About Us
The Sons of Royalty
A motley crew of bikers
We are an eclectic group of individuals dedicated to raising money for NSPCC's Childline through live music and a unique annual bike ride. With a combination of 13 previous rides and a few special events, we have raised over £3/4 million for the cause. We are also the only motorcycle and car gang ever to have ridden all of the Rocky Mountain States for a British charity: Montana, Idaho, Arizona, Wyoming, Utah. Colorado, California, Nevada, New Mexico, British Columbia, Alberta, and additionally Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Virginia, West Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia and Texas. We’ve also just returned from a ride through Northern Europe, taking in France, Switzerland, Germany and Austria along the way.
Although our bike ride founder and former leader, Daryl Clark, is sadly no longer with us, his legacy lives on!
Our Bike Leader/Road Captain, Woody
Sons of Royalty’s bike ride leader, Woody, has been riding bikes for over 35 years and expertly leads our incredible rides. He also organised ‘Dave Day’ and along with Si King, led the 46,000 strong tribute ride for TV’s Hairy Biker, Dave Myers. So he definitely knows how to put a good ride together, even if he is a complete biker nut job!
Our members include…
Some of the UK’s finest musicians, suits, a distant living relative of Butch Cassidy rumoured to be living somewhere in South London, an A list actor, a surgeon, a town mayor, Special Forces veterans, artists, celebrity chefs, chartered accountants, property professionals, a descendant of Henry VIII’s Yeoman of the Wardrobe, a royal refuse expert. This is the pedigree of this never before or again to be gathered together gang!
Message from a Rock God
Thunder’s Luke Morley
The Sons Of Royalty......What does it mean? Why? Who?
Back in 2010 the most enthusiastic man in the world (more commonly known as Daryl Clark) had this slightly mental idea. He sat down with me and my Thunder band mate Danny Bowes and told us how he was going to raise a load of money for Childline by organising a road trip on Harley Davidson motorcycles through some of the more ‘off the beaten track’ areas in North America. Being a confirmed fan of the well known TV show ‘Sons Of Anarchy’, Daryl didn’t have to tax his brain overly to come up with a name for this apparently hair-brained scheme.
Cynical musicians that we are we asked ‘Why would people want to do that?’
‘Because it’ll be GREAT!!!!’ came the reply in Daryl’s thunderous baritone. ‘There’ll be great music, incredible scenery, a great bunch of people and......’
‘Whoa, back up’ we interrupted. ‘Where will this music come from?’ we stupidly enquired.
‘From you of course!’ said Daryl grinning from ear to ear while at the same time daring us to say no. He is, it must be said, a difficult man to say no to.
Fourteen years and a good few impromptu singalongs and gigs later, with thousands of miles travelled and over £750,000 raised, here we are planning our next event for 2025
Anyway, I’m not here to sell you a ticket, more to give you my impressions of what it means to be part of the SOR and my reasons for coming back year after year…
Over the last ten years we’ve had some amazing adventures in some incredible places; all the Rocky Mountain states from British Columbia and Alberta in Canada down into the USA passing like men and women possessed through Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington State, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, California, Arizona, New Mexico and that’s just off the top of my head!
The stunning scenery flashing by has definitely made for some unforgettable moments and memories but when I look back at the whole SOR experience (and it is an experience, trust me), the element that makes it ‘really special’ as Daryl would say is without doubt the people that take part. A more interesting and diverse mixture you couldn’t wish to meet. We’ve had musicians, military types, financial wizards, novelists, celebrity chefs, yoga gurus, photographers, film makers, journalists (and probably many others I’ve forgotten) and every single person has entered into the spirit of the ride.
This has created an amazing camaraderie on every trip and I would hazard a guess that nearly everyone that has taken part over the years has made friends for life. I know I certainly have. The great thing is you don’t even have to be a biker to take part! If like me you’re not of the two wheel persuasion you can drive or be a passenger in a car! Every year there are several cars in the convoy and they are welcomed equally. The big plus about driving of course is you will find yourself becoming extremely popular with the many pillion riders should the weather take a turn for the worse!
All I can say is if you’re looking to spend some time raising some money for a worthwhile cause and you’re in a quandary as to which way to go, please consider rolling with this amazing bunch of lunatics and always remember.......... ‘The crow flies straight!’
— Luke Morley, guitarist and songwriter with Thunder
December 2024
Classic Rock Magazine’s ‘Louder Sound’ loves the rides too. Read their tribute to Daryl Clark here.
In memory of Sons of Royalty’s founder and former leader, Daryl Clark