The HFC (Hohne Fally Crew) where
buzzing about this rally since our last outing to the Scythmen’s Rally at
Easter, Friday 1400 hrs Stevie Evans turns up at mine on his trusty black T5
AFSC racer, a quick brew, kiss the dog and pat the wife goodbye and were off ,
myself for the first time in 20 odd years riding a Vespa, a Fire Engine red P200
Disc, with Fallingbostel behind us and heading north for Soltau and Mc Donald’s
to RV with the rest of the HFC, No sooner had we stuffed our macy dees down our
throats when Ian Botham on his recently rebuilt Lambretta GP 205 and to our
surprise John Wymark on his Union Jack T5 turn up, John dodging a weekend of
building garden fences and Saturday also being his wedding anniversary!! Well
done mate we knew you could pull it off! Big pat on the back!! Respect!
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We soon realise that with only 20 odd clicks under our wheels it was getting
very cold, with another 170 + to go, we put on as much kit on as possible. The
long ride up to Kiel was pretty uneventful except for the 100 km detour thanks
to Stevie and his awesome RLC driver trade map reading, and a quick repair to
Ian’s GP, a dodgy headlight connection, the cold was really starting to bite and
the high winds keeping us on our toes on the Autobahn sections with my new ride
getting blown all over the place, with its very nervous handling I was really
beginning to miss my trusty GP, this was the coldest ride I have experienced in
a long time, it was freezing!
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Our bikes running sweet we were soon nearing Kiel as dusk was falling, big
smiles as we see our first RUN tac signs, a quick stop at a fuel station for
some beers, and on to the Rally site, as usual we were met with some friendly
faces on the gate as we paid our 10 Euros and in return a patch and some other
stuff, bargain!
The rally site was great, right by the sea, with around 50 or so Scooters
already in attendance, we put our tents up over a beer while a few of the local
club members came over to welcome us and thank us for making the effort for
coming so far North.
Friday night was a fantastic do, the usual big German run Marquee was missing
and in its place some 12 x 12 type tentage was being used which was perfect for
the numbers attending with top tunes being played all night it wasn’t long
before the AFSC was on fire on the dance floor with the DJ’s playing every
request, with plenty of beers coming our way we had a great night.
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Saturday started with the usual hangover followed by breakfast, we decided we
would miss the organised afternoon ride out as we decided we would visit the
German Navy monument to honour its own and all other nations lost Sailors and
also visit a WW 2 U-boat that we could see across the bay from the Rally site.
We first of all visited the U-boat that was placed near the monument, us Army
blokes found the U-boat a real eye opener and have nothing but total respect for
all Submariner’s, being in that U-boat with 56 crewmen must be have been
unbearable. John asked a passer by to take a photo of us in front of the U-boat
and to our amazement the guy was an Ex-pat from Manchester that had a good
knowledge of the Scooter and the Northern Soul seen.
We then headed for the monument a massive tower in the shape of a submarine
tower that can be seen for miles around Kiel, we showed our ID cards for free
entry to climb the tower with its ---- steps, John opting for the lift which I
think was the sensible option, as myself and Ian where blowing out of our arses
by the time we reached the top, the climb was well worth the effort, the
fantastic view of Kiel and out over the sea to Denmark was spectacular. The
monument and memorial was interesting and very touching when you realise just
how many Sailors where lost by all sides in both wars, we paid our respect and
signed the guest book signed as the Armed Forces
Scooter Club.
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A quick shower at the local baths and some scoff followed by a slow ride through
Kiel back to the Rally site just in time for a beer and to watch the fun and
games, which the AFSC was not represented due to Stevie our fun and games
champion refusal to team up with Ian with a variety of very poor excuses which
almost had him banished from the HFC, which was probably a good move not to take
part as those that did were wasted in no time drinking all sorts of snaps
Saturday night was absolutely freezing although we huddled round a camp fire and
had a laugh with our German pals, then into the nighter just in time to hear the
results of the custom show and other awards, first of all Ian win best old timer
for his GP 205 which was great to see one of our real rally workhorses get a
trophy, then the best to come when it was announced the furthest travelled club
award was to the AFSC so we now had two excuse’s to celebrate, not that we
needed them!
Sunday we headed for home in warmish sunshine, making great time as we blasted
along the fast B roads, until johns T5 rear tyre decided it had enough on the
duel carriage way, the rest of us turned back along the carriage way to help and
take the piss as per SOP’s, a car seeing our little group gather at the road
side slammed his anchors on his front tyre blowing out with the car heading
straight for our small group, lucky enough the driver managed to keep control
and passed us by, which was our Q to move to a safer place to change Johns wheel
with Steve our top Vespa mechanic adjusting his wheel bearing at the same time,
after taken the piss out of Johns balder than Jimmy the blade’s head rear tyre,
the job was done and we were soon back on the road for home.
Kiel was a FANTASTIC well organised rally, although it was small the friendly
atmosphere more than made up for the small numbers at rally, the HFC die hards
will defiantly be attending Kiel next season.