Meeting points

[Quedos]

Eh-up Guys and Gals - hope you had a guid new year!

I need some help and hoping you lot can give it (knowing that you lot hold back on your opinions :lol: )

Presently we all meet up at various places before a run but invariavly these are outside shops ('cept Kinross)

If there was a specific meeting point that would provide refreshment/bogs etc as well as bikes/clothing/accessories designed and catered for the biker would you use it. (think Ace Cafe London)

All opinons count i would be most grateful!!!

Thanks
Abby

[jim@55]

yep ,would defo use it ,a good central venue that u could just turn up at when ure just out for a wee scoot about ,and b4 somebody says carbeth inn iv been b4 ,its full of harley /cruiser types ,it would be a good venue if more sv owners went and it was a 'known' meeting place (ps nothing against harleys/cruisers just not my cup of tea) :wink:

[independentphoto]

Good point Jim.

The Carbeth is NOTHING like it used to be in many respects :( . Not only that, but the state of some of the roads in the immediate vicinity are quite likely to see someone killed :shock: .

I've spoken to Quedos about this and it sounds like what is needed around these parts. For those who've not visited "the Ace" (London), there's plenty of bike parking and sensible cafe type food which can be consumed whilst admiring other bikes / cars (usually classic custom) or watching your own. They also have theme nights for different makes or models etc and often have either a DJ or live acts.

Wouldn't it be nice if the original Nardinis in Largs were RESTORED in it's original fitting etc and reopened as a biker cafe - pie in the sky perhaps, but a damn good destination for a rideout.

The idea this time however is a place from which to start out.

Garry

[jim@55]

any time iv been out with others the meeting place is just somewhere en-route ,its ok for the day but its not a 'meeting point 'as such ..any 'meeting point' will prob involve a ride just to get there for most ,but at the mo theres nowhere special any ideas garry?

[northwind]

The closest I've found in Scotland is the Green Wellie, but even it's just a cafe that happens to have parking spaces for bikes. Moffat would be the most obvious place I reckon, it's well located and at the end of one of the most popular and well known roads in the entire UK (2 in fact, the fast road and the twisty road). It's always absolutely crawling with bikes in the summer- I was down there when the BSB was at Knockhill and even then it was heaving.

Either that or exactly halfway across Rannoch Moor, at the exact point where you get bored of straight lines ;)

[carelesschucca]

If it was down to me I'd have one at either end of the Dukes pass. lol

Stirling would probably be a good place for a meeting point for everyone in the central belt...

[independentphoto]

OK folks - I see that this topic has now been viewed 80 times and very few have registered a vote, never mind given comment. :(

I understand from previous conversations that a certain contributor to this forum is, (or at least was at the time) prepared to put in quite a bit of time, effort (and perhaps £) to find such an "ideal venue". :D

Maybe I'm being defeatist, but it doesn't look all that worthwhile from what I've seen to date.

Garry :shock:

[northwind]

I forgot to vote :oops:

[Blue Flame]

Somewhere in the central belt would be the ideal. This would allow the Easties and Westies to reach it with relevant ease.

I thought about Harthill services but the Eastiies and Westies would have to use sign language across the motorway to communicate. :oops:

Powmill is a good spot but is perhaps a bit too far east for some folks.

I might go out for a play today and check out the villages/toons in the Central Area.

[Cronos]

I thought about Harthill services but the Eastiies and Westies would have to use sign language across the motorway to communicate. :oops:

There's a back road which you can take to get from one side of the motorway to the other. :wink:

But at the end of the day it's a motorway service station and not a very good one at that. Stirling services is a better option than Harthill IMHO.

[northwind]

The trick would be to find somewhere where bikers already tend to stop and congregate... ie, not Harthill, the only things that congregate there are drug dealers, truck drivers and 14-year-old Rangers fans with aerosol cans and ridiculously large chibs.

Stirling's more of a goer I think But I'd still suspect Moffat would be better.

[carelesschucca]

Stirling's more of a goer I think But I'd still suspect Moffat would be better.

from an Edinburgh point of view, too far over for me to come and use as a meeting point... Harthill is a complete no however much I love Rangers fans and their chibs I don't want to go to a place thats a god forsaken hole...

[Blue Flame]

Moffats too far for the purpose methinks.

Had a blat around the central belt today but everywhere seemed a bit ****ty to me!.......

...the roads certainly were. Mind you it twas very greasy and the back end was slipping about a bit.

Stirling seems the best option so far (KFC anyone? :wink: ) although the roads to it are a bit boring from my abode.

[Godikus]

my vote is for stirling. purely because i don't get lost when i'm goin' there. infact i seem to end up there regardles of my destination. i was there when i was looking for the big wheel in falkirk to meet you guys, and the last rideout i (kinda) attended :roll:

[northwind]

Hang on, is the purpose here to get a good meeting point for our rides, or a good meeting point for bikers in general? As in, commercial venture? I thought it was the latter...

[Quedos]

I'll fess up! :oops:

I've had a hair brained idea that I might be able to make a go of something like this.

I've always fancied running a place like the ace cafe but before it can go any further I have ti do the research on the market (esp if I want funding)

Theres a great place on Pailsey road thats crying out for usage - ie dealers/accessories and cafe. Great parking capable of holding events a la ace cafe.

long time in the making and not sure i can pull it off finacially but it won't stop me trying.
So trying to solve a problem that we have as well as making a commercial venture - northwind you hit it on the head! :roll:

[jim@55]

paisley rd is good for me as its very local ,,but you have to think of the area ,will you get passing traffic i.e peeps who r willing to come in and spend money ,or is there a good road/s nearby for peeps to use as a meeting point ?personally i think this area i.e glasgow/west coast is needing an alternative to the green welly /carbeth inn .not everybody wants to travel 50+ miles for a cuppa and some chat .gap in the market?? i mean where do 'bikers' go when out on their steed ??,,,a bike showroom! really ,,!! good call and do look into this :notworthy: