Issue 134 : April - May 2004
Fred Hill Remembered
David Short
Kawasaki Z750
London to Galway
West Oxon Bike Show
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Fred Hill Remembered
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West Oxon MAG Bike Show
West Oxon MAG's third annual bike show began the night before when our regular members met up in Witney to "booze and shmooze" with our celebrity guests Dr. Rod and Stuart Evans of "Men and Motors" fame. After an evening's drinking and a live band we were all looking forward to the next day. Sunday arrived with a slightly achy head (well, for me at least) but the show had to go on and we were all on site at the White Hart in Minster Lovell at the cruel hour of 8:30am to set up the site. The weather was excellent; warm and sunny. The showbikes started arriving early as some of the vintage riders like to get a good spot. In the end we had over fifty bikes in the show ranging from ancient Sunbeams to modern Streetfighters and some excellent trikes. We even had one bike that had seen duty in the Gulf War and came complete with documentation. About five hundred riders turned up over the course of the afternoon. Despite expert car park management by our marshals bikes were soon parking on the side of the road, outside the church and on the verges. Our best attendance yet. As the show has become increasingly successful we have tried to "upgrade" every year. This year our MP David Cameron opened the show. He has been a good friend to West Oxon MAG over the years and his opening speech was very complimentary about the group. On the musical side of things we were lucky to get Stevie and his mandolin. Stevie played all afternoon for us when I know he was keen to get home to his family. Thames Valley police were also present to offer assessed rides. I'm not sure how many riders took them up on this but it was good to have them at the show and we were able to make some new links for future activities. The sign of a good show is that when it's over no one wants to leave. That was true on this day with many people staying on to enjoy the sunshine. The event capped a successful year for West Oxon MAG which had seen us organise a pet food run and Bike Awareness Day. Our information stand went to five different bike events and even pulled in a few new members. And at long last our campaign for better bike parking in Witney paid off. Thanks go to the Brian and Mandy at the White Hart Inn for hosting the show as well as donating a raffle prize. Thanks also to our raffle donors Ultraseal and Lazy Dragon Tattoo studio. We have decided to resurrect our "No Room at the Inn" rally after a four year absence. It will be in May this year. See you all soon. Rob Easthope, Rep.
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Classics and customs in the sunshine