Sunbeams in the Skipness sunshine
SUNSHINE brought with it bikers - but not the screaming Power Ranger-clad type so often seen on Argyll’s roads with the first blink of brightness.
This group of 20 bikers brought a smile to the face with their 90-year-old machines grunting along at 40mph.
The Skipness Smokehouse opened its doors specially to welcome the Marston Sunbeam Club and Register riders, a number of whom travelled from England for the occasion.
For the the club’s second weekend event of the year, the vintage bikes travelled from Lochgilphead caravan park on Saturday May 19, round by Kilberry, back on to the A83 and down to Skipness for refreshments, before heading back again.
The Marston company started making Sunbeam bicycles in the 1880s, before moving into motorcycles in 1912. The earliest bike on display at Skipness dated from 1922; the latest was a saddle tank 1930s model.
Nick Shelley from Nottingham, club secretary, explained: ‘The motorcycles were very characteristic and well made. Nearly all Sunbeams are painted black and originally had a gold leaf lining on the petrol tanks.
‘Sunbeams were described in early sales literature as ‘the most expensive’ bike you could buy, simply because it suggested superior quality.’
The Scottish run is organised every two years by Chris Odling from Easdale, who said: ‘The weather just makes everything. Coming over the hills seeing Arran when we’ve just seen the Paps of Jura, taking your time on an old bike, is just wonderful.
‘The smokehouse opened for us today to give us soup and sandwiches when it is usually closed on a Saturday. We very much appreciate it and also the help we’ve had from the caravan park in Lochgilphead.’