NOC rally at Colombres July 2010

[MrB]

Anyone going to the NOC rally in Spain this summer? By happy coincidence I'm holidaying in Spain and will be on the Portsmouth to Santander ferry on Friday 9th July and would be happy to meet up for a chat with anyone on the same sailing. I'll be in the car unfortunately, I can get a lot in the IP2 panniers but two grown children is pushing it ;-)Johnny

[Dell Boy]

I`m going, but by road, except for a short hop to Calais. Done the Santander ferry twice in the last few years & have sworn never to do it again. Lifes too short!!!!! Derek.

[gripper]

There are a few issues wirh the NOC rally as I see it. It's a days ride from most parts of the UK to Plymouth/Portsmouth. (and back) The ferry crossing is 24 hours each way, (about £190 for a cabin sharing) that's two days wasted unless you want to drink your way to Spain and back. The rally fee is £60 for 4 days and the camping fee is a further £60. This presumes that you are retired and have unlimited holiday/leave. This is almost as expensive as the IOM tt week. If you happened to be going down that way on your hols it would be good value. Should you decide to ride from NW France the distances involved ensure you will arrive well shagged out and not too bothered about doing the rideouts. The final question is, Is it a Norton Owners Club rally, or is it tacked on to another brit/european bike rally?

[george1045]

Yes this is a Norton rally it is the international rally for the Norton owners club.Rally fee includes lunches. Camping at £15 per person per night ! I have paid more in the UK. I live in Scotland so will most likely take me 2 days to travel down south and other members from north are getting ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam and driving down (on bikes) We do attend most intenational and national rallies most often down south but still go. OK I am lucky as being retired does give me more time but still managed when was working just planned it out.

[Dell Boy]

I am really not that bothered about the rallies themselves. I find them a bit boring. I go literally for the ride. They give me some sort of excuse to ride my bikes a long way. I don`t use motorways & draw a straight line on the map between home & destination & try to follow it as closely as possible. This way I stop in small places & meet local people & eat local food. I very rarely book accommadation & end up sleeping in some strange places. I don`t speak any languages but get on o.k. Going to the Norton international rally in Lisbon, Portugal, some of the roads I travelled on had grass growing in the middle they were that small. I rode all the way to that one & to Austria last year & enjoyed both journey`s. I`m looking forward to the relatively easy ride to Columbres. I shall probably go on the 500 Dominator rather than a Rotary. I find I travel too fast on the rotary & therefore miss out on seeing what I am passing & it is just too easy travelling on such a well equipped touring bike. Takes a lot of the fun out of the journey. Derek.

[george1045]

Totally agree with you. I cheat slightly as have a GPS on the bike but set it to miss all motorways. It does end up taking you some small and interesting roads. All good fun.

[johnbirchjar]

I am totaly the opposite to Dell Boy, being an ex trucker I tend to stick mostly to the main roads and avoide towns like the plague!! having learnt through experiance that one is more likely to get lost while going through a town,I tend to go into towns only when looking for "digs" for the night.(£190 quid including a cabin? I presume this is for a one way crossing?) as for the actual rallies I have mixed feelings, but I enjoy the "craike" and riding the bike for hundreds of miles is allways great fun,exept on one occasion on the way back from southern Spain a couple of years back in late October they had the coldest & wetest autumn in 50 years!! and of course we had not packed any thermals(one do's not expect snow storms & torential rain in Spain in the autumn) and the rain played havoc with the ign:systems on Del Boy and Tims Commaders (if we ask nicely Dell Boy may elaborate)but"thats the life of a biker" J.B.

[commando-rotary]

I shall be using the ferry with my commander-sport also a friend with his commando. We have taken this course as being two arthritic old timers we get our pleasure where we can and precludes any very long distances these days be glad to see all that are going and mrB on the ferry.Dave Green

[Dell Boy]

As J.B. says, both commanders & the hinckley Triumph played up. The Triumph I think as soon as we hit French soil which if I recall correctly was a short under the tank. Then in heavy rain Tim`s Commander`s electrics went all to pot. I knew what that would be having had the same problem with all my Commanders i.e. water splashing over the coils under the tank cover. A torn up carrier bag sorted that. I have halve a plastic carton over mine. Didn`t anyone at the factory ever go for a ride in the rain during development? I seem to remember a Percy Tait interview [1960`s/70`s works racer & road bike tester] saying that at Triumph`s they had to cover 250 miles a day no matter what the weather. I have had five Commanders & they have all had the same water ingress problem. On the way home we were all chasing to get to Santander to catch the, only every 3 days, ferry on a motorway in torrential rain/sleet my Commander would only pull 2,500 revs & do 20 m.p.h. Then it would chime in & roar away which was very scary on wet greasy roads amongst juggernauts. After 4 or 5 stops to try & find the problem inside the fairing I had to tell the other lads to get on there way or they would also miss the ferry. I did not have a phone so could not call for help. I found if I pulled the harness this way & that the bike would run on occasion. I pulled the wiring into a certain position & I was away. All this in torrential freezing rain. I bombed up the motorway & amazingly caught up with the others refuelling. I did the same & the bugger would not go again. Time was now extremely tight to get the boat so again I told the others to get going & leave me to sort myself out. More fiddling & I was away again tearing up the motorway until I came to a fork in the road. Right was the shortest way over the top of the mountain via a very high pass which we had been told was closed due to snow. Left was the long way round the mountain on the motorway. It transpired this was the way the others went. Two juggernauts in front of me went right so I thought if they think they can get through so can I. Up & up & up in freezing fog we went until we reached the summit after passing thicker & thicker snow until at the top it was two feet thick though the road was completely clear but I had some small slides on ice. Two policeman were stationed on the top in a car in case of trouble. The lorries & I started the descent & they were driving very slowly & carefully around the harpins with the 300 foot drops & no guard rails. I was getting fed up with this & time was galloping on so I did two do or die overtaking moves which i was lucky to get away with on iced roads & in freezing fog. As I got lower the sun burst out, the roads dried & the world looked a different place. I stopped to take a photo but my camera wouldn`t work due to getting so damp & then the lorries passed me so had to be overtaken again! The commander was running great & I had to fight through masses of traffic in Santander but I made it with 30 minutes to spare & the other guys were amazed to see me. I rode home from Plymouth in torrential rain for 250 miles & the bike never missed a beat!! On investigation an ignition wire had been squashed by the steering bottom yoke/stop breaking the insulation. whenever it was near enough to metal & wet it would jump the juice to earth, pull it further away & it could not "Bridge that gap" It was a fairing off job to find it. Here endeth the saga, just one amongst many & looking forward to more in the future i expect. Derek.

[johnbirchjar]

Hi Mr B,Ithink that most bikers going to the N.O.C.rally in Spain will have allready arrived there by the time you get on the ferry on the 9th,I myself and a few of the other members of the Essex branch catch the ferry on the 7th.(I'm a bit miffed with myself because I realy would have prefered to ride to Spain instead of going on the ferry,ah well), adding a bit to Del Boys Spanish saga, because of gale force winds crossing the Bay of Biscay the ferry was about 10hrs late docking at Plymouth(I ca'nt remember the exact times,I think 18-00 instead of 09-00,)anyway,for some reason that escapes me I rode home to Essex on my own (300+miles)and boy was it cold!!I kept thinking "I'm getting to old for this"with frequent stops to warm the hands on the engine(can one do this with a Commander?)I burnt holes in the gloves!!I eventualy reached home about 03-00(I think) absolutly done in,bike in garage,still loaded,I'll sort it in the morning.Fair play to the old girl though,she did'nt miss a beat,even through all that rain.J.B.

[Robert14]

is there any guy from the Eastern or Middle Europe (Austrian, Swiss, Italien, Czech, Hungarian, South of Germany etc.) who will drive down this July to the NOC rally at Colombres?I will start 2 - 4 days earlier and want to catch a few of the Austrians, Swiss, Italian French and Spanish alpine routes!I never plan my routes. I drive as far as possible and sleep in little villages with cheap accomodations or in my sleeping bag. Sleeping outside and a bottle of wine makes me feel to be back in the 70th!

[Dell Boy]

Thats the way to do it Robert. Did a lot of the austrian/swiss minor road passes last year on the Dommi & they were FANTASTIC!!! Derek.