As seen in issue 449 of Back street Heroes

I believe there is a programme on the magic lantern “a series of unfortunate events” and that could very much be the title of my adventure into Kent and the Armed Forces Bikers Charity Night, an event I have always heard good things about.

Sneaking off the day job early is always good and I thought would give me plenty of time to scoot around the nastiness of the M25 and possible look at the new Harley adventure bike at a dealer near to the venue.

So much for the best laid plans of mice and prune sandwiches as they say as it didn’t take long before I encountered stationery traffic, the joys of a rolling roadblock. Miles of filtering and it was going to be tight to be at the dealer. That and taking the wrong turn off the motorway.  So next follow road to venue, and my faithful companion “Doris” decided after all that filtering in the heat she needed a rest on a main road through Maidstone in rush hour. So after fending off some big lorries to push her to side of the road after a scratch of head moment, tools everywhere  I sorted her (yes of course it was something I had done wrong previously) and we were back on the way.

No surprises I then took the wrong turn and once back on the main road I sailed past the pub much to the amusement of a mate and the crowd as I pulled up and u turned

The Knoxbridge is a fairly typical roadside pub, with a very warm welcome, and newly laid gravel carpark to trip up the unwary. For me it was great as its not an area I have been to for a while and amongst the steady stream of bikes there was always something new to see.

And these bikes ranged from BSA flat tankers, scooters, to brand new Harleys only brought that week. Add in all manners including a Vincent comet café racer and a superb Ford/triumph diesel hybrid (my personal favourite of the night) and plenty of usable street chops and trikes.

Yes tins were rattled to collect but never felt pressured, the queue for the BBQ seemed never ending, but the smiles and banter of a warm summers evening are what it was all about. The official bike of the night was a spotless one owner Kawasaki Z1000 which next to the cafe racer was a cracking pair.

The Knoxbridge hold a couple of these nights a year and the Armed Forces Bikers have several charity events dotted around, all of which seem to bring out a different mix and they are great nights, and you do not have to be armed forces current or ex to attend.

So despite the interesting start to the evening, the ride home was totally unremarkable, it was still one of the best nights out I have had in ages. Its these series of unfortunate events that make memories.