At the risk of going a bit ‘Henry Cole’ on you, Old Buckenham in Norfolk is a quintessentially English countryside village:
- Quaint country setting – tick
- Village Green – tick
- Village pub – tick
- Chocolate box cottages – tick
- Old boys chewing the fat – tick
- Peace and quiet by the bucket load – tick
But every Tuesday the large village green doesn’t reverberate to the snick of leather on willow as Jones the Butcher despatches a poor bowl from the local Bobbie to the boundary. No, rather it is the roar of a thousand engines as bikes of all shapes, sizes and ages gather from all around the area. They come on old Velocette’s with hand shifters, on rasping two strokes, behemoth tourers, rapier like sports bikes, tinny sounding learner bikes. You name it; it’s there.
Gathering on the green in front of The Ox & Plough Pub
Well Marshalled Affair
The bikes line up neatly outside The Ox & Plough pub, respectful of the gentle marshalling style and of their lovely surroundings. Old mates meet up and have a chat, show off what they have been fixing or restoring. Leather clad ‘heroes’ exaggerate about their exploits on their steed, new riders sheepishly find a corner to park and try not to knock anything over or fall off in public.
On the day I visited the sun was well and truly out and the crowd was massive. I was there with my 85 year old father in law and my wife. Despite his maturity he still rides his 2021 Honda CB650R with some verve. My good lady is the best pillion passenger I’ve personally carried. As we were on holiday in the area I was in my car, so seeing all these bikes was a major tonic.
Food Vendors aplenty
All the food and drink vendors seemed to be doing a roaring trade. Bikes, weak shandy and a burger in the evening sun. What could be better?
Blue Haze Heaven
I am a bit of a two-stroke nut, having owned a number of the devices over the years and my passion was well served here: Everything from a venerable Scott to the mighty RD500 were present. I was particularly taken by a RD350YPVS N1. Very similar to the 31K model I had until an altercation with a Bedford TK on many moons ago! Ah memories, painful they might be, but they raise a smile.
If you fancy was something more exotic, plenty of Italian Stallions were on show: Notably a stunning Ducati single and a charming Moto Guzzi that sported a paint job that paid tribute to the RAF Red Arrows. It even boasted a model of BAE Hawk above the headlamp!
Rule Britannia
British tin, more you beef? Norton, Velocette, BSA, Triumph were all much in evidence. Like something a bit off beat? Enfield Robin (the one with a diesel engine) off piste enough for you?
One chap hadn’t let being a wheel chair user prevent him get his biking fix. He rocked up on a neatly engineered Triumph Tiger with a sidecar/platform for his chair while he was riding. I had a good natter with him and his MT07 riding friend. He had a thing for FZ750s, an example of which I ran for several years.
This chap carried his wheel chair in a well engineered side-car
It’s a Small World
I even bumped into somebody I knew despite being 175 miles from home. It’s that sort of do. My father in law bumped some of his crew and they chatted and reminisced about days gone by. Even my wife seemed reasonably happy, the meet is that good.
Post-C19 there seems to be hundreds of evening meets across the country. But ‘Two-Wheel Tuesday’ is a real humdinger. Check it out if you get the chance sometime