20th Annual BATTLE of the BRITS
in conjunction with the Motor City RAT Pack
September 6-8, 2002
Detroit area

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Friday Sept 6th:
This probably has to be one of the grr-r-eatest bike rallies I have ever attended.  Organized by two distinct but obviously connected groups - British Bikes and Cars.  It takes place the Sunday after Labor Day each year, and it's now into its 20th year!  As soon as I got there, it was obvious what I was missing.

The Motor City (Detroit) RAT chapter organized their event around this.  The RAT of course represents the newer Hinckley Triumphs (1990-).  Even though the Battle emphasizes the classic British Iron, it definitely welcomes the newer Hinckleys and even has a class dedicated to them.
 

Getting there...is half the fun?
 


Go Tigers Go!		 The weather was on my side the whole time.  I left Friday morning to get a nice early start.  I took US 250 Diagonally across Ohio to get to Detroit.  Here is my bike at a road side stop on Tappan Lake.  Passing through Strasburg, I noticed some Tiger influence - turns out that Massillon, the next town north, holds the Tigers.

I certainly remembered what it was like to ride in heavy traffic - my God!  On a Friday afternoon there was plenty of it!  My destination, Grosbeck Rd, took me across much of Suburban Detroit. Fortunate the traffic was fast moving; there was just a lot of it.

Triumph of Detroit on Grosbeck road was the meeting point for the RAT rally.  I missed the turn off so I had to ride over a grassy area to get to the dealer.  There was no chance of getting back on Grosbeck road, with the traffic being bumper to bumper at rush hour.  A lot of bikes showed up, mostly Triumph of course.  Only other Tiger I saw on arrival was the Roulette Green one belonging to the dealer.  Henry Gerst is the Detroit RAT Rep, and led us on a group ride north to dinner.
 

Stuck between Japanese Cruisers. Two Tigers, mine and the green one. They deal in the old and new by the logo.

We had an excellent group dinner somewhere on Lake St. Clair - one of those restaurants right on the pier.  I sat next to Lee Alexander of Cincinnati who taught me all about his black Speed Triple (though he road his souped up Trophy to Detroit).  Yeah, someday I'd love to get a Speed Triple - there is no other sportbike out there with such badass/hooligan looks.  Lee encouraged me to do the California Superbike School (CSS), which I did at Watkins Glen, NY.

Time to turn in.  John Northup, webmaster of licenseplates.cc, graciously provided hospitality for my Tiger and I.  He lives in Ann Arbor, a good hour from where we were, even if you have less traffic to deal with.


Saturday Sept 7th,
 
The same ride back to Triumph of Detroit - fortunately a lot less traffic to deal with on a Saturday morning.  More bikes were around by this time.  We did a pretty big group ride to Marine City on the St. Clair River, just above the Lake.  A black Tiger showed up.  If you want to do some serious riding - forget about group rides in built up areas.  No way we could get up to speed anywhere.  I was underchallenged, even with my riding skills.
I always want a pic of my bike. Check out the bikes, including the other Tiger. Henry Gerst on the other side of the street.

While the rest of the group had a plan to do a cruise on the Lake after lunch, I had other plans - to visit my Grandma on the Canadian side.
 

I got on the ferry, which fortunately ran frequent and only took like 10 minutes to cross the river.  Mine was the only motorcycle which crossed on the boat, and certainly the Tiger got some curious questions.  Once I got to the other side, I was in Canada, and what a difference.  Unlike the American side of the river, it was hardly built up.  Not having a map of Ontario with me, I also wasn't sure where I was.  Eventually I found myself in Wallaceburg then Chatham, and from Chatham I know how to Grandma's Farm. 

I spent the night there, along with her new dog, Charlie.  Grandma is only 5 ft, here she is, trying to climb up on my Tiger.  The following morning was Sunday, so I had to leave early in order to get to the Battle of the Brits.

On to the Battle of the Brits >>>

 

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