Update Nov 5th (apolgies for the underlining, but can’t seem to turn it off, grrrr…!)
Sorry for the delay on this – holidays/work/life in general getting in the way. Anyway, an update on where we are:
Spoke to the Ace Café – as this is ultimately a commercial activity ie we are paying to get our bikes treated, they are unwilling to accommodate without charging AYB a fee to host the event there. As AYB charge £60 for 2 hours work, they are not making a great deal of profit, so it obviously is not viable.
Kaos’s suggestion of Pole Position is great, but with only being open on a Saturday,it could take weeks for everyone to get treated. Same deal for OMC.
So, have been doing my research and found a pub in centralish London who are biker friendly –who knew?!! The Rose in Fulham http://www.therosefulham.co.uk/location/
It has a small car park and a beergarden. Apparently they accommodate about 30 – 40 Harley riders once a month (try not to hold that against them!). Had a long chat with the manager last week and having checked with the owner, they would be delighted to host these events. Am also thinking it could potentially be a good alternative to BM when it gets REALLY cold, for the die-hards amongst us who want to continue meeting up in the winter.
The plan is to host about 4 days worth of treatments in the second half of November, and early December - so you will have a choice (on a first come, first serve basis) of either a Saturday or Sunday over the course of 2 or 3 weekends.
The chap at AYB is called Jon Holloway and when he gets big jobs like this he brings his son along to help. He appears to be the only person who covers the London area. I have noted Driesie’s comments, so whether he brings his son or not I will suggest no more than 4 or 5 bikes per day, to ensure that all bikes get the full 2 hours.
Should be able to confirm dates by tomorrow.
Apologies again about the underlining,
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Following a very positive response to this post, I have been in touch with Roy who owns Allyearbiker to discuss setting up a formal weekend event in centralish London for LB’ers, as this has become something bigger than I can accomodate. He is going to give the work to a couple of relatively local guys who between them will be able to do a maximum of 14 bikes over the weekend. He is contacting them this afternoon to organise a date - hopefully the weekend of the 10th/11th or 17th/18th November. If there was enough interest they could always do 2 weekends.
Roy said that they have done events like this in the past for LB, so have asked him to also look into where they were held - he believed there were at a pub suggested by someone at LB, he thought the person worked at the pub - can anyone remember where this was? Alternatively can anyone recommend a suitable pub or similar location (within about 5 miles of central London, so that it is easy for everyone to get to) that can provide a car park, an outdoor water supply and electricity in return for bikers buying coffees, lunches etc. Once we have a date and location sorted, I will ask you to add your name to a list with the relavant days/ times and you will then be asked to pay a deposit - direct to AYB via their website which will confirm your place and time slot. It will be first come first serve and if necessary I will set up a waiting list in case anyone drops out.
I think sorting out a suitable location is going to be the biggest headache, so all suggestions welcome (thanks Woozy for yours, just may be a bit too far for those on the west side of London, but may come back to you if there are no better suggestions). Will also contact Simon and Matt at OMC, to see if they can help.
Following on from Westie’s thread about ACF50 I have had a look at the Website Daws recommended - http://www.allyearbiker.co.uk/index.html
Basically for about £60 per bike they come round and do the full clean and treatment process, but we need at least 4 bikes to make it worth them coming to us in London. If there is loads of interest I could co-ordinate a days worth at the BH Tea Hut, but if it’s just 4 or 5 then happy to host it at mine (I live on the Southbank near Waterloo Station and the Imax Cinema and have an underground car park, so plenty of room for the guy to work on a number of bikes). Will supply nibbles/ drinks and banter.
Let me know asap if you’re interested and we’ll book for a Saturday (or Sunday if more people prefer that) in the near future.
