Norfolk Branch go on a Demo

LINGS DEMO DAY - Saturday 22nd June

 Once again, thanks to the courtesy and hospitality of Mark and his team at Lings of Harleston, several branch members were able to enjoy a fantastic morning of sampling a great line-up of motorcycles, including CRF450L, CB650RA, Africa Twin Adventure Sport Manual and Sport DCT, Africa Twin DCT, NC750XA, CBR500RA, CRF250 Rally, CB500XA, CB500FA, CBR650RA, and CB1000RA, phew!!
 Our eight branch members began arriving at around 9:00am, bringing the usual selection of cakes, doughnuts, and biscuits which were enjoyed by all and suplemented the drinks supplied by Lings. We spent the first three-quarters of an hour or so with the usual good-natured banter including that my bike needed a polish, chat about the recent European holiday, and the attributes of the demo line up, then at 10:00am we commenced the test rides alongside Lings customers. Although we get invited to try these bikes, we never forget that this is another ordinary working day for the Lings team, we are always very grateful for the opportunity even though it gives them extra work. I decided to try the much vaunted, Africa Twin to see what all the hype was about and once shown all the switches and knobs plus a clutch lever for me!! it was off on the open road and I must say that I really enjoyed it, especially the riding position which is so different to my regular ride, I was surprised at how agile it was for such a tall bike and had a whale of a time before returning it to Lings. As each of us returned from our ride we discussed the results of how we found the different bikes and compared them with our own. Then at just before 12:00noon, and once we had tested to our fill, Mark was on hand to slave over a hot grill to cook a very welcome, popular, and tasty, free barbecue. Although we had had finished our rides we did not manage to finish off the bbq although we gave it an heroic try.
 Following that, we decided that as it was such a hot sunny June day, we would ride to the coast, consequently, our Mark led a few of us on cross-country rideout ending up in Aldeburgh where some of us forgot the diet for a day and devoured a very welcome ice-cream. Soon we decided to head separately to our homes having enjoyed another brilliant day.
  Again, a massive thank you to Mark and his Lings team and thank you to our branch members who supported the event with their presence, cakes, and biscuits, hopefully we can do it all again next year.