It all started on Friday morning, the A10 was fully freighted and ready, the alam spouted out it's urgent call, and I sprang into life. Only to find the sky black, and the rain bouncing off the road so hard it was going back from where it fell BUGGER it, thought I, t'is the car for me then, and so my trip into the Hell Hole wasn't by BSA. Not too worry, the forecaster on BBC Radio Kent told of brighter skys to come, and thankfully she wasn't wrong. And so when I got kicked out of the place I hate, my drive home was in the lightest of drizzles, and getting drier all the time.

A quick sarnie, a pint of tea, an even quicker shower and I was off, thar be a camp in a strange land to attend, and hanging about for the Sun wasn't an option. Into the petrol station to fill with liquid gold, and off we did go, job's a good un.

I was North East bound, the A10 was running ever so sweetly, and I was in Bimble mode, all the time the bike's wheels were spinning, the sky was clearing, and then IT happened The SUN came out.

After a good long time, I FINALLY came to me turning, I'd been looking in me map all week, sorting out where the camp site was. Up the A140, past Norwich, take the B1354 second left and it's along that road...

BUT, and that's a warning sort of but there Guys & Dolls, I was in Norfolk, and after getting off that 'A' road, I had Norfolking idea where I was! Each and every turning in them lanes didn't have a road sign, then I came to a cross roads that had THREE signs, so I went down the THREE roads they all pointed too, wasn't till I clocked up a good few miles, that I realised it was the FOURTH road, and the road with NO sign, that was the correct road for me But who cares, the Sun was out, the A10 was running great, and I was touring. No rush to get anywhere, and what a good way to find places. Course I COULD have asked someone, but being Norfolk... Well let's just say they be strange, and I'll leave it at that!

Any road up, after all that mooching about I FINALLY found the Goat Inn, and saw this...




And just as I kicked the sidestand down, young Grob came over and thrust a pipping hot cuppa tea into me mitts, what a good lad, it was PERFICK I tells ya. Had a moan about their bloody road signs, but as I said before, they be from Norfolk ect...

So tea drunk, t'was time to errect the cavans hotel...



It was a good camp site, we were sharing it with camper vans and caravans (RV's & Trailers) but we didn't interfer with them, and they left us alone, so all was well. Then just as I was thinking about a drink, Grob came over with yet MORE tea, and this time a Bickie to dunk in as well, life can't get much better than that

After a while it was getting near nose bag time, but the pub on site wasn't doing food till late, so one of the Norfolk Branch boys told us of a good Fish & Chip shop, so I fired up the A10, and off we did go. Best bit of fish I've had for a while, but all that salt and vinegar makes for a thristy old time. So the lad did nothing more, than to take us to a fantastic Olde Worlde Pub, sat right there on the river...



And a, well you can see here what I had...



What a FANTASTIC welcome to a BSA camp, and a brilliant time was in the making, my first night was spent quaffing Perry, which is a Cider made from Pears, and spinning yarns sat around the fire ring. Life don't get much better than this...



Well after a long day and being up till the wee hours, me bed was calling me, and I slept the sleep of the dead, out like a light. Till some Bar Steward started to make either of two noises? It was either a WW1 battle field, or perhaps the Civil War lot..? All I know is there was a cannon or three being shot, Grob told us it was a bird scarer, but I very much doubt that my old son, what bird gets up at 04.30 in the morning eh? Answer me THAT!

So once awake y'all know what it's like, you HAVE to get up, and water the tree, so while I was up I got me Primus out and had a brew up...



This morning being Saturday, we were to do the run, and Grob had a treat in store for us...

We hit them lanes after a BIFTA in the pub, and hit them BIG style we did too...









Then out in them very lanes, we all got stuck behind this thing...



We eventually blasted past it, it was hideous a trike made up from scrap no doubt? And we got away from it as fast as possible, till Grob pulled into a layby for re-grouping, letting this happen!



Bloody thing shot past us, at it's high speed of 25mph, still not to worry it's not going our way, and we were soon back on course...



And as I was doing a 'Grandpa' I thought I'd try to do what he does...

YES OK I know they're a tad blured, but YOU try riding and taking the photos, BLIMEY I don't know how he does it..! I even did a Split Ring sort of grin, and that's not easy I can tell ya...



Now today was a tad windy, and that wind was being blown from the North Sea, and it's not known for being warm, just glad the Lovely Janette wasn't with me, she'd be frozen to the seat. Soon we made our treat, and it was here...



Now that Norfolk accent had me a tad puzzled, I now know where them lot in Canada get it from! I was told we were to ride on a Steam Boot, but it turned out to be a BOAT, not only that but a 1895 Steam Launch...



With an engine that sounded just like a fine M series BSA...



Sorry no sound on me camera, but you can see it working...



Young Grob was spinning yarns with our Captian...



All the while I was enjoying looking at the wild life on the river...



The Captian opened up the throttle and we had a full head of steam...

ya'll boys got it made!!! but one thing has puzzled me for ages,,,how do you'uns quaff all them ales then ride too???without getting caught by the cops???

Once we had our little ride, t'was the next lots turn...





While they were enjoying it, we mooched around the museum, a great place for a visit, and I bumped into a Gold Star owning American over from Florida, he told me he don't see ANY Brit bikes in the Florida area! BLIMEY lads come on get a wiggle on get them bikes out and about.

So once all our lot were on dry land, we headed off once more into the lanes, and it's there I found the reason for all the wind...



These bloody wind machines are popping up all over the place, just wish they'd turn em off at weekends, it was making it cold out there.

Once back at the camp site I wondered off for me supper Ale, another pint or three of that wonderful Wherry, all the while the BSAOC Norfolk brnach were busy getting our VERY good BBQ sorted...



BLIMEY, they were trying their best to kill me, never had so much food, at one stage I swear I heard one of em say "T'is more Belly than Beast" but none the less, I worked me way through it all, and then settled down with more of that Perry, what a fine drink that is.

As dusk started to fall, young Grob came out with the night's entertainment, a lighter, and a bit of mucking about, and, well you can see here...



All the while the fire ring was doing it's job of keeping us all warm...



Why wasn't we in the warm pub y'all ask..? Well, there was some sort of Scoccer match being played, and they had one of them BIG TV's nailed to the wall, bugger that, we had MORE fun out in the cold with Grob and his lanterns...





Till the flame finally burnt out at around 3,000ft then all we could see was a tiny Black dot in the Blue evening sky...

The Perry flowed, more logs were placed on the fire, and more yarns spun, all in all a PERFICK weekend, well done the Norfolk Branch I had a FANTASTIC time, all your hard work was well worth it, I WILL be back

But before I leave y'all, here's some Norfolk words to look over, see if you can work out what they mean...

First of all I'll give you a word for free, it's what them lot call a Lady Bird, what for this, its a good un...

Bishy-Barney-Bee

Then there's this sentence...

Then a MAWTHER went by with a DWILE to rub down the DICKEY, so that shut him up.

MAWTHER = Woman
DWILE = Rag
DICKEY = Donkey...

OK them lot are the free ones, now find out what this lot mean...

MARDLE
BIGGOTY
SQUIT
TITTERMATOTER
SNOB
DODMANS
FRESHER

TOLD you they were a strange lot didn't I

raf940 lad, if I told you that, I'd have to kill you. Don't you know Careless Talk Cost Overtime lad

But as it's YOU...

We can have a pint and still be OK to drive, we don't have a NO Beer while driving law YET. So a pint is ALL while we're on the bikes, then once we've got em parked, the sky is the limit lad And as we're in the tent, we don't have to ride home, till the beer has worn off.

So lad it's all about using your noggin, and not being silly about it, t'is only the GORMLESS buggers who drink and ride lad

Well done Shaun looks like a great weekend you had lad and all them old lamps and only £2 for all that food and cheap beer you must have had a cheap weekend at last lad.


PJ

thankyou for coming to our weekend shaun and every one who came we all had a fantastic time its the best so far in 5 years i been doin it .i jus dont know how im gona top it ? i beter get me thinking hat on

fantastic yarn boy

go yew steady an yew keep'a'troshin boy

from rob and jen

Who printed his greasy fingertips on that nicely pollished chimney? It was you Shaun. Admit it.

MARDLE
BIGGOTY
SQUIT
TITTERMATOTER
SNOB
DODMANS
FRESHER

well i have NO idea...
but here goes,
i imagine it might go like this:

i don't give a BIGGOTY SQUIT whether DODMANS was FRESHER.
but he better leave MARDLE's TITTERMATOTER alone!

I got my A10 back together in time for the camp , I am only 80 miles away so a good distance towards running in my newly honed barrel and new pistons, I used straight 30 oil and cooler plugs.

I did a total of 220 miles and it,s settling in nicely, oil leak now nearly zero but just to put a damper on a brilliant week end the charging system has stopped working.

Shaun has said it all about the camp and most of the photos I have are the same shots as his but here are a few he didn't get.


















Thanks all at Norfolk branch especially lightningrob

When Sir Isaac Newton was a lad about 400 years ago he would send up similar hot air balloons at night and terrorize the countryside.

Mike G was there??????

If you blokes have "wheelie bins" [240 litre flip top rubbish bins with wheels] you can probably buy bin liner bags to suit.

They will lift a burner made out of the last 1/2" of an alloy beercan loaded with 3 or 4 firelighter cubes [depending on ambient temperature]and have much greater range.

Not trying to encourage you delinquents of course.

One of the Sidecar Racers at Winton suggested that if the large bags were used as material a huge one could be fabricated with the aid of sticky tape, imagine "Area 57" in Kent ?

The A-10 is looking good Sean, you sure you have not been polishing ?

Great tale and photos, this is bimbling and rallying at its finest. I suppose that the blinding shine coming off the A10 is the result of the big polishing it got for the New Zealand trip?

raf940, I used to think the same thing, how DO they do it? Pubs everywhere, and passing up very few of them. Not being a drinker of any note myself, I wondered "Where do they put it all?". But then I noticed that they only have ONE pint at each stop, and this isn't 14% alcohol either, it's usually around 4 or 5% unless I'm woefully mistook? So in a couple hours, that pint is recycled to help a tree grow, and the next one is loaded up.

Now, once the tents are up, the bikes are down for the night, the chairs are around the fire, and the marker lights placed at the tent entrances, it's altogether another story. "Aye, ye can put a drop i' there lad ..... "

Lannis

what cop in his right mind would wanna mess with THIS GUY?


he is OBVIOUSLY completely deranged...a couple beers will NOT result in a condition this serious...

no, but really.
it's like Lannis sez:
it ain't like we drink a barrel per stop...
only one (or TWO?) then off to the next spot...which might be 50 miles out?
ya just paces yerself and takes it easy.
it's reasonably simple, AND if'n ya don't ride stoopid, the cops'll pretty much leave ya alone.

jus sayin.

oh by the way:
don't try it at home.
we is trained perfessionals.

C'mon Ger do not let the uninitated masses down by pandering to their ignorance, you do them a disservice as it is our duty to educate.

Surely your "chimney" is a stack or an uptake ?

Makes the buggers think and that cannot be a bad thing.

Perhaps the blokes were fooled as there is little evidence of exhaust from the stack and the boiler sightglass reads low.

That cheap and nasty pressed brass valve on boiler to engine feed worries me also, perhaps there was an M20 engine under all that bling ?

In Dutch we use one word for it, on shore and on board.
I think in maritime boiler English it should be "the uptake".

But that does not mean that passengers have a right to touch pollished brass.

Spoken like a true sailor. And I hope those lubberly landsmen didn't have muddy feet tracking up those nice swabbed and sanded decks either!

Lannis

So y'all THINK I polish me A10 then eh? Well I've got PROOF, proof I tells ya, that me old long distnace riding chum can't stop doing it. There he was with a rag in hand most of the weekend I was stood there quaffing Perry, and that lad was CLEANING, what a waste of life that is, and he's me proof...



Good old Mar1doc lad, glad to hear you made it back OK, I'll remember to bring me Sun glasses next time, the shine off that A10 of yours was making me squint.

And at not time, was a Triumph spanner used in the making of this event, we got there and back with NO breakdowns, not even a clutch cable

What a fine tale Shaun!! As far as the polishing goes there Brother- You have set the bar pretty high with your NZ shine. Your bike will take YEARS to look normal again. Everyone else is just trying to keep up.

Keep practicing taking those photos . After this NZ edit is over I may hand the photography torch over to you

I really wish I could go to all of these events. I am going to try to make it to a local one in PA this Saturday. Gotta take a break from the remodel mayhem . This weekend proved to be a little more fun though. I concentrated on organizing the bikes and parts in the barn and it turned out splendidly. Even with a back handed compliment from Gerry when she saw it her word were "I hope its going to stay this organized" . At first I was irritated by her comment but then I looked around at my handy work and it WAS good

I am going to miss seeing you guys this summer but maybe Christmas will be in the cards. Gerry's sisters pushed back their visit till August so now there is no way we could come your way before she is back in school.

Grandpa dude, ease up a tad lad, don't burn yourself out, we've got a WHOLE life time to sort out yet Keep taking them photos lad, cos when you stop you'll have a size 11 you your Jacksee Only Sayin' Bro, Bless your little heart.

Don't forget to sort out a Turkey fry thingy lad, I'm building up a mighty hunger, remember T'is more belly than beast

I could never forget that saying .... Its all on film you see....
Among other sayings

mblab ol pal-only in my dreams! I'm afraid a bike that looks like mine and them baloons that blow up as big as my rainsuit are as close as I'm likely to get to that side of the pond in this lifetime Unless of course I win the lottery...
Shaun-thanks for the pics, the next best thing to being there.
MikeG