Monday 3 September 2012

Italian Car and Bike Day: the usual no-show..but great people

Well, did the show yesterday, and despite the fact the weather was ok, there was no one there, again. Lots of cars, but only about 10 people turned up on bikes. No idea why. As they say in Italian, "Boh??"

I actually had a good time despite the failure of the event as I met some great people. I had my Guzzi Stornello Scrambler and Gilera 150 with me, and people were fascinated by the unrestored Guzzi in particular. Chris and Jane Jessop from Leeds who were out putting the miles on their Guzzis, having been down for the weekend from Leeds, and are back down next weekend to Swindon. They're also Buell fans too which means they have taste, and actually run a joint Buell and Italian Day up at East Kirkby, Lincolnshire in July, so hope to hook up with them there next year.

Great to see Paul to on his newly purchased, genuine mileage 14,000 on the clock Mk 1 Le Mans, and we enjoyed a pint of the local Kentish bright beer, which was very tasty. Carlo arrived on his wonderful and original Benelli 250 2C two stroke - found in Italy of course - and we chatted for ages about racing Alfas, bikes and life in general. Jeremy turned up with the most eclectic collection of motorcycle photos I've ever seen on a phone. I had my Gilera 150 on display, and just an hour before someone had asked me how many in this country - I hadn't seen another one was my reply. Then Jeremy turned up, and showed me his exact same bike which he is going to restore, and I hope to be able to help him out with some information. Best story of the day came from an old gentleman who told us about his hill climbing days on bikes and cars, and the time he was stuck on a hill, proceeded to reverse back at speed, running his friend over in the process, and leaving him with a tyre mark on his face and a burn on his leg from where the exhaust tail pipe had lodged itself...











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