronicle.

Pictures from the event can be found on the Goldwing Light Parade website

Celia from Elite Wings informs us they have a couple of very nice Wings for sale on their website. As the warmer biking weather is upon us now is a great time to upgrade or pick up your very first GoldWing.

The bikes owned by Elite Wings members tend to be very well appointed and maintained, and represent good value for money.

Click on this link to read the latest.

This will be the first official event of the newly formed Federation club and they invite you to take part. Plans include an overnight stay in a local hotel, taking part in the ride of respect,  followed by a ride around the area on the Sunday. Pre-registration for the ride is required as numbers are expected to be high.

Last year around 10,000 bikers descended on Wiltshire to ride through the town of Wootton Bassett in appreciation of the sacrifice made by British soldiers. They rode through the town, the scene of many moving homecomings for service personnel killed in Afghanistan.

Over the past 2 years Julia Stevenson and Anne Cole have set up and run The Ride of Respect bike ride through Royal Wootton Bassett. In that time they have raised over a quarter of a million pounds for military charities.

After a huge amount of requests from local residents and businesses they have decided to run the Ride of Respect this year on 18 March for the very last time to say ‘Thank you’ to the residents of this wonderful town for they have done over recent years for our ‘fallen  heroes’ and their families.

The ride will be leaving RAF Hullavington airfield riding through The High Street of RWB.

This year will be supported by The Royal British Legion and all monies raised will be split equally between 10 nominated military Charities as listed on their website www.rideofrespect.co.uk Registrations are now open.

Further details can also be found on the GoldWings North Midlands website

Sorry if that sounds a bit geeky. Take a look and keep up to speed.

The National Road Rally committee is pleased to confirm that the 2012 National Road Rally on Saturday 30 June to Sunday 1 July will have final controls at Ely, Leeds, The Ace Café, Frome and Whitchurch.

The following controls, however, could really do with some help, even if it is for an hour. People manning them would be grateful for a loo/coffee/nap break.

What else will you be doing at 2am on a Sunday morning?

Controls seeking help

Dunchurch – though we could happily move this to Rugby.

• Leominster
• Swindon
• The Ace Café
• Andoversford
• York
• Wigan
• Stoke
• Tideswell

All you need to be able to do is stamp a card, offer a bit of encouragement and drink coffee, all with a smile. So, please consider supporting this years rally as a club, family, group of friends, or indeed as a Federation of Clubs. You don’t have to be BMF member or even ride a bike; one control really is run by a group of church ladies. (and they are regularly nominated, by the riders, for the best control trophy)

Further information from Rachel at membership©bmf•co•uk  (membership©bmf•co•uk)   and offers of help to Chief Marshall Wally Bradshaw at wallybee©btopenworld•com  (wallybee©btopenworld•com)   or even check out the NRR web site at www.nationalroadrally.co.uk

Or you could enter the rally as a participant.

The Federation volunteers, Bob, Stuart, and Dave, who made the journey down to Stoke, along with their wives, arrived a good half hour before the 4:00pm kick off and ended up having  a chat with a couple of Centre Wings and Staffordshire Wings members, both having expressed an interest in joining the fledgling club and had made the short journey to the hotel themselves.

The room allocated for the meeting, at first view, was going to be a little small, but everyone managed to get a seat and by 4:00pm Steve Corbishley and his team started the meeting and went on to explain what they wanted to achieve and what the club was all about. It was positive to hear they had already arranged a schedule of events and run outs and that they were also looking to make regular visits to their mother club GoldWings North Wales. The Federation was thanked for their extensive support in setting up the club, especially the website at GoldWings North Midlands, which was being put to good use and for their attendance. A total of twelve memberships had applied via the web and several more signed up on the day.

It was a very positive start for the organisers and the Federation volunteer team, along with the members of all other Federation clubs, wish them all the best for the future.
If you ride a GoldWing and are based anywhere near the North Midlands area you are invited to pay them a visit at any of their meetings to see what they are about.

You wont go far wrong.

We fully understand the situation with Knutsford Motorcycles and have already thanked Eric for his support in previous years. The business has now been taken over by J & S Accessories of Northwich and the entire stock and GoldWing service skills moved to a brand new J&S site which is being developed about 10 miles away at Delamere, Sandiway.  This is a large site on the A556 and used to be occupied by a caravan and motor-home dealer.  It has large showroom and other buildings including a well equipped cafe.  There is also a Pub right next door.

What does this mean? – well the Federation has very few commitments financially and we are lucky to have a balance of funds from 2011, however the money normally spent in the form of club support and grants will now have to be reviewed for the forthcoming year.

The volunteer group are however looking at other income streams and sponsorship support for the future. We will keep you informed.

Put together by members of North Wales and several unattached local GoldWing owners, they have created an up to date website and calender of ride outs and events. They have also decided to be members of the Federation of UK Goldwing Clubs and have already benefited from their membership in the form of a very swish website, courtesy of  IT Guru Nigel Mackintosh.

Their first meeting will be held on February 12th at  Moorville Hall Leek Rd, Werrington, Stoke-On-Trent, Staffordshire ST9 0DG at 4pm. I’m sure they will be very welcoming if you fancy paying them a visit.

GoldWings North Wales have joined forces with the local Chester Lions Group, who after experiencing the Llandudno light parade, decided they could combine their charity raising and organisational skills along with the spectacle of a Goldwing light parade and make a considerable sum of monies for their favorite charity. North Wales members approved fully with the idea, seeing as all the hard work of marshalling and organisation is no longer their responsibility.

Meanwhile GoldWings North West have England’s classic resort, Southport, well and truly on board with the September Light Parade due in the seaside town. Once again the Police are offering their full support and the local radio station Dune FM is also promoting the event over the airwaves. Hotel accomodation is said to be amazing value in the Prince of Wales Hotel right on Lord Street.

Both events are set in excellent locations with opportunities to display the bikes and  also to have a good look around the town and explore the locality. Two great light parade weekends, one at each end of the GoldWing riding season, what a good idea that was.

Details of both events and Hotel accommodation can be found on the Federation GoldWing Light Parade website