Once again John Parbery (second from the left) pulled together another impressive line up of bikes for the The Classic Bike Guide Winter Show at Newark.

Dave Mason (at the back) brought over his very clean 1975 drum brake Strada. Jenny Westwood (not in picture) provided her 350 Sport. Paul Compton (far right) a regular contributor to the club stand lent his 83 500 Sport and finally but not least Paul Emmerson (second from the right) rode his 9 ½ to the show to represent Morini’s modern era.

Despite the cool weather members and non members received a warm welcome on the stand with plenty of technical help and advice on hand. (Thanks to Paul Compton) For those wanting to take the opportunity of avoiding p&p a full range of club products were available, some of which were offered at half price. Also on sale were some of the last 2012 calendars, along with our newly available memory sticks containing past issues of ATG.

A special thanks goes to Roy Master (far left) who assisted throughout the weekend and to Paul’s wife Jackie who made sure that all the hard working members had a comfortable base for the duration of the show.

For those of you wanting to visit future events, the club will next be at the Bristol Show at held at the Bath & West showground (Shepton Mallet) on the weekend February 18th & 19th. Keith Ansell and his team will no doubt put together another great display of bikes from the South West of England. Make sure you pop along to say hello and take advantage of the clubs products on offer.

We again had an impressive line up of bikes for the Mechanics show at Stafford.

Not only Shirley Suttons exquisite Corsaro Country single but a very special Valantini own by Paul Coxhill. Mark Bailey now has two fine 350 V twins and this time he made available his immaculate standard wire wheeled Sport. Paul Compton a regular contributor to the club stand lent his 83 500 Sport and finally but not least Paul Emmerson rode his 9 ½ to the show to represent Morini’s modern era.

After our trip to Benzina for tea & cakes the club decided to provide cakes on the stand for those members with a sweet tooth. This proved to be a great success endorsing the clubs ability (well James at least) to exceed members expectations.

If you haven’t come across it yet, Benzina is a high-quality magazine devoted to classic Italian motorcycles ( www.teambenzina.co.uk). It is produced with great enthusiasm by Greg Pullen who, once a month, opens his front gate and provides tea and cakes to anyone who turns up on a bike, preferably Italian, preferably classic.

As Greg and his family live in deepest rural Wiltshire, we thought it would be a good rendezvous for a Morini gathering and, as an added incentive for people to get their bikes out of the garage, it was decided that the annual award-giving (normally held at the AGM) would take place at the same time. It promised to be a good end-of-season rally and a chance to raise the profile of Morinis, which unjustly seem to lack the prestige of other, er, more well-known Italian marques.

By 1pm Greg’s yard was crowded with Morinis, mostly 3 ½ Sports and Stradas, but also a 9 ½ and a 1200 Corsaro, a 1200 Scrambler, a 250 twin and a 1960s single, which unfortunately arrived too late for the voting for the awards. As well as the 17 Morinis, there were three Moto Guzzis (a single, a two-stroke trail model and a Le Mans), a couple of Ducatis, a modern Enfield and a few Japanese bikes.

The sun came out and it turned into a delightful afternoon, as always on these occasions, catching up with friends and meeting new people. Greg and Rachael were excellent hosts, managing things cheerfully and enthusiastically. The tea and cakes were just what were needed after an invigorating ride. Voting threw up a few dilemmas: should Chris Webber’s early Strada be voted Best Drum Brake, Most Original or Best Workhorse? Who would win Best Single, with the Morini single not having arrived at that point? With no Kanguros or Camels present, how could we vote for Best Off-road?

All the questions were resolved eventually: the Best Single went to a rather surprised Moto Guzzi rider and we realised that Robin’s 1200 Scrambler was technically an off-roader, even if it was suspiciously clean. (Robin subsequently posted a picture on the web forum showing the Scrambler parked on some grass to justify its off-road credentials…) George Lane’s well-used Sport was voted Best Workhorse, an attractive and rare Sport won Best Disc Brake and a purple-brown 250 was voted Most Original. Chris’s Strada won the Drum Brake category and Mark Bailey’s disc-braked Sport was voted Best Overall.

In all respects it was a most successful day: a good reason for a ride through some glorious English countryside, an enjoyable social occasion and a chance to broaden awareness of the illustrious Morini name. Everyone who attended is hoping to do the same next year.

A big thank you to everybody who participated, watched or helped out at the 2011 Cadwell trackday which was once again a resounding success. Under threatening skies at Cadwell Park a full entry of Morini enthusiasts & their friends enjoyed the club's annual track day event. There was a spectacular variety of machinery on track, and a thoroughly enjoyable day was had by all.

Everything about the day was a huge success and extremely enjoyable for club members and guests alike. Another record year, special thanks must go to our overseas visitors, Bruno (hope you mend soon) & Dieter who made the trip over from Belgium and Theo & Jos Den Ouden who travelled over from Holland. This year we also saw an increased number of Morinis on track which was great to see.

For those of you who were first timers, I hope you enjoyed the day look forward to seeing you next year. If you missed it this year then here are a few comments from the day, which may whet your appetite for our 30th trackday next year:

"As always the event was well organised (thanks Dave) with a great mix of mature and competent riders all demonstrating that track days can be friendly and enjoyable whatever the machine you ride."

"Hi, Track Day organisers, Just a line to say thank you for one of the very best track days I have attended in more than 50 years of motorcycle sport. The organisation was good, the timing was good, the informality was superb and you even managed to keep the rain off until mid afternoon. A credit to every one involved."

"What a great day that was! A fantastic turnout (full house) and very smoothly run, too. Congratulations and thanks to all involved in allowing us out to play"

"We had a wonderful day. As usual, it was perfectly organised, up to the weather that once again improved just in time for the track day. Many thanks to the whole team, and especially to the little big man under the hat!"

"Thank you SO much for a fantastic day… Your event is always a very well organised affair with a great gathering of mature and competent machinery and pilots of the same calibre, which makes it such a wonderful atmosphere that is safe and exhilarating!"

"Everything about the day was a huge success and extremely enjoyable, you should be proud of your club and it's members!"

"For my first track day I managed to keep the wheels on the tarmac whilst giving the Strada a good old thrashing. Hopefully next year I can go a bit quicker particularly out of Barn and Charlies where corner speed is so essential."