Well, not quite all!

This blog is about the sale of Mark Dickers's Bikes. That is all done now, but there is one extra MZ related foot note to this. Mark was a collector of MZ documents. Manual, advertising brochures and the occaisional piece of factory Memorabelia. He was chuffed when he found on Ebay a 10 inch high Factory Mascot which I only know as the MZ man. An example of the plastic figurine is below, stood on the seat of the Trophy that is now in the possession of Kevin.

This particular MZ man was on its way to Pately Bridge to the residence of Peter a long standing friend of Mark's and former MZRC Yorkshire Section Rep.The MZ man's trip coincided with a Memorial Mark Dicker Mystery run organised by Ian who housed Mark's Panther in his cellar for several years. Mark was renown locally by MZRC Yorkshire section, Huddersfield MAG section and by his local bike club 'Famous Last Words MCC', for organising some excellent Mystery runs. From follies, to engineering acheivements, to abandoned railways, to things that were never there, Mark's knowledge of Yorkshire was encyclopedic.

So it was that MZ man was taken to the Bingley 5 lock rise on a glorious Saturday morning. The lock gates are made from huge lumps wood. The cafe does excellent cakes, so is up to Mark's standards.

The next location was the Cow and Calf on Ikley moor a location known for its climbing and where Harley riders can recline, admire the scenery and wonder if after 50 miles they still have enough fuel left to get them to the next 'Mystery' location.

A short break at Ian's house near Fewston to drop off camping gear and the 12 bikes (Joined by Andy on his Kawaki KLE) headed off to Buffers. Buffers is a Cafe near Bolton Abbey. It is just of the A59 but the road you have to go down to get to it is really small. I soon had to put my visor down as the Gagiva Raptor of Ross ahead of me sprayed me with gravel. Buffers is the unlikely location of a cafe devoted to model trains (and hence a favourite of Mark's). It is an eccentric place with the upstairs packed with model railways that the visitor can operate. A great location out in the sun.

Then an unplanned stop for half an hour to wait for the thirteenth bike ridden by 'little' Ben to catch up. He set off two hours late and then spent the rest of teh afternnon trying to cath up with us.

The next section was from Kettlewell to Middleham via Coverdale. This was the best section of the ride. Some really challenging gated roads across the moors with seriously steep climbs and tarmac that was just draped across the countryside with no attempt to make it level. The MZ Trophy I was riding has a lazy gear box so gear changes had to be well planned in order to get the revs right to pull up. That said the big heavy Jap lumps had no advantage on this terrain.

So it was we arrived in in Middleham, the home of Richard the Third. Below are the two MZ's that were on the run.

From Middleham to Lofthouse, to Summerbridge, to Pateley Bridge and finally to Toft gate we made our way. The Lime Kilns at Toft Gate were one of Mark's favourite spots and was often a Mystery run stop off. Ian has organised a collection to put a memorial seat for Mark at this location. The money is in and Quarry and Harrogate council have settled on where it is going to be, they have not got round to it yet. So in the tradition of Mark's Mystery runs we visited the thing that wasn't there. In this case myself and Neil showing off the bench that was not there (yet!!!).

 

Ben finally caught us up as the run came to an end. A few of us headed back to Ian's house where we sampled the Theakstons at the Sun Inn. In the morning I loaded up my Trophy and we headed off to deliver MZ Man to Peter. Mission Accomplished. All I had to do now was head home across the moors in 50mph gusts on a bike that had the aerodynamics of a brick and mudguards that were effective wind scoops. The joys of motorcycling. Thanks to Mark for inspriring this run and to Ian for organising it.