How did you first start motorcycling?

At 17 as a way to get to work.

When did you get your own bike?

At 17 with a Honda 70 and then went up to 360cc.

Sold my bike when Marriage and Children came along. In the late 90s an Aunt died and left me some money, so I bought my first BMW a purple R80GS, then with more touring in mind after three years we got a K1100LT and we had that for three years until the R1200RT came out, fell in love with it and got one in April 05, which we still use for ride outs and touring. We joined the club in 1998. We now have three bikes the R1200RT a R60/6 and a R100S.

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What overseas tours have you been on?

We started with a small group of friends that were in the club and went to the Isle of Man. Rob Allin told us he only stayed in hotels so we booked one in Port Erin, only to find when we got there they had a chalet in Douglas, but we had Ryan Farquhar in our hotel and David Jason was filming on the beach.

The following year we stayed in Belgium at a B & B Laurence had found and then after that at a farmhouse in the Seine estuary.

Then we put the tours out to the wider club, we started off by returning to the  Belgium farm that Laurence had found. We have also been to Austria twice, France different parts three times, Switzerland, Holland and Germany, the Mosel Valley. Sometimes its caravans or chalets or hotels, but wherever we stay it’s always been a good trip with plenty of laughs and things to remember for years to come.

Have you customised your bike?

No too busy riding it.

Why did you join the BMW club?

We wanted to go out weekends to a destination rather than just riding around, and have found new friends from all walks of life. 

What do you do when you are not motorcycling?

I like gardening and the pub social evenings and meals the club members organise.

Rosemary and I also look around areas for ride outs or hotels for a weekend away sometimes visiting them just to check them out before we ask the committee and then with help from the others like Geoff who finds routes and while he was treasurer did all the money as well. Other people also organise trips and ride outs and where we can we go along to support them.

I also like recommissioning old bikes and getting them back on the road.

Originally posted 2020-07-20 19:35:15.