BMF Tail End Rally 2007

All the time in we were in Germany I have wanted to do a BMF rally, and even when we came back home, something always seemed to come up to stop us going.  So it was great to be off to Peterborough on Saturday 15^th September.

It was Andy and I, as usual, but this time we also had Tom with us.  Now Tom’s a newcomer to motorcycling, having only passed his test, and bought his first bike, the week before!  Now being an ‘old git’, compared to Andy, he was able to do a direct access, which enabled him to buy a R6.  So, 0830 hrs saw us leave, Tom on his R6, Andy on his SV650S and me on the Roadking.  Taking the A1, it was quick and easy to get to the East of England Showground in Peterborough.

There were lots of stalls selling everything you could think of, and more.  We had a bacon butty and drink first, then went and watched the old-timer speedway.  This was excellent!  The oldest rider was 80, and bikes ranged from 1920s and 30s Rudge Whitworths to 50s and 60s JAPs, before getting on to the Jawas.  With all the old bibs from teams that went out of action many years ago (New Cross, Wimbledon, Wembley, Rayleigh, etc.), it brought back a lot of good memories, as I used to do a bit of riding in the early 70s.

Then it was on to the stalls.  We went in and out of them all, sometimes quickly and sometimes not so quickly.  The weather was glorious, so the heat slowed us down.  With a Fanta at £1.50, we also drank slowly.  The stalls were all round the stadium.  Towards the end we found the area where all the clubs were situated.  We spoke to the Bandit and SV club (Andy) and the H-D Riders Club of GB (me).  Nearly back where we began, we found a guy doing airbrush pictures on leather.  As I had had no luck with finding any of the things I was prepared to buy, I had my name done on the back of my bike jacket.  As I had to leave the jacket, I went and watched the short track racing (British Championship) while Andy and Tom went to buy things they had seen on our travels.  When they returned, Andy had a new leather jacket and Tom had a jacket AND boots.

A nice ride home rounded off an excellent day.  We will definitely do it again!