Monday 13 June 2016

Italian Day 2016 - Cassington

On Saturday, I decided to go along to the Italian Day at the Red Lion pub at Cassington, just west of Oxford, and a venue famed for its involvement in the huge Cassington bike nights that take place annually. The Italian Day has been running for a few years now, and is organised (ironically) by the British Motorcycle Riders Club (Oxford), as many of their members also own Italian motorcycles. Like most outdoor events in Britain, this is a day whose success is dependent on the weather. Two years ago it was a great day, the sun was shining, and there were plenty of interesting bikes that turned up - see our pics from that day here.

Anyway, this year, the forecast for later in the day was bad, though as I set off on my old Guzzi Lodola 235 for the 40 minute tripm, the sun was shining, but the rain came soon enough. But - it was in short showers, and in the end, it was mostly dry for the time I spent at the event. The numbers were down, but there was still a reasonable turnout, and I was particularly impressed with the guys on seriously expensive new Ducatis (and the MV 750 four cylinder) that all turned up despite the inclement weather. Shame, as it's a decent little event. I enjoyed myself all the same, chatted to some friends, and had a great ride back.


 













































Monday 2 May 2016

Ace Cafe Italian Day 2016















































Well, if I've been to a few Ace Cafe Italian days over the years (just look back through the blog..), but this time, decided to ride down on my S3 in the company of my friend Dan on his 1000S instead of trying to sell magazines.

The weather was fantastic, and dosing out a few cases of unexpected sunburn to people, including me. It was very quite at first, but numbers grew. There were many bikes that turn up year after year, but there was a good selection of Moto Guzzis and Guzzi specials in particular this year. The old V7 Sport with faded stripe tank was particulaely nice, as were the Maserati single, and couple of Benelli Seis in attendance.