Picture Page 28
St. Patrick's Day Parade, 2004.
For the second year running, Dubliner John Murphy managed to get some Goldwing owners and their machines into the main Dublin parade. The weather was brilliant again this year for this annual homage to Saint Patrick. The Goldwings brought up the rear of the parade this year, the Volkswagen Beetles were in front of us. The day went very well and we all had a few laughs at the antics of some of the other entrants.
Click on the thumbnails to view the larger images.
Waiting at Donnybrook Bus Depot for the rest of the Goldwings (20 in total) to arrive. There were limited spaces available this year, if there was no limit there were about another 30-50 Goldwing guys & girls eager to attend.
Bear fight (above left) and the bear wouldn't even let us have a go on his bike (someone said it was a Panda Goldwing). He made a fast getaway (above right).
Practically all the vantage points were taken up with spectators hanging out of windows, piled onto lamp posts and trees. The Goldwing motorcycles were very well received by the crowd again this year, the children asking the usual questions; "How much did it cost mister?" and "How fast does it go?" There were a number of classic Volkswagen Beetles in front of us. They were all immaculately restored and you couldn't fault them even close-up. In the slow trundle through the city, there was a distinct smell of burning clutch!
Breaking up past the black church at the end of the parade. You can see some of the "float monsters" in the third picture from left (above). All the Goldwing folk were invited out to Cathy & Tony's place for a barbecue.