The Woes of the Goldies 
After using the good ole AA after his kick start broke to get him home the previous week John again had some misfortune with the Goldie's when he was helping Ronnie to sort out a spark problem He had the plug in his hand which was connected to the ht lead at the same time as Ronnie chose to get the kick-start quadrant off of top dead centre where it was stuck and yes he kicked it over and John (bless him) lit up like a neon sign with sparks exuding from every orifice. 
Ronnie of course found this very amusing. On the run back from Henham and travelling at a fair ole pace his back wheel locked up solidly and as he veered all over the road Ronnie following close behind had to take avoiding action to miss him, John then quickly pulled in the clutch and coasted to a halt in a lay-by. Quick investigations found the engine to be seized and out came the AA again. On strip down it was found the main bearing had failed causing the piston to hit the cylinder head .(see photo at bottom of page) thus stopping (luckily) all moving parts from doing massive damage to the engine. John has got the engine back and is now running in? - Bob
We went to the Frettenham Festival and there was a good turnout of BSDA's from the club there. As we all well know Ronnie's Goldie can sometimes be a bit temperamental. At first all seemed ok the Goldie started, Ronnie set the tick over and began to put on his riding gear. Then ((suck-bang)) - it stopped! - Damn - more kicking - with the occasional bang, then oh no ! the kick start quadrant sheared completely off. We pushed the Goldie to the road where we attempted to push start it. After a few time up and down the road - I was knackered! So we swapped, with me on the Goldie and Ronnie pushing, then another passer by helped as well, and the Goldie fired up, but Ronnie couldn't let go so he was dragged along, I looked behind to him being helped to his feet and after a few moments he was on his way with the words " Don't stall the bloody thing" ringing in his ears.
by Robert Smithdale
Firstly our thanks go to John and Wendy for making us all welcome once again at their annual midsummer BBQ. A good turn out of members’ bikes was displayed on his driveway and everyone enjoyed the evening with fine food expertly cooked by John. July has been a busy month for us with events and shows, and it was also the first attempt by the Wells Sea Scouts to hold a motorcycle open day. About 10 of us enjoyed a day out and with a few more trade stalls it could become a firm favourite. During the ride home from Founder’s Day show at Stanford Hall that John’s Goldie seized up and he and his beloved bike unfortunately had to finish the journey on a breakdown truck. It was the second time in as many weeks that this had happened to him as on the previous Sunday he had been enjoying a day at Jack Hill’s Café and was on the way home when it started to rain so seeing a lay-by ahead, he pulled in to put his waterproof suit on. As he went to start the bike on the second kick the kick start broke. So he tried to bump start it but to no avail, then tried his mobile to summon help only to find it didn’t work. What was he to do? He then noticed across the road there was an SOS call box – what a stroke of luck he thought - help at last - but not before John had tried unsuccessfully to convince the breakdown service that he WAS a fully paid up member and had been for the last 25 years. So having sorted that problem, half an hour later the AA mechanic arrived only to try again to bump start the bike without success and after another 40 minutes wait, the trailer eventually arrived to take him home. Our meeting have been well attended and on the last one in July we hosted a darts match for the AJS & Matchless club but unfortunately we were mercifully beaten 4 – 1. Our excuse was that it had been a long time since any of us had played darts and we were out of practice. Let’s hope we have better luck next time. The Copdock Classic bike show is being held in Ipswich on Sunday 4th October. Look forward to seeing you there. - Sue