2025 Event

Reports July - Sept

Here you can scroll down through our events from July - Sept

HOWL experience a Braai

July 12th

Suzie and JC treated 13 HOWLERS to a traditional South African Braai serving up Bobotie and Boerworse - with optional Monkey Gland sauce!

JC ran the BBQ despite being still on crutches after a bike collision with 3 deer leaving him with 2 ankle breaks/9 broken ribs

Boerworse, a variety of sausage, is distinctly South African, made from coarsely minced beef ( combined with pork or lamb and spiced with a mixture traditionally including coriander, cloves, and nutmeg.

...but which Monkey Gland is it secreted from!

Suzie excelled in the kitchen with some amazing dishes, including Bobotie - a South African dish consisting of spiced minced meat baked with an egg-based topping - and a vegetable dish of potato and aubergine topped off with cheese

This was accompanied by homemade cakes courtesy of Jo, cookies courtesy of Jude and a chocolate cake decorated with three leaping deer - that could only be courtesy of Gary and Cindy!

A lovely way to relax on a hot summer's afternoon - branch life at its best

For some it was all too much as Petar slept it off... Many thanks go to Suzie and JC

HOC GB Classic Show

at The Sammy Miller Museum

Sunday 20th July

2025 marked the fifth Classic Show that we have done at Sammy Miller's. The very first one should have been in 2020 however Covid intervened, and we had to postpone until 2021. It has grown to become the major event in the HOC Calendar, hugely supported by The Sammy Miller Museum and Honda throughout the years.

Concours Winners!

In this year’s planning we tried to introduce something new to the mix. 2025 saw the introduction of a Classic Custom Honda Class and also - for the very first time - more sponsors. So, we approached selected others biking organisations for their support in the form of additional prizes - Sportsbike Shop, Henry Cole, Kickback Show all responded enthusiastically. We really appreciate all this support.

We also welcomed DocBike and Mental Health Motorbike who were making everyone aware of their work with motorcyclists

The weather forecast was for short sharp showers, but we were prepared with extra gazebos (thanks Honda and Dave Thomas and Keith Roberts and Sammy Miller) When one of these occurred everyone just ducked into the nearest gazebo - had a chat with others sheltering and then reappeared a few minutes later when it had stopped raining. No problem there! In fact, the approx 300 people who came along on the day and the 46 concours bike owners and our jolly Classic Team were all smiley happy as the photos show. There were some concours entrants I remembered from previous years so it’s nice to know they come back

There were some truly fantastic bikes—32 non-members and 14 members to test the judges - Dave Thomas, Andy Smith and Steve Cribbin. With exquisite timing the sun shone for prizegiving and everyone’s ride home

The museum snack shack and café and ice cream cart were kept busy throughout the day keeping our team and the visitors fed, and the museum was visited by many.

Pic courtesy of Keith Roberts

It was lovely to meet up again with John Nutting who I haven't seen since we were Star Rider Instructors back in the late 70’s/80’s. He is still writing for various publications and still riding. Some of you may know him from Classic Motorcycle Mechanics etc.

We had a brilliant day and would like to thank all those branch members who turned up to support us—especially Dave Andrews who came away from his rally early. He and other Oxford members will be happy to know that we have now changed the date to 26th July, so it won’t clash with their Rally

Dougie from Honda explains the new E-Clutch on the CB650R to an attentive Sammy

Sammy starts up the 'Honda 6'

I would especially like to thank Sharon and all at Sammy Millers for their total and generous support of our event -it made the organising a lot easier!

Jude Browne

'Gateman Charles' ushered the concours bikes to the class locations

Gary turned up on the right day!

The team worked hard to make the show a success

HOWL Members won in 3 Categories

Petar Peshev- for his CBR400R Aero

This model was only produced for 2 years

Simon Butler for his VF750 SC

1st Prize at last!

Charles Deakin for his CB400/4

Winner of the Edelsten Trophy for Best 400/4

The proud Winners!

We look forward to welcoming you all to the 6th Classic Show at Sammy Millers next year—26th July 2026.

Meanwhile, enjoy this image Carousel - photos courtesy of Chris Mabey

Calne Bike Day

July 26th

Ten Howlers headed West taking a scenic A4 route to enjoy the Calne Bike Day. We stopped off en route for a Greggs sausage roll and coffee, courtesy of Karen, (other brands are available but not necessarily so appetising!).

Simon, Karen and Charles enjoying the day

Gary has a monkey on his back

On arrival we checked out the HOC stand where Wilts Branch were doing a great job promoting the club.

Hats off to the Calne event organisers who were rewarded with a turnout of thousands of bikes respectfully ‘invading’ this usually quiet town.

Plenty of interesting stands - and of course the usual live music ensured a hectic day out.

Cindy found a bike just her size

And with Gary's help she was soon out on the track!

IWKR - International

West Kent Run

August 1st-3rd

Eight Howlers enjoyed Show Day at the International West Kent Run. Earlier, on the Saturday, Charles and Tom had joined over 250 Classic and Vintage bikes from as far afield as France and Germany on a 100-mile ride out.

On the Sunday there were club stands, arena games and a bike autojumble - and of course a Concours!

Navigating a tight turn in the obstacle course

I had one of these CB360s - same colour - dreadful bike!

Charles was awarded 1st prize in his class for his CB400F – just two weeks after winning The HOC Edelsten Trophy for the best 400/4 at our Sammy Miller Classic Show!

Tom did the run on his Dad's 400 Dream

When I explained to Cindy what the letters on this patch stood for - she had to buy one

Martin could have entered his brilliant Goldwing - you can tell he's proud of it!

The IWKR is held at Aylesford Priory, so it was appropriate that for our celebratory BBQ, Charles was the ‘Friar’ 😉

We'll be back next year!

Birthday celebrations

as Chris turns 60

August 9th

Twelve Howlers were delighted to join Chris Bradshaw in celebrating his 60th Birthday at the Silvermere Inn on the Lake near Cobham.

We were treated to a splendid BBQ and even more splendid Birthday Cake which featured decorations showing his passion for motorcycling.

A glorious way to spend a sunny afternoon overlooking the lake, chatting with his friends and family, many of whom had travelled down from Harrogate.

Thanks to Chris and Tracey for sharing their day.

Simon sported his latest coiffure

Egg Banjos at Rykas

August 31st

Seventeen Howlers and friends saw out the ‘last day of summer’ with breakfast at Rykas.

Some unscheduled heavy persistent showers didn’t dampen spirits - we just did a Hokey Cokey or was it more like a demonstration of egg banjos as we dived in and out of their covered areas food in hand.

🍳🪕👋

Not sure what an Egg Banjo is??

An ‘Egg Banjo’ has been a favourite food of bikers ever since er, well … sliced bread. But why it is called an egg banjo? The egg banjo is a sandwich made by putting a runny fried egg between two thick slices of bread It is widely known as an egg banjo because when it is eaten, egg yolk usually squirts onto the eater's shirt/jacket, typically resulting in the eater raising their sandwich out of the way to approximately ear height while they attempt to strum the yolk mess from their shirt with their free hand. Resulting in the appearance of someone playing an air banjo.

Resident Box Hill bike photographer Toni was on the spot to take some great quality pix as the bikes arrived.

Great turnout at only 48 hours’ notice

Thanks go to Toni Teuntje Harris for her excellent pix

HOWL Double Header

September 7th

On Sunday 7th September – there was a HOWL Double Header- Our summer events list had two quite different options – we were spoilt for choice...

So both were attended !

1. The Ace Cafe Brighton Burn Up

17 Howlers and friends converged from 4 different starting points on for the annual Ace Cafe Brighton Burn Up. Some of us joined the 700+ bikes at the Ace where the local Mayor with cafe owner Mark Wilsmore (long-time friend of the HOC) waved us off with a chequered flag from the roof of the café.

By the time we got to Madeira Drive on the Brighton seafront the number of bikes swelled to several thousand.

Photos courtesy of Karen

Fish ‘n’ chips and ice cream were the order of the day …and of course some Brighton Rock

Thanks to Petar for coordinating the ride-in... (Pic Courtesy of Gary 🤣)

2. The Kickback Custom & Classic Show at The Sammy Miller Museum

Meanwhile 90 miles West Jude was with Sammy at his museum together with Kickback organiser Lorne Cheetham.

Who’s that lurking in the background ?...

''I spy someone beginning with ... J! 😉'' quips Jo Gasson

On the day there was so much to view with over one thousand bikes on site - Five Hundred Classic items in the museum over four hundred visitor’s bikes and one hundred Customs and Specials in an impressive display.

Gary's Birthday Cake

Slip up...(almost!)

September 13th

Way back in July, Cindy mentioned that Gary would be 70 this year on Saturday 13th September – but that he ‘’didn’t want any kind of party or big fuss made’’.

Cindy, being Cindy, then confided to me ‘’…so therefore I am going to organise a secret party for him’’ 🥰

So, a couple of months later, nineteen Howlers plus family and friends, conspired to surprise Gary Clarke on his Birthday with the exuberant party which Cindy had organised.

Everyone bought into the ‘’Sssh it’s Gary’s Secret Party’’ WhatsApp Group which heightened the look of astonishment on his face as he walked through the door.

Anne provided lots of laughs with her balloons especially when they were all let off at the same time as Gary entered the clubhouse.

See how much fun can you have with a balloon!!

Simon lent Ian his party blowers which Ian inflated nasally. When Ian had finished with them, Simon was 'reluctant' to take them back😝- not surprising really!

Well done to Suzie for her heroic effort in joining us after a long early shift - and it was good to see JC walking without the aid of a crutch

Cindy had organised an extravagant buffet.

Meanwhile Jude had organised a fantastic cake –

a Photographic Platter of Patisserie Perfection – featuring ‘Gary Unsupervised’

Whilst thanking everyone, he made an agile recovery in catching the cake he was holding, as it nearly slid off the plate on to the floor - to a mixture of screams of anguish and hoots of laughter - click on the video link below and watch

click here to illustrate the saying - 'there's many a slip twixt cake and plate'

So - this is what happens when Gary is left unsupervised 😂

And afterwards Gary was typically generous with his thanks and appreciation -‘’To everyone who played any part in organising this amazing surprise, and for the gifts, and for the cards and of course for turning up!

THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART. For being true friends and making an evening I'll never forget! ‘’